I did the small seascape again slightly larger on oil pastel paper, the smoother side. I was determined that I was going to learn how to use oil pastels in a more realistic style. I watched a few demonstrations on oil pastel on YouTube and then tried again. I think I learned a few things in the attempt. I used Cray Pas Expressionist, Mungyo and Sennelier oil pastels. The Expressionist and Mungyo sets have a nice selection of colors, but they aren't as easy to blend as the Sennelier; of course the Sennelier are more expensive. The secret to getting a smooth painting is blending. I tried a paper blender, paper towel wadded up, a Q-Tip, and my finger. Using my finger works best for me, but I used a latex glove so I didn't have to worry about absorbing any chemicals that way. I also learned that oil pastels do dry some so if you want to go back and do white highlights, it's best to wait a few hours or overnight to do that. I may have gotten too much green in the foreground. Since I only have twenty-four colors in the Sennelier set I was limited in my choice of blues and greens. I will need to get more of those if I want to do more oil pastels. Not sure about that yet. My inspiration is an oil pastel painter who does animals very realistically. Her web site is petsinpastels.com and her name is Sarah Theophillus (not sure of the spelling). I also like the seascapes of Oriana Kacicek on the Daily Paintworks website, but her paintings are done in oils. I forgot to mention that I did some underpainting with watercolor, but most of that got covered up anyway.
Here's a small ACEO to add to my vacation journal. It's a seascape done in oil pastel on a canvas textured paper from an assorted pack of artist trading cards by Strathmore. It's not from the same batch of vacation pictures as Beach Ballerina. It's from this September's trip to Florida. I think I'm going to have to combine photos for the journal from both trips since I didn't get very many photos this time. (I spent too much time and energy trying to keep up with my sons and their offspring at Disney World. If I stopped to take pictures, I'd get lost.) I really like the blending feel of oil pastels, but they are hard for me to control. I couldn't get the white very white if I tried to go over a darker area. I think, if I try this again in a larger size, I would leave areas where I want to put white, sort of like watercolor. I think acrylic paper would work too. The canvas and acrylic paper have a plastic type coating that lets the oil pastels blend without being absorbed into the paper. I haven't figured out how to put this in the journal since it can get smeared. I would have to find something that wouldn't stick either, like waxed paper.
I decided to do a little more detailed painting of Beach Ballerina on better paper (Arches 140 lb. cold pressed). As usual I didn't quit when I was ahead and tried to "improve" the tutu and I think I got it too dark. I tried to lighten it up by wetting the paper and blotting in places but I had trouble getting the white of the paper back. I then realized that I had used an Alizarin Crimson mix for the pink/purple tutu color and, if I remember correctly, that is a staining color. I also learned that if I wait a few days and let the paper dry very thoroughly, I can use a small battery powered electric eraser and lift off some color. I think I should quit at this point before I ruin it completely.
Here I am back at square one again. I can't believe it's been over a year since I last posted. I think I might take a different approach to painting this time. Instead of feeling like I have to paint a masterpiece for every post, I might try to do entries in an art journal. If these small entries lead me to do a more thorough painting, that would be good, but not the main goal. I should have been journaling years ago with my garden and vacations. But since I'm so far behind, I think I will just start with my last trip to visit my family in Florida in February and see what happens. I decided to do the journal size of 9" x 12" and use Bristol paper for the pages. I can use artist's tape (on the back) to stick small works onto the pages. I can use some of my ACEO cards and experiment with different media. I hope I can fill the pages of the journal this year and maybe do a few other paintings too.
I wanted to try another pansy just for practice. I did this one on an ACEO card (2 1/2 by 3 1/2). I should have quit after about 10 minutes when I thought it looked good, but I can't leave the paint alone--I have to keep fussing with it. I like the colors though.
Here's another try at pansies. I thought maybe I would have better luck with a different paper so I used Arches 140 lb. hot pressed. It was a little tricky getting the paint to diffuse like it does on cold pressed but eventually I got used to it. It came out almost photorealistic with the smooth surface. Not sure if I like the hot pressed, but when I use the cold pressed again I'm going to try to be more creative and just let the watercolor paint do it's thing. I really have a hard time using my imagination and producing something more impressionistic. I find myself just reverting to my old realistic style most of the time. I probably need to take a workshop someday.
When I wrote the post title the first time, I wrote "painsies." It must have been a subconscious slip of the fingers. I took a break from finishing my second painting of Emma and thought I would do something simple, like a pansy. Pansies are not as easy as they look, at least not for me. I wish I could do them as well as a painter I found on Daily Paintworks; her name is Tatsiana Mikhailova and her blog is http://tatsianaartstudio.blogspot.com/. This is another one to put on my re-do list.
Work in progress-I'm having a hard time with this one. I didn't get as good a likeness with the paint as I did with the sketch. I think she looks older. Also, in the photo the background is dark but I'm afraid I'd mess it up if I tried to darken it. I might have to put this aside for a while and finish it later.
I've been planning to do another painting of my granddaughter but took a little time to re-organize my painting space. It was getting a little difficult to squeeze into the area where I paint. I had to move some stuff to the attic that my son left in that room almost ten years ago when he left for Florida in 2004. He had planned to leave the day hurricane Ivan flooded out Carnegie. Fortunately, I live on a hill, but alot of his stuff never got packed onto the truck under the circumstances. I now have more elbow room and it's less distracting when I want to paint. I also watched an art video on drawing faces and that seemed to get me started on the sketch. I hadn't enjoyed drawing as much the last few years because I couldn't wait to get to the color. But after watching the videos, I realized that I needed some practice on faces and proportions. I also don't like the way she is holding her hand in the photo and I went through dozens of photos to find her holding her hand in a more pleasant position. Here's the preliminary sketch (I'm still working on the hand.)
