Look, I made a mudpie!
It’s not so much a literal mudpie, since this was with oil pastels instead of clay, just figuratively.
A couple months ago, I came across a “basic art kit” box that I’d picked up from a thrift store. It’s got some watercolors, some charcoals, some oil pastels, and paper, all basically unused. All terribly cheap, I’m sure, and the packaging and ‘how to’ booklets look rather 70s or 80s. I played with the charcoals a couple times a few years ago, but that’s about it.
However, after a lovely trip down to New Orleans this last weekend, I have once again found myself wanting to Do Some Art. This year, as we wandered through art galleries and past street artists, I found myself drawn to the colors in the art we passed. Back at home, I started eyeing the oil pastels. I’d never used them before and had no real idea how to use them, other than “sort of like crayons but more squishy”.
Last night, I promised myself that I’d give them a try in the morning, but this morning I wasn’t having any subject matter ideas. I hit up Facebook for ideas, and then DuckDuckGo for a few “how to oil pastel” pages to get some kind of clue. Then I gave it a whirl.
It’s pretty clearly a first-try mudpie, which makes me feel awkward about posting it, but I said I would, so here you all go:
It’s supposedly a sunrise. Not sure it quite works like that, but …
There’s definitely some lessons learned here about blending and pressure and using heavier paper, so I’m pretty happy with the experience. Perhaps more soon … I got some other prompts on Facebook, if I can dig up some heavier paper.
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