Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Silver Tabby Cat in Oil Pastel

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I've had a set of Sennelier Oil pastels for quite some time but hadn't tried them out.
I always felt that I wouldn't enjoy them as they didn't appear to be something I could get the detail I like due to their nature.
However I decided to have a go at a cat.
I used Duck Egg Blue Ingres mountboard and the size is about 4 x 6.
I used the pastels themselves to lay down the colour and then blended with my little finger. I then added small dots and lines of colour and again gently blended with my finger.
For the finer detail I used a small colour shaper to move the colour about.
At the end I painted the whiskers in white liquid acrylic.
Although the oil pastels will not replace coloured pencil or acrylic I will certainly use them again but next time I will try a smoother surface, the mountboard had too much tooth which made getting fine lines hard.
I did enjoy adding the flecks in the eyes, the pastels were ideal as I could add tiny dots of colour.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

looks great gayle,not the easiest medium to get detail with especially when working at such a small scale.i used to enjoy using oil pastels many moons ago,such a tactile medium and like you i enjoyed getting me digits dirty!

Gayle Mason said...

Thanks Clive, I have to admit there was something very satisfying in 'smooshing' the colour about and not worrying about being precise.

Bev said...

Very nice Gayle, I also love to use oil pastels, I use mountboard, you can lay the colour on quite thickly and move it about, very satisfying. I find detail quite difficult to get...you have done well on such a textured paper.

Colette Theriault said...

Thanks for the info and feedback Gayle on how you used the oil pastel. I love the color shapers too and use them alot for dry pastel but haven't tried oil pastel in a long time. You did an amazing job...lovely little piece.

Jan said...

It's gorgeous, as usual. You should work more with the oil pastels as they seem to suit you.

NelisArt said...

I am animal portraitist myself I have no word but : great,great,great. Their eyes are especially magnificent!

Dean Grey said...

Incredible as always, Gayle!

I especially love the green in the cat's eyes!

Happy New Year to you!

-Dean

Gayle Mason said...

Thank you all, I've added a few more colours to my set so I'm looking to start another one.

Claudine said...

Just found your little blog - and have to say as a cat lover - and animal lover - you got the eyes perfect. They have great depth. I look forward to seeing more of your work!