Here's my farewell to spring and summer. I deliberately focused on the flowers and windows and kept the rest soft, loose and low key, like the season.
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| 9" x 12" |
Meanwhile, I've been amazed by the colors we've had this fall and thought oil pastels might be just the medium to capture them. This is a small white house with a red door that was framed with a blaze of yellow leaves. I loved how the little door held its own even surrounded by all the flamboyant color. It's not there yet, but I am having fun and learning a lot about oil pastels (layering, blending and, mostly, patience). These make great sketches and studies.
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| 8" x 5.5" |
And then, I bought some water-soluble oil pastels. I had to do it—it was just enough to get me to free shipping. Anyway, I think these will be a perfect bridge between watercolors and oil pastels for me. They'll soften the "crayon" texture and garishness and allow better color blending...at least that's the plan. These are very soft and creamy though; now I'm wondering if I need to fix or seal these. I'll let it cure and report back next week.
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| 5" x 4" |
Well it’s settled. I have to go to Blick and get some more stuff. It looks like too much fun.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful portraits! The house is very Hopperesque! Love the softness of the colors and the contrast with the monumental and multifaceted composition. The oil pastel portrait is lovely. You really captured the mass of yellow that is the tree. How are you blending them? It’s hard to do with my finger but using a stump or paper tortilion ? Removes too much color imo. Too funny that we both bought the water soluble oil/wax pastels !... the name is so counterintuitive , how could this be I thought...can’t wait to see how you use them...
ReplyDeleteI agree about blending; I feel like I'm rubbing my fingerprints off and paper towels and stumps do pull a lot of the color. I used q tips with and without oil to blend--they work, but I'm not crazy about adding oil to paper. I got my best results by layering and using more of the oil pastel. So, I start with lighter pressure and then keep adding, pressing harder to smoosh color around. I also found best results starting with darker colors and using lighter colors on top (or next to) to blend. You still see the darker color but it's softer. I learned this by accident, but it's been working for me so far.
DeleteAnd water soluble oil or wax? I thought it didn't make any sense either!
You can also get softer oil pastels that blend like make-up. The French ones, Sennelier. They're beautiful.
DeleteIt's fun to see your masterful low key watercolor house portrait against the more playful oil pastel sketches, Elaine. The "white" house painting is incredible in composition, value, color - all the choices you've made in the conceiving of it. And all the things you didn't paint. Genius, really. And as Alan said, too much fun going on with all your new media experiments. Don't stop.
ReplyDeleteLove the white and your restrained but effective use of color.
ReplyDeleteYeah, certainly like the big house and I also find it Hooperesque. Love the windows. The red door centers the other house, and I like those stairs.
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