Category: Pastel

First Ever Oil Painting

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I’ve used watercolor, colored pencil, soft pastel, oil pastel, charcoal, graphite, and ink, but never oils. I bought five R&H Pigment Sticks in blue, red, yellow, black, and white, not knowing what to expect. I knew they act like oil paint but in a stick form so can be used a little more like a pastel. However, all the examples I found of oil sticks were bold and abstract while I knew I wanted something more realistic. I gave it a try with the first coat going on heavy and the rest with brushes and clay shapers. It turned out okay for a first try, although the trees were less than stellar.

8″x10″, oil stick on canvas board

Categories: Art Oil Pastel

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Oil Pastel on Wood

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8″x10″, oil pastel on prepped wooden panel

A very bright sky and foreground and some interesting, semi-circular barns. I prepped the wooden panel with two coats of Gac 100 by Golden as a sealant and then two coats of gesso, leaving brushmarks. The buildings created the composition, so I felt like all I had to do was capture it.

Categories: Art Pastel

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Oil Pastel on Canvas Board

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This large oil pastel is something different. I like to revisit my past obsessions and give them another try, and my oil pastel/crayon phase left me with plenty of supplies. I used a variety of Caran D’ache and Sennelier oil pastels as well as some ink on the background to start. This time, I used a big canvas board which leaves a textured, gridded effect. One problem I found is that it’s very hard to photograph as the lined pattern kept coming through.I had to soften and enhance the photo, so it’s more vivid here than in reality.

I really like oil pastel as it combines drawing and painting, plus it’s so forgivable. You can go over mistakes, take out or add color, blur, cut in lines, etc.It forces me to skip detail and rely more on impression.

I’m trying to figure out how to push past my cliched attempts at landscape, so that’s my next big challenge.

16″ x 20″, ink background and oil pastel on gessoed canvas board

Categories: Art Ink Pastel