Pastel Chalks too flat - what can i do ?

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

When i apply my pastel chalk it always comes out flat and too monotone looking. I have seen some amazing pictures of nicely textured clumped dust like appearances on tanks and I cant seem to get it to be like that. I have tried mixing the ground powders and appyling it with a little water or thinner but it looks like smeared on brown color, just flat and monochrome and not like caked on dust. Do I use too much thinner ?

What is the magic that i am missing here ?

2

this is just a guess but try wetting the powder to make it clump then let the clumps dry and break them up into smaller clumps before applying.

3

Thank you - I will try that. Maybe I need to simply tweak the mix. More powder to clump and a little less thinner.