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Combining Chalk and Oil pastels
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Message
Posted
Just one final thing Bill - I forgot this but my “ avatar” was done with Unison pastels.I just looked up Unison pastels and they sound just the thing for me - very high pigment and little binder. Thank you! I have a birthday coming up, so maybe I can nudge my wife and daughters in that direction. I like your avatar, incidentally (Modigliani?). It's very well done.
Edited
by Bill Downie
Posted
I've been following this thread and interested in seeing how your pastel painting developed. I really like your final version, with the softer edges, and the highlights on the flowers. Perhaps we'll see more of your paintings/drawings of this lovely area? (And I hope your wife and daughters come up with those Unison pastels for your birthday!)
Posted
I use pastels and pastel pencils a lot, and oil pastels less frequently - although I really enjoy them. Oil pastels are great for impressionist work - which suits me - although they don't lend themselves to fine detail. You can use oil pastels over soft pastels once you've applied fixative, but you can't work back over your oil pastel flowers with any non oil based medium. I like the way you've applied the oil pastel energetically - but if you're going to try this stabbing technique again, you would do better with thicker paper that is designed for mixed media work or a stiffer support like mountboard.
Alternatively, you could try applying impasto acrylic over soft pastel, but you'd need to apply fixative to make sure the pastel underneath is stable and won't move. Alternatively, you could do the whole work in soft pastel and build it up in layers. I use fixative in between each layer. As long as you identify and block in your lightest lights first, the colour will brighten and intensify as you apply each subsequent layer.
Posted
I've just re-read what the others have said about different brands of soft pastel. I recently treated myself to some Jackson's own brand hand made soft pastels - which, like Unison are not cheap. They are different to the Inscribe and Daler Rowney half sticks I'm used to, which are harder and chalkier. I buy most of my art materials online from Jacksons, who also supply Unison and other brands. Their website includes product reviews which you might find helpful. In terms of choosing a support, and as well as mountboard I like working on coloured paper and I usually have a Canson MiTientes A3 pastel pad in my stash of art materials.
Posted
Hi Bill. I’ve never used oil pastels but use soft pastels. I stared with Inscribe pastels a few years ago which are very chalky and dusty,and relatively hard. I’ve invested a lot in Unison pastels which are expensive but full of pigment and vibrant. Having said that I do still at times use some inscribe pastels alongside Unison. It’s usually recommended to work from dark to light, putting highlights on last. If you have different makes of pastels, harder ones are used first with the softest last. I think your flowers need more tones of differing shades and look very similar to each other,whereas they would differ dependant on shade and light. I have also found that the paper you use makes a big difference. Clairefontaine Pastelmat, Canson mi-teintes “touch “ are two which have a great “tooth” and mean you can put lots of layers of pastel on without using fixative. I hope that helps a little! I must admit I’ve never mixed soft and oil pastels, but have used pastels over watercolour or acrylics .
Posted
I've been following this thread and interested in seeing how your pastel painting developed. I really like your final version, with the softer edges, and the highlights on the flowers. Perhaps we'll see more of your paintings/drawings of this lovely area? (And I hope your wife and daughters come up with those Unison pastels for your birthday!)Hi Sandra. Thanks for your comments and apologies for the delay in responding. We were travelling home yesterday. Newcastle in County Down is a beautiful coastal town, with the Mourne Mountains as a backdrop. I probably will do more art from the photos we took and post it. It's a very photogenic area. Yes, here's hoping I get some decent pastels. It was always my favourite medium, as I'm more of a drawer than a painter.
Posted
I use pastels and pastel pencils a lot, and oil pastels less frequently - although I really enjoy them. Oil pastels are great for impressionist work - which suits me - although they don't lend themselves to fine detail. You can use oil pastels over soft pastels once you've applied fixative, but you can't work back over your oil pastel flowers with any non oil based medium. I like the way you've applied the oil pastel energetically - but if you're going to try this stabbing technique again, you would do better with thicker paper that is designed for mixed media work or a stiffer support like mountboard. Alternatively, you could try applying impasto acrylic over soft pastel, but you'd need to apply fixative to make sure the pastel underneath is stable and won't move. Alternatively, you could do the whole work in soft pastel and build it up in layers. I use fixative in between each layer. As long as you identify and block in your lightest lights first, the colour will brighten and intensify as you apply each subsequent layer.Hi Bobbiie. Thanks for your advice. I'm a big fan of pastels too, although I've never tried the pencils. I've never used fixative either, so I'll look out for it next time I'm near an art shop - and remember your advice. I actually did redo the flowers with chalk pastels, after scraping off as much of the oil pastel as possible. It kind of worked, but I'm still not happy with the flowers. I did it on holiday, otherwise I'd have used acrylics for them. I only stabbed the oil pastel on because it was the only way of getting colour on the paper. I'm not averse to trying new things though. Whatever works!
Posted
I've just re-read what the others have said about different brands of soft pastel. I recently treated myself to some Jackson's own brand hand made soft pastels - which, like Unison are not cheap. They are different to the Inscribe and Daler Rowney half sticks I'm used to, which are harder and chalkier. I buy most of my art materials online from Jacksons, who also supply Unison and other brands. Their website includes product reviews which you might find helpful. In terms of choosing a support, and as well as mountboard I like working on coloured paper and I usually have a Canson MiTientes A3 pastel pad in my stash of art materials.Thanks for this. I'll look at Jackson's website - quite a few on this forum have spoken well of their products. Coloured paper sounds good too. I'm a landscape man - any recommended colours for that?