Project 6: Oil Pastels Final Design

After doing more sampling testing different supports out I went into my final design, as I have already reproduce other srtists work I decided to keep on the same theme. One painting sprung to mine which was Van Gogh's Starry Night which can be seen here, I started by doing a couple of quick sketches and then started on the final peice.

The quick sketches of part of the drawing, the second one has been done by adding Zest-it to the Oil Pastels. PLEASE DOUBLE CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO VIEW FULL SIZE





The below are the steps towards the Final Piece.









Evaluation:
Evaluation on Oil Pastels, overall I’m very happy I chose Oil Pastels as one of my materials to sample. I have only used them once before and didn’t really like using them, I did class Oil Pastels on same par with Wax Crayons due to the marks that they leave. I now know they are a very useful material that you can use in all different ways with other materials or purely by themselves. I can see myself using them every now and again or as a quick sketching material but I can’t see myself being converted to use Oil Pastels as my main medium. Oil pastels are very versatile, techniques span from using them in the same way as one would with scraper foil to using them like oil paints with a paintbrush. I have done a few paintings and drawing throughout this project but the one I finished with was the reproduction of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, personally I would say was the best in the project. I know it isn’t one of mine it’s a reproduction but I think you can learn a lot by studying and reproducing images from the Great Masters, if Van Gough can reproduce Millet’s The Sower then its certainly good enough for me.

The Van Gogh project went well and I I’m pleased with the overall outcome of the image. I have used a couple of techniques in the image which I have learnt when doing samples and experimenting with techniques throughout the project. I really enjoyed doing the final design and I think it shows in the image. I found the landscape part quite easy to do and I really took pleasure in doing the Cypress Tree. However when it came to the sky and the stars I did struggle, I found it hard to reproduce the look of the stars with the sky going around them. The Oil Pastels were just too thick and they were hard to control, in the end I ended up using the Sgraffito technique to scrap off the overspill from the pastels. To make it easier next time I will have to use thinner oil pastels or somehow sharper them to a fine point. Either that or I could use a larger support to work on then I wouldn’t require such thin lines. I think I have taken Oil Pastels as far as I can and the only way to get good with them is to practice with them over and over again. However I have had enough of Oil Pastels and I’m ready to sample different materials.