i did this when I was 9.. I can tell you I am a fair moons older now. Pastel on a roll of lining paper we had ad a doodle scrap whatever.
I have more of a passion for pencil myself and now look towards coloured realism but i never venture too far from the 2H-9B range of graphites.
Aha pastels are nice and solid but pencils are more precise and less messy. I just like using ball point pen these days.