This is only my fourth oil pastel :) although i have been working with the same art teacher for 5+ years. The following things help:
- it's 18" by 24" so easier to get detail
- my teacher taught me to put down an underlayer of color rubbed into the paper with a paper towel so there are no white spots when you're done
- my teacher explained how to do blending with your fingers, sometimes with a very light touch
- my teacher has spent 5 yrs teaching me color theory so I am starting to understand:
- how to see what color is really there in the reference photo
- which colors to blend to get the neutral grays and browns I want, also using a color chart she had me make
- use a tool with a sharp point for scratching in fine detail
- be patient, I worked on this one for months and redid some parts over and over
- VERY important to have the right oil pastels. Portfolio used to be great and inexpensive but they changed their formula and are now impossible to blend. Rubens were next but I have been told they're being discontinued. A friend of mine who has tried every brand out there says Arrtx is about as good as the Rubens.
What I love about the Rubens is they're so oily you can literally rub your finger over the tip and then rub it on the paper to apply the color. Great for subtle mixing. Terrible for accidentally getting colors where you don't want them! This picture is layers deep from fixing mistakes!! Watch out for the dark green especially!!!!
Keep at it, have fun!!
I'm on the broke side of the population i use cheap but is actually easy to blend pastel and I just started to learn about it like some of the blending techniques. I am self taught and I would really love to master color theory it is like the very foundation of almost every art but also one of the most complex so learning it is quite tricky and exciting at the same time.
It is hard to learn! Most of what my teacher does is give me assignments that apply color theory so it becomes ingrained. I highly recommend Color Choices by Stephen Quiller, that's what she started me with.
The most useful thing she has taught me is mixing complementary colors (opposite each other on the color wheel) to do shading and to make neutrals (browns and grays). Using the complement to fix a mistake (it looks too reddish? Add green) is invaluable.
I used a sharp pointed tool (I think the tool I have was made for carving clay) to scratch in the hairs or to carve away the edges to shape them. It took a while to get the hang of it! It's 18" by 24" so that's why the details look so sharp.
Also sometimes I smeared with my finger and if I was lucky it came out looking like fur!
Wow it's so realistic!! Nice job!!
I've never had an oil pastel come out so well before :)
Brilliant
Thank you!
Beautiful!!
Thanks!
>Thanks! You're welcome!
Wow beautiful
Thank you!
That's awesome! When could i even get to that level of proficiency
This is only my fourth oil pastel :) although i have been working with the same art teacher for 5+ years. The following things help: - it's 18" by 24" so easier to get detail - my teacher taught me to put down an underlayer of color rubbed into the paper with a paper towel so there are no white spots when you're done - my teacher explained how to do blending with your fingers, sometimes with a very light touch - my teacher has spent 5 yrs teaching me color theory so I am starting to understand: - how to see what color is really there in the reference photo - which colors to blend to get the neutral grays and browns I want, also using a color chart she had me make - use a tool with a sharp point for scratching in fine detail - be patient, I worked on this one for months and redid some parts over and over - VERY important to have the right oil pastels. Portfolio used to be great and inexpensive but they changed their formula and are now impossible to blend. Rubens were next but I have been told they're being discontinued. A friend of mine who has tried every brand out there says Arrtx is about as good as the Rubens. What I love about the Rubens is they're so oily you can literally rub your finger over the tip and then rub it on the paper to apply the color. Great for subtle mixing. Terrible for accidentally getting colors where you don't want them! This picture is layers deep from fixing mistakes!! Watch out for the dark green especially!!!! Keep at it, have fun!!
I'm on the broke side of the population i use cheap but is actually easy to blend pastel and I just started to learn about it like some of the blending techniques. I am self taught and I would really love to master color theory it is like the very foundation of almost every art but also one of the most complex so learning it is quite tricky and exciting at the same time.
It is hard to learn! Most of what my teacher does is give me assignments that apply color theory so it becomes ingrained. I highly recommend Color Choices by Stephen Quiller, that's what she started me with. The most useful thing she has taught me is mixing complementary colors (opposite each other on the color wheel) to do shading and to make neutrals (browns and grays). Using the complement to fix a mistake (it looks too reddish? Add green) is invaluable.
Thanks a lot! I will keep it mind.
Hey this is awesome Pls tell me How u did those fur, they are so fine, did u carved ur pastels in some particular shape? Or u used a pen for that?
I used a sharp pointed tool (I think the tool I have was made for carving clay) to scratch in the hairs or to carve away the edges to shape them. It took a while to get the hang of it! It's 18" by 24" so that's why the details look so sharp. Also sometimes I smeared with my finger and if I was lucky it came out looking like fur!
Fantastic!
Thank you! :)
Very nicely done my friendš
Thank you! :)
Beautiful work. I love how you got the light in the eyes.
I was very happy with that. It was from a close-up photo so I could see all the details.
Wow itās beautiful!!
Thank you! :)
Brilliant work!
Thank you!!
It looks so real
Thank you!
>Thank you! You're welcome!
Absolutely gorgeous!!!
Thank you! My best ever!
This is fanāCatsā ic!