Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
Combining Chalk and Oil pastels
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Message
Posted
Why not use white soft pastel on highlights on the flowers ( Valerian) thanks Collette the name was escaping me. Use a blender to soften them and a bit of stark white in empathis l in my book it's a painting in pastel?Thanks. That's certainly worth a try. I think my problem may have been using too much black in the background, which then mixed with the rose colours I used for the Valerian. White would certainly improve it and give it highlights. I'm not really a flower man and have done very few of them, which shows I think.
Posted
I have pastels, but really only use them for colour notes - i.e. small sketches of something I'm planning on a bigger scale, in oil, acrylic or watercolour. However - as well as the suggestions above, I'd suggest fixing the work, or part of it, before trying to add brightly coloured flowers. I'm not fond of fixative, really, but a light coating can help a lot. Also - a professional pastel set probably would have had a colour of the intensity you required (especially as valerian isn't really THAT intense a colour; we have a fair bit of it around here - it can look quite intense en masse, and with the sun beaming down on it, but I think I have a few Intense pastels (possibly Inscribe, I'm too lazy to hoick them out right now to check!) which would be up to the job. You could also apply a little water, on a brush - get your mid-tones with the brush and water, then add the darks and brighter lights. Another technique: fixative + pick out the flowers in opaque white + fixative + stabs of strong colour, maybe a version of rose/magenta in this case. None of this is a guarateed fix - experimentation on spare bits of pastel paper would be worth doing. All I know about oil pastel is that I've had mine for far too long and they weren't very good ones in the first place - I've combined them with all sorts of materials, but not, I think, with soft pastel - I've seen it done, though; it can work well: but probably only in the hands of someone with massive experience.... the painting I saw using them combined pastel, oil pastel, acrylic paint, and scribing into the pastel with a razor blade - the sort of work that needs a well thought-out plan to start with, or I can see it going horribly wrong. I don't know if his work is still discoverable on this site, but we had an artist named Mick Saunders, aka Bloodaxe, who produced interesting multi-media work; he died some while ago (Sylvia will remember him) - his nickname suited his temperament, but if his work can still be found here, it's worth a look.Thanks for this. Yes, I think a professional set with more intense colours would have helped a lot. I like your suggestion of starting with mid-tones then adding dark and light afterwards. I started with black, but it was probably mixing with the the pinks as I did the flowers, dulling the colours. Fixing it before the next layer is probably the way I should have gone, except I don't have any. In fact I didn't know you could apply something to fix soft pastels. I wanted to to finish it before I leave here tomorrow, so I'll try something else this time. I think I'll scrape it all off and start the flowers again.
Posted
https://www.painters-online.co.uk/gallery/?Search=Mick+Saunders Those pastels I've got - well, I have two or three brands - were Mungyo: don't know where on earth I got Inscribe from. I also have some Daler-Rowney pastels (which I think I got as a prize from PoL!): there are certainly some very vibrant colours there which should suit your subject. Looking up Mick's work won't necessarily help with your dilemma, but - it is worth a look, for his techniques and mix of materials.I think I will buy some new chalk pastels, with more intense colours. You get what you pay for!
Posted
I've never tried oil pastel. I use Faber-Castell or Mungyo. I prefer using Mungyo. I've never found any problems building up colour intensity. In your photo, there appears to be quite a lot of blue in the purple of the flowers in the foreground and on the left side of the larger blooms. If the flowers had been done in soft pastel, the cooler blue shades first, then build the purples and pink shades then highlights. If you fill the tooth, you can spray it a bit with water to bring back the tooth of the paper but I'm not sure you can do this with oil pastel. If you want to make highlights look brighter, add more darks.Thanks Denise. I never thought of spraying it with water, which a couple of you have mentioned. I'll maybe try that. I didn't want to use oil pastels at all - it was last ditch effort to get the colours. I'd rather it was all done in soft pastels. I'll scrape it all off and start the flowers again methinks.
Posted
No one has mentioned Unison pastels - very soft, very vibrant, excellent all round. The majority of mine are Unison - you can get sets of similar shades ( eg “ jewel” colours) or buy them individually in art shops. They are expensive but they are optimum quality.I'll look out for them. Thanks! I could have done with them this morning, as I tried to fix the drawing.
Posted
That's a great deal better - the flowers look as though they belong, rather than being - well, a bit of an oddity in the landscape. I think what this proves is that you're going to find it very difficult to achieve the results you want if you haven't got the necessary equipment; it's just a pity that this equipment is so perishing expensive....
Posted
Robert is right… that is a lot better! They do now look more blended in with the surrounding landscape.
One of the problems with slavishly copying from a photo, is that you can easily become a slave to it. Trying to get every detail in the right place and looking for exact colour matches!
Much better in my view, and I won’t be alone here, is to use the photo as reference, then just go for it and do your own interpretation of the scene.
That’s my personal view of course, but I’m not taking anything away from the fact that you’ve done a sterling job here.
Just one final observation… those distant hills/mountains have very hard edges, irrespective of the photo, I would soften them considerably!
Posted
Here's the final work. I've softened the hard edges and tweaked a couple of bits. Still not happy with the flowers, but as you said, Robert, I would need softer, more intense pastels to get what I want without really grinding the colour in (which almost poked a few holes through the paper). I might do a painting from it. We'll see. Thanks everyone for your advice.
