"The Blacksmith"

11" x 17", Oil Pastel on sanded art board

While visiting Patricia's family in Calgary (Alberta, Canada) we did a family outing at Heritage Park Historical Village. We both took a number of photos thorough-out the park of the various attractions. In one particular area we noticed a blacksmith working at his anvil so I took a few photos in hopes that one would lend itself for a drawing in the future. The above painting was done from one of those photos. It took a while for me to finish but it was well worth the wait as I felt like this particular drawing really push me to a new level. Out of my comfort zone. Going to try to get a few prints made up before framing it.

Misty Thistle Bag Piper

"Misty Thistle Bag Piper"

Oil Pastel, 8" x 10"

Decide to make a shift to oil pastels just to change things up a bit in the studio. I took the photograph about a year or two ago and felt the time was right to work up a drawing. This drawing was done on deep blue Art Spectrum paper and decide to go solvent free for the under painting. Discovered a really nice rubber tip blending tool that helps with controlling details in tight areas and blending large areas. Duel purpose tool! I found things also work well if you let layers dry between applying more color. Deciding not to seal this one with shellac until it dries for a period of time.

Kingfisher Study

"Kingfisher Study"
8" x 5"

Butterfly Crossing

"Butterfly Crossing"
Oil Pastel on Paper
6" x 11"

Tug Boat & Peacock

"Mariner's Landing"
Oil Pastel, 6" x 11"

Decided to work in oil pastels versus dry pastels this weekend down in the studio. Oil pastels historically were first made by a Japanese artist at the end of World War 1 to enhance the educational schooling in that country. Oil pastels consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder. The surface of an oil pastel painting is therefore less powdery than dry media pastel types, but more difficult to protect with a fixative. I use a clear shellac for protection on many of my oil pastels. Picked up this protection technique 20 years while attending Atlanta College of Art.

The above drawing (painting?) was done in my sketch book to experiment with the media. I did some earlier experiments, but thought it best to stay on that track for a while before working on a large piece. Started with a pencil sketch, followed by filling in with large swatches of color while using solvent to move the oil pastel around more easily. Once I got the under painting done then I applied a single layer of clear shellac. This not only protects the under painting it also creates a fresh new surface to continue drawing on. The tug boat has two layers of clear shellac with varying layers of oil pastel, then finished off with single layer of shellac. Shellac dries very quickly, solvent on the other hand does not, so either use very little or wait until it dries before reworking.

"Peacock Study"
Oil Pastel, 5" x 8"

The peacock study was done on wallis paper, which is used primarily with dry pastels, but works fine with oil pastels none the less. Used too much solvent for the under painting so I had to let things dry over night before reworking certain areas. I also used clear shellac on this painting, but used only one coat for protection. We when to Calgary Zoo a couple of years ago so I had several photos to choose from of this peacock. Thinking of doing another study of this bird, or perhaps I'll do a much larger and more refined painting worthy of framing. One last thing is that it very difficult to photograph these paintings, so I recommend scanning them if possible.