Assignment 3-redone

I have been working on this assignment 3 again bearing in mind my tutors advise. The above pen and ink drawings were to consider a different composition. My original piece incorporated more of the patio down the side of the kitchen and a bench. On reflection I'm not sure if that composition was terrible successful and wanted to try something different. The views from my home are quite restricted and this was the only open door I could sensibly use, so the only thing I could change was the crop of the view. Both seem to work well, although the one on the right which includes the wall and the drain pipe on each side of the picture seems to frame the view. 

Now to try some colour and different paper. To the left is some prep work with acrylic paint as a base coat with soft pastels layered on top. The wall to the side of my house is made of pebble dash. I have been experimenting with textures and paint so wanted to try my new Mineral Textured Gel which I believed could work really well in this piece. I am happy with this outcome and wanted to use this product in my finished assignment. The layering of colour  appeals to me, leaving some of the undercoat showing through.  

The finished piece, again! This is much better. The composition and the colouring works well along with the use of tone and shadow. I love the Mineral Textured Gel used here and hope to be able to find a place for this media again in my work. I have used a sand texture previously with success but this is a lot bolder and needs more courage to use. I like the effect of the pastel colours taken only on the grit of the product giving a contrast to the sand colour under painting. I have tried to be more dramatic with my mark making and shadows. This I feel has worked better than before but possibly could have even more contrast. This is an area I need to work on as I normally favour a low contrast more pastel look to a drawing I have done. This could explain my almost fear of pen and ink with its sharp contrast and non erasable if you make a mistake. Slowly I am beginning to like this kind of drawing and intend to use pen more often as a chosen media. 
To used canvas for this last piece which gives a good texture. I was disappointed with the edging. I used masking tape around the edge which did not stick very well allowing some of the acrylic paint to seep through leaving a jagged edge rather than a clean sharp one.