This is an 8x10 oil pastel painting of a reference photo used on WetCanvas.com's March monthly oil pastel forum challenge. Oil pastels are challenging when it comes to rendering small detailed (like the rigging lines on the boat). Overall, I like how this came out given that it was done fairly quickly.
This is my first attempt at an animal portrait, and it was a challenge. This is done in oil pastels on bristol vellum paper about 9x12". The image is a reference image from the March WetCanvas.com oil pastels March challenge forum. I was pleased with how the pup turned out overall, since I am definitely NOT a portrait artist. The obvious problem with the image is that his nose is too far to the left - it needs to be further to the viewer's right to be consistne with the rest of the head.
This image was done while sitting in front of the TV for an evening. It is from a reference photo on WetCanvas.com's February landscape challenge. It is 9x12" using Holbein oil pastels on Canson watercolor paper. The light yellow ochre spot in the background is an area where the sun is bursting through the foliage, thus overpowering any other detail in that area. *** Looking back on this now (March '09), I would add a little detail to the light area upstream, to avoid confusion as to what really is back there. The water and the trees on the right turned out ok for my current skill level (or lack thereof!).
This image was done for WetCanvas.com's February Landscape channel monthly challenge. It is 9x12" in oil pastels on Canson watercolor paper. I like how this turned out overall, having spent a lot of time in high desert canyon situations. But, the image needs much more contrast - specifically some much darker areas. Value contrasts and changes are something I now (March, '09) know are critical to an image - at the time I painted this, those maxims weren't emphasized in my thought process (such as it is!). There is a saying (don't know from who) - "Value does the work, but color gets the credit." Too many of the colors here are the same basic value. I do like how the water and cliffs turned out for my limited experience level.
This is an oil pastel painting of a stone - painting size about 4x4" on 9x12 Canson watercolor paper - for the "100 Stones" project on WetCanvas.com. The first attempt was of a different subject, a very interestingly colored (red and grays) round rock. Unfortunately it turned out looking to flat in the rendering and so it was consigned to the 'no one but me is ever going to see this one' file...! That file is, as you can probably tell from looking at the posted images, quite full, sigh.
Here is an image painted with oil pastels today. The reference photo was posted on wetcanvas.com as the 'January Monthly Challenge' image. Each month, the various forums on wetcanvas typically have a new image(s) that is posted for members to paint, post and critique. I am new to the oil pastel medium (actual to all media!). I am fairly pleased with how this image came out, though I admit to chickening out about including a figure walking on the sidewalk in the reference photo...! The left side of the lighthouse column should be shaded more. And the roofs on the near buildings - actually the near buildings period - lack correct perspective. At this point in my artistic development, I'm just happy that the lighthouse is recognizable!
