Happy Spring, Everyone!

Tags

colorless blender, Cray-Pas OIl Pastels, crocus, oil pastels, Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels, Pro-Art Oil Pastels, Spring flowers

Crocus in Oil Pastels

 

The Story Behind the Sketch:

Our Spring flowers have been exceptionally gorgeous this year; I couldn’t stop taking photos of the breath-taking crocus. One I had taken one that was backlit by the sun & had a bit of a sun-flare in it inspired this drawing/painting. Now, I’ll admit that this is much more than a sketch, but I wanted to share it with all of you anyway. I really can’t decide if it’s a drawing or a painting. I’ve been told that  if the entire surface of the substrate is covered, it’s a painting. Still, when you are holding what amounts to a crayon in your hand and making strokes on the paper, isn’t it a drawing?

The Technical Stuff:

In truth, this is a “hybrid”, as I used water-soluble oils, which were spread with a brush after application, and regular oils which were drawn-on. Canson X-L watercolor paper tablet &  Pro Art Oil Pastels, Portfolio Water-soluble Oil Pastels, were the materials. In addition, a Cray-Pas colorless blender, and white, were used.

My Experience in Doing this Sketch: 

I almost threw it out at one point. I thought it was a failure about 30 minutes into it. It looked too “rough” ; I had to stand back 18 feet from it for it not to be confusing to the eye, to have it coalesce into the image I wanted. But I decided to trust myself. I’d pulled other works out of the fire in the past, & if I kept plugging at this one, I’d do the same. With some additional blending with a brush and using the Cray-Pas colorless & their white pastels, the image began to take on the look I wanted. (I did have to walk away & leave it a few times though,  sneaking back into the room to view it to see if it looked any different .  Did I think some art fairies would come in & worked on it while I was away?) Over the course of a few days, I had finally finished it & was satisfied. Sometimes, ya just gotta hang in there.

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2013. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

Advertisement

Summer Thoughts

Tags

black card stock, daisies, flowers, oil pastels, Pro-Art Oil Pastels, Reeves oil pastels, Stampin-Up card stock

 

Daisies in Oil Pastel

The Story Behind the Sketch:

(Just a quick post here on this snowy day in PA.) I decided to try to lift myself out of the winter blahs by experimenting with the same oil pastels I used in the last post, only this time on black card stock, and choosing a nice summery theme.

 The Technical Stuff:

Stampin’ Up Black Card Stock, Reeves Oil Pastels and Pro-Art Oil Pastels

My Experience in Doing this Sketch: 

I had no idea if these pastels would be opaque enough to work, but they did pretty well. This medium seems to force me to loosen-up & use bright colors—which is kind of fun. ( And it’s okay to do something just for fun once in a while!)

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2014. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

Homage to a Shed

Tags

farm buildings, oil pastels, Pro-Art Oil Pastels, shed, tropical flower

Little Shed in Oil Pastels

 

Pro-Art Oil Pastels

The Story Behind the Sketch:

There stands a little weathered grey shed at a farm I pass frequently, which I never managed to get a photograph of & never imagined would disappear before I was able! This  shed was old enough that I figured it’d be there till it fell apart—but the last time I passed the farm, the thrifty farmer who owned it was building on to it! I was sorry to have my view of it obscured; I’d admired that little building in various seasons, especially in summer when it had a huge tropical-looking red-blossomed plant growing in front of it that contrasted so beautifully with the weathered grey color. So I decided to at least try to draw it from memory.

I think there’s something to be said for working from memory every now & then. It activates a part of the brain that otherwise isn’t used too often, at least with such intensity. The details may not be absolutely correct here, but I’ve captured the general appearance of the shed.

I chose to use oil pastels simply because artist friend Linda had given me a set which she felt she would never use. In an effort to calm my sleep-resistant brain, I decided to try these pastels out & do this sketch before going to sleep one night.

. The Technical Stuff:

Strathmore “Sketch” tablet, ( a fairly smooth paper) &  Pro Art Oil Pastels were used. Some blending was achieved with a Q-tip.

My Experience in Doing this Sketch: 

Just the smell of these oil pastels made me happy—sort of like crayons, but “oilier”. Looking at the wide range of colors was a mood-lifter too. In using them, I found that it was hard to cover all the white paper, so the end result was sort of crayon-like. But they felt nice to use, going on smoothly. Some blending & coverage was achieved by adding layers of color, usually a lighter one over a darker one—sort of like blending paint on a canvas. I think they bear further investigation, experimenting on different surfaces possibly. With this medium it could be that the therapeutic affect of the pleasure of using them is where their value lies.

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2013. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

A Two-handed Approach

Tags

Antietam Farm, barn, canson XL watercolor tablet, farm buildings, graphite, illustration, oil pastels, Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels, springhouse, wagon shed, Waynesboro PA

wagon shed with vines

The Story Behind the Sketch:

The tendonitis I had quickly developed in my left wrist from over-use, had left me unable to sketch at all for a couple of weeks, –most distresssing!— but with the help of a brace, visualization/relaxation , and careful avoidance of use, I began to feel like I could try it again. 

After a three-week hiatus from painting-out with the group, I was missing my artist buddies. Hauling the chair, table, & other equipment needed for this activity, worked out okay thanks to help from friend George. The group went to the beautiful Antietam Farm outside Waynesboro, which has a delightful assortment of old  buildings including this wagon shed.

The Technical Stuff:

Canson XLwatercolor tablet, Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels, 5B graphite sketch pencil. Various acrylics brushes.

My Experience in Doing this Sketch: 

Having some use of my right hand now, I chose to use both in doing this sketch. First I drew in the general outlines of the bulding with the oil pastel using my left hand. I found that, in “thinking with my left” so to speak, my sense of perspective was different; it took some getting used to.  I did some brush work with both left & right, eventually falling  into a rythm of adding color with one hand & brushing water over it with the other.

The picture seemed to lack definition, as I find my work often does when using water-soluble media, so I outlined almost everything with a graphite sketch pencil. I made a point of doing this with my left hand so as to stay in practice.

One of those things that happens sometimes with outdoor sketching is that you have to change locations halfway through the sketch due to some weather condition, in this case hot sun. My painting partners & I actually had to move inside the wagon shed. Needless to say; I had to “wing it” from there on out. As a result I’m not sure I got the perspective correct, but then again , with old buildings, things are apt to be crooked anyway!

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2013. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.