Tabby Cat in Oil Pastel

'Fluffy' 6 x 6 inches

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I was clearing out a cupboard and found my oil pastels so it seemed like a good idea to stop cleaning and start creating.

I had a pack of three 6 x 6 inch Ampersand gessobords so decided to see how oil pastel worked on one.

I put a fairly thick basecoat down first which I then blended, using my finger for larger areas and a colour shaper for the smaller. On top of that I started adding more colour for the details, again using a colour shaper to draw out fine hairs. I kept the end of the shaper damp which I found made it easier to move through the pastel without dragging the colour in uneven strokes.

Once there was a thick layer of oil pastel I scratched into it using the broken end of a paintbrush (Cody was responsible for the demise of my brush) to create even finer hairs and the whiskers.

I was pleasantly surprised with the detail I could achieve.

Background Change on Maine Coon

While I had the oil pastels out I painted a Maine Coon cat using both oil pastels and acrylics. I used a grey mountboard to work on and didn't add a background.


However after revisiting the image I decided the colour of the background didn't add anything at all, in fact I decided it was detracting from the cat. So gave it a blended oil pastel background.


Here are the before and after versions, I've also changed the crop on the final version although I'm still undecided on that.

Goals for 2010

'The Hypnotist'

oil pastel, 4 x 6 on Ingres Mountboard

I've taken my time thinking what I want to achieve this year in terms of my art, the start of the decade seems to be a good time to really look at what direction I want to go in.

So here are my goals for 2010:-

1. Continue to blog at least 3 times a week, realistically I know I will not become a daily poster but I will continue to be a regular poster.

2. Following on from the success of my first step-by-step I will produce at least two more, the second will be a dog's eye and nose, and is at the planning stage.

3. Continue to experiment with oil pastels and start working with oil paints.

4.Enter 'Wildlife Artist of the Year' and the BBC Wildlife Magazine Artist of the Year

5.Submit work to NEWA, SOFA and SWLA

6.Take a workshop with Terry Isaac in September

7. Produce 1 large work a month and at least one small work a week.

8. Produce a body of work with a more contemporary feel, a single animal, or group of animals on a plain white back ground with a hint of reflection. (I know what I want but the image isn't easily translated into words)

9. Have stands at 3 cat shows and Patchings Art, Craft and Design Festival

10. Continue to study and start to proce otanical work.

Silver Tabby Cat in Oil Pastel 2

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I really enjoyed working with oil pastels and the first cat proved to be a hit so I've painted a second one.

This is also 4 x 6 on Duck Egg Blue Ingres mountboard.

I've added some Caran 'Ache Neopastels to my set of Sennelier ones. These have a really nice range of grey and brown and are slightly harder than the Senneliers which are really soft. I found it easier to create a sharper line although the whole effect is softer than my usual coloured pencils or acrylic.

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.