Pastels and Watercolors (and a few other art media)

[snowbear94]

Thanks, Terri. I like the idea of acrylic inks, though I've never done ink as a larger work.
Here's the last. Pen & ink; I used raw umber acrylic ink, because I don't seem to have any black India ink. My colors are very limited so I went with just one.

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The whole set (clockwise from top left): Pastel, acrylic paint, pen & ink, watercolor. Now to figure out which I like the best.

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Thanks. I'm only slightly better at them than than pen and ink.
I like the pastels.

 

[waday]

I like the ink, but I’m biased.

 

[SquarePeg19]

This first one was loosely inspired by a photo on Instagram by one of the pnw photographers I follow. Check out jitabebe on Insta for some beautiful work. Second is based on an idea I had that ended up going in a different direction.

 

[snowbear94]

A little case if indigestion has struck, so now I'm mostly awake. One pastel, two ink and three acrylic (MLW and Lazy Lobster; Terri's split choices). Granted, I don't think it was a fair comparison as the watercolor isn't fully layered, but I think I'm going to go acrylic on canvas, which was my first inclination. I still want to do a larger pastel, but I have another photo in mind for that. Maybe this weekend.

 

[terri16]

This first one was loosely inspired by a photo on Instagram by one of the pnw photographers I follow. Check out jitabebe on Insta for some beautiful work. Second is based on an idea I had that ended up going in a different direction.

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Love that sky in the first one! Beautiful. Second one - fun idea, so keep following these sparks! Very cute!

 

[snowbear94]

This first one was loosely inspired by a photo on Instagram by one of the pnw photographers I follow. Check out jitabebe on Insta for some beautiful work. Second is based on an idea I had that ended up going in a different direction.

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I agree with Terri about the sky in #1. I like the wide-angle distortion in #2.

 

[snowbear94]

Playing with pastes, again. These are Lowe Cornell student oil pastels. I probably picked them up at Michaels or A.C. Moore (now the same place) for a few dollars. Not to bad, but I still have to learn techniques. I'm wondering if coverage improves with better sticks.


Pastel floral by Snowbear Photography, on Flickr

 

[terri16]

Soft pastel or oil, Charlie? Pretty palette here!

 

[snowbear94]

Oil. I also have a pack of Faber Castell soft pastels, again student, and I don't find them soft, at all. They seem to have the same characteristics at the hard, chalk-like set.

I'd like to include pastels as part of my repertoire, but obviously not spend a lot of money on them while I'm learning. I think I'm going to get five sticks or half-sticks (primaries, black & white) of a few makes, and compare. I'm interested in how they cover, blend, and the overall feel.

I am also shopping for the artist / pro level watercolors. I'll probably stay with tubes; Blick has empty pans so I can always pour paint into those, from the tubes for travel and plein air.

 

[terri16]

I'd like to include pastels as part of my repertoire, but obviously not spend a lot of money on them while I'm learning. I think I'm going to get five sticks or half-sticks (primaries, black & white) of a few makes, and compare. I'm interested in how they cover, blend, and the overall feel.

I'm guessing you mean oil pastels here? Here is a suggestion: instead of just a few sticks, indulge in a 25-count set of very inexpensive, but nice quality, oil pastels. For less than $10, you can get a box of these Cray Pas Expressionist op's. I started off with these and liked them so much I bought a larger set after a month or so of playing. These are definitely student grade, BUT they are the nicest I've worked with. Avoid Pentel op's: they are comparable in price, but are hard and crumbly.

Here's a quick shot of the Cray-Pas Expressionists:

I found these at Blick's for $9.48. !! They are cheap enough to be able to experiment with.

 

[terri16]

I'm wondering if coverage improves with better sticks.

The quality of the sticks will help them glide easier across the paper, for sure. They're all made with various combinations of just pigment, oil, and wax. Cheaper brands have more wax and are crumbly and stubborn to blend.

But here, for your sketch above, it's more technique. You might want to try covering larger amounts of the paper - for sky, or general background - by laying the stick on its side and sweeping it across. I like my Cray-Pas for this: I break off an inch-long piece or so, and then remove all the paper. I can cover even a 12x16 sheet pretty fast. You can layer over it several times in this manner if you like.

It's all personal preference. For a sketch-like look, you can use them like you did above, just with the ends, to get a fast and nice look. For sharper lines, take the ends and rub back and forth on blank scratch paper to make a nice, sharp round edge. (I waffle between that technique or just grabbing colored pencils, depending on what I'm painting.)

Looking quickly through my WIP pics, here's one where I used the side of an OP to cover the background, after making a sketch with graphite and colored pencil. You can see the marks are a good inch wide. Because OP's are a dry medium, you can get in closely. I ultimately filled in the whole page around the portrait with these deep red. (For some reason I was suddenly obsessed with getting a deep red portrait background when I did this. Who knows why.)

If you want to even it out for a nice, solid color, another trick is to get a cheap artist brush and dip it in a bit of Turpenoid. This is odorless, artist-blend turpentine, and it's a fantastic method to learn if you feel like exploring your options with OP's. More layout in cost, but a small bottle will last for a long, long time.

So the brush smooths out all those lines and you get the even color like this:

You can see the brush marks, top and bottom. Takes 5 minutes to do and, depending on your paper type, maybe 15-30 minutes to dry completely. And you can pick up your OP stick and go right over it. It's really cool.

Anyway - OP's can be fun, people say they're great for plein air (I'm not into that) because there's so little to carry, including no water. Just something to ponder.

 

[snowbear94]

Yes, oil pastels. I will get a set, but the idea of the primaries from different brands is like a test drive - see which I prefer. I will definitely include the Cray-pas in that lineup.

 

[SquarePeg19]

I have a set of “soft” pastels that are way too hard and chalky. They are what made me decide to try watercolor instead!

I did a couple of tutorials and had a few lucky individual attempts and decided I could learn on my own only to be disappointed in my latest attempts to paint from photos. Back to tutorials and practice for me.

first practicing trees and water

next a tutorial on a sunset lake that focuses on using colors on the warm side of the spectrum. It didn’t come out that good but I learned a few new tricks and enjoyed following along.

 

[snowbear94]

Learning techniques is the key. As you gain the technical knowledge, you'll get better at working from photos or live subjects.

I have my annual eye checkup, and have to get a rapid COVID test today (flying to ME on Friday). While I'm out, I'm going to pick up some stretched canvas. I'm really thinking about getting a roll and stretching it myself, but I'll probably wait until we move.

 

[waday]

I'm wondering if coverage improves with better sticks.

The quality of the sticks will help them glide easier across the paper, for sure. They're all made with various combinations of just pigment, oil, and wax. Cheaper brands have more wax and are crumbly and stubborn to blend.

But here, for your sketch above, it's more technique. You might want to try covering larger amounts of the paper - for sky, or general background - by laying the stick on its side and sweeping it across. I like my Cray-Pas for this: I break off an inch-long piece or so, and then remove all the paper. I can cover even a 12x16 sheet pretty fast. You can layer over it several times in this manner if you like.

It's all personal preference. For a sketch-like look, you can use them like you did above, just with the ends, to get a fast and nice look. For sharper lines, take the ends and rub back and forth on blank scratch paper to make a nice, sharp round edge. (I waffle between that technique or just grabbing colored pencils, depending on what I'm painting.)

Looking quickly through my WIP pics, here's one where I used the side of an OP to cover the background, after making a sketch with graphite and colored pencil. You can see the marks are a good inch wide. Because OP's are a dry medium, you can get in closely. I ultimately filled in the whole page around the portrait with these deep red. (For some reason I was suddenly obsessed with getting a deep red portrait background when I did this. Who knows why.)

View attachment 199880


If you want to even it out for a nice, solid color, another trick is to get a cheap artist brush and dip it in a bit of Turpenoid. This is odorless, artist-blend turpentine, and it's a fantastic method to learn if you feel like exploring your options with OP's. More layout in cost, but a small bottle will last for a long, long time.

So the brush smooths out all those lines and you get the even color like this:

View attachment 199881

You can see the brush marks, top and bottom. Takes 5 minutes to do and, depending on your paper type, maybe 15-30 minutes to dry completely. And you can pick up your OP stick and go right over it. It's really cool.

Anyway - OP's can be fun, people say they're great for plein air (I'm not into that) because there's so little to carry, including no water. Just something to ponder.

Thanks for the tip with the OP and turpenoid!