Pastels

In some languages, 'pastel' means candy. I'm loving these oil pastel pieces so much, they are my candy today.

The other day, I watched a tutorial from Julie Gibbons on oil pastel portraits and got some ideas like how to spread the color into a large space, layer color, and then blend the pastels.

I saw how to drop in the lighter colors first and then build upon them with darks to get fuller color.

I used the techniques I learned and then departed into techniques of my own, but mostly because of necessity; my oil pastels are likely old and they are tough to work with. My pastels cake up in places and small markings unintentionally marr the appearance of an otherwise interesting and smooth piece of art.

So, to get the caked bits off of my piece, I used a palette knife. I made a couple of scrapes accidentally, then realized the texture could be really great.

So I kept going.

I love the result. It's sort of like scratchboard, only I didn't need any special equipment- just a pencil to start, followed by the palette knife.

I'll keep going~ I always do

And the best part? No sugar.