Charcoal Sketches
Tag: bird
Snowy Sparrows
I kept tinkering and now there’s fresh snow on my sparrow oil pastel drawing (or painting—don’t know which is correct).
For comparison, here are the two versions. Is it done now?
Which Way to Go?
At this point in a painting or drawing, I generally feel halfway done. The painting is blurry, full of mid tones, and has an unfinished feeling.
I’m using oil pastels, and I’ve found that things can go really bad when I’m at this stage. Adding in more layers can create a heavy, dull look. Putting in the darkest shadows can suddenly create weird purples or blues, and relying too much on black can be overwhelming.
When I return to this image from the start of it all, I can reassess what I’d like the finished piece to look like—a complicated set of branches with sparrows peeking out here and there, a big sky behind it all, and a focus on texture and pattern.
Best to leave it alone to see if this is still what I’d like to achieve. Letting a piece sit for a few days is the best way to figure out where you are.
Solitary Sandpiper Oil Pastel
This quirky, little bird was all by itself. As its name implies, they migrate solo. It stopped by for a break on its journey south, wading in the shallow creek down the road with its jerky, quick stride.
I’m struggling with color. Oil pastel lends itself to vibrant, strong color, and I like to use all of them at once which leads to a battle for attention. My best laid plans of sticking to color schemes go awry each time. Today, I’ll do a few sketches with neutrals and one color family only. We’ll see if I can resist the rainbow.
I tried Uart 400 sandpaper for this. Oil pastel goes down nicely on most surfaces so I wasn’t sold that I needed this paper, but the additional colored pencil I use did a better job on this surface than a gessoed paper or canvas board.