Oil Pastels & Painting
This is the first in a little series of birds I’m trying to draw with oil pastel, I still have a long way to go but I’m enjoying the process so far and loving learning how to use a new medium! He was inspired by this drawing but I decided to change up the pose a little bit and make him a little more vibrant.
I had never tried oil painting before 2021 but I bought myself a (cheap) little set and started practising and trying to learn how to use them. It’s a very different medium to use than anything I’ve tried before but I’m really enjoying learning and I’m excited to share my journey with you!
The fruit here were drawn with oil pastel, while the background was filled in and the highlights added with oil paint, so I wasn’t entirely sure if it belonged on this page, but I figured, why not?! This was the first time I’ve ever tried to create anything with details with an oil-based medium and it was tricky BUT it was a lot of fun! I love the creaminess and smoothness of oil pastels and how they blend together but it’s quite a messy, bulky medium to use so it’s taking some getting used to. Also, still life paintings aren’t my usual style so trying to figure out the lighting and shadows when I was using 4 different photos as reference was tricky and I definitely need some more practise there! But, I’m seeing myself making progress and for that, I’m really proud of this! Plus, I just love the colours and energy of the piece - I never thought looking at fruit could make me feel happy but this does!
