Flower Posy oil pastel painting

Flower Posy

Oil pastel on watercolor paper

5"x5"

Available for purchase 

It has been such a long time between posts on the blog, and I apologise for that. I haven't been blogging much at all over the last few months. I have just returned re-energised from a superb holiday in Namibia. This painting is inspired by an article I read in the UK magazine 'The Artist' by Soraya French - an artist I much admire - on oil pastels. I used to use oil pastels a lot after I had to stop using soft pastels and before I started painting in oils. Her article inspired me to get out my oil pastels and paint especially the part where I discovered that Liquin can be used as a solvent to blend the pastel for the first step.

Recycling old watercolours

I have been recycling a lot of my old watercolor paintings that didn't make the grade by cutting them up and reusing the paper for smaller paintings. Usually there are some nice washes that make a nice ground for floral paintings.

About this painting

 I based this painting on some of my previous painting and included some reflections which always adds something extra. I lightly laid in large areas of colour and blended the pastel with a cloth dipped in a small amount of Liquin. I left large area of the watercolour wash alone.

I have a mixture of various oil pastels for example Daler Rowney, Neopastel and Sennelier. The Sennelier are the creamiest and are superb for the last couple of couple of layer. I left it overnight to harden, and then added a few thick dots and dashes using Senneliers.

How it might look framed