Tag Archives: oil pastel

Oil Pastels

Almost two years ago I took an online Abstract Landscape class taught by Pauline Agnew. We used acrylic paint, and soft oil pastels and baby wipes.

During this class I painted exclusively on watercolor paper. I choose not to use canvas because when used with acrylic paint, they cannot be preserved with acrylic varnish. They need to be framed. We spent some time on Monet-like water lily paintings. I didn’t like mine particularly at the time.

Since I have now finished all of my paintings for an upcoming exhibit, I had some time to play with the oil pastels again. I did another water lily scene which I like much better than the former paintings.

Painting of water lily pads done with oil pastels

Water Lily Pads, acrylic and oil pastel on paper, 12 x 12 inches.

Oil pastels are a very different from soft pastels. They are greasier and from what I have read, do not work well for a realistic painting. They are good for expressive and impressionistic work because they glide so effortlessly and are very vibrant and creamy.

They can build up some subtle or dramatic texture as well, which you may not see with soft pastel. I have read that they lend themselves wonderfully to all sorts of techniques from scraping and stippling to color gradations and overlays.

As for mistakes, once you put them on paper or canvas, they are difficult to remove. I used baby wipes to spread around the color or to try to reduce it, but they cannot be removed completely.

I used Mungyo Artists’ Soft Oil Pastels because they were inexpensive and I didn’t know if I would like them. That was a good move on my part, because I don’t particularly like to work on paper and I don’t want to frame my paintings. They were an interesting experiment and I have friends who love them.

Painting Style

It seems that at least once a year I decide that I want to try some new painting technique or content focus.

I know that part of being a painter is having an identifiable painting style, that special something that enables someone to look at a painting and know that it is by you, regardless of what the subject of the painting is.

It appears that you develop your styles as you go through your life as an artist. I’d like to think you can have many different styles if you want to, and those will likely change as you grow as an artist. I certainly hope so, because I like to experiment.

Blues, acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14 x 1.5 inches, 2015. ©Ann Hart Marquis

The area that attracts me the most at this time is abstract art. I have been experimenting with new forms and ideas as I try to get more into the conceptual. As of yet I can’t say that it has given me any particular sense of painting freedom, I am definitely working a new area of my brain which feels exciting.

Here is another example of my exploration into the unknown.

Ann Hart Marquis-Blue Vase-painting style

Blue Vase, acrylic and oil pastel on paper, 18 x 22 inches, 2015. ©Ann Hart Marquis

How about You? Do you have any experiments in your future?

Oil Pastels

Since I have begun painting I have always heard that artists, no matter how long they have been creating art, should continue to take workshops, or classes or somehow continually expose themselves to something new.

The idea even goes so far as to suggest that if, for example you are an oil painter, you may learn new ideas from a sculpture class. Or if you are a writer, you may want to try painting.

I love going to workshops and taking classes whenever I can. With that idea in mind, I am now taking my first e-course. It is an abstract landscape painting class taught by Pauline Agnew who lives in Ireland.

I have an assignment every day except weekends and this first week has been a little daunting. So far I am keeping up with the work and using materials that I have not used before. For example, one of our first assignments was to copy one of Claude Monet’s water lily oil paintings in oil pastels. I have never used oil pastels before and it was a challenge for me. It was an additive/subtractive process using oil pastels, olive oil and baby wipes. I did a lot of drawing and wiping off so that under colors could show through. Here is my first attempt.

Ann Hart Marquis-Water Lily Pond, oil pastel

Feedback is always appreciated.