Oil Pastel Technique

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Creating the look of fur using oil pastels

I thought I would address how to paint hair (in this case a horse's coat) with oil pastels. I also have a lens about painting the look of hair in watercolor pencils.

I tend to work with oil pastels in a more impressionistic way, than I do in water soluble pencils. So creating a fur coat is less about putting in every little hair and more about directing line and color to achieve the visual effect of hair.

Since I am a sectional painter, (meaning, I like to work on one small area at a time and finish it, before moving on) the photos are of a small section of the whole painting.

I've been working in oil pastel for several years, and horses are my favorite subject to paint. This painting as is all of my work, (is copyrighted) and available for purchase in print off my website.

The addition of midtones
Finally add the lights
A different horse painting in process

more...

Greetings,

My name is Mona Majorowicz. I am a professional artist who has been making my living selling my work for some time now. I have been in the art and framing industry for over 20 years. I am an animal artist, (meaning I paint critters) who works primarily in Oil Pastel or Water Soluble Pencil.

Currently, I own and operate Wild Faces Gallery with my husband Mike, in a small rural town in Iowa. There we sell my original artwork and prints as well as do quality custom framing and offer Giclee printing for other artists.

I maintain a blog about art and the creative experience called Fur In The Paint, as well as write a regular column for Apples 'N Oats (an equestrian magazine) about painting horses.

Animals are my passion and art is how I choose to express it.

Begin with the initial line drawing.

To begin with, I need to have a fairly comprehensive drawing. Oil pastels stain my substrate (which in this case is 100% cotton rag museum board) so I need to have a good idea of what I am placing where, to avoid complications from having the wrong color in the wrong place. It is possible to scrape off a certain amount of color, but in general it wouldn't work to have too great a color shift. The underlying stain would show through any similar value color as well as anything lighter, placed over the top.

Also, I don't use turpenoids for blending. You get can get some great effects with turps. Like subtle blending or for painting with a brush. However, I love the mark making that using the straight oil pastel gives. I rely on laying color next to color to achieve my goals. Nearly all of my blending is done with the pastels themselves.

Start with your darks

The first thing I do is lay in my darks. In this case, black and darkest grays. Though it has a random scribbley look to it. I lay my lines in the direction that the horse's hair coat runs.

The addition of midtones

Next I add the mid-tone ranges of grays. I also add the periwinkle and ginger colors now. (one of my favorite color combinations) In this applications the gingers add warmth and the periwinkle provides pop.

Finally add the lights

And the final step is where I put in the lightest grays, creams and sparingly white. White, much like black, when used in excess can make a painting look flat and lifeless. However when used properly, you can achieve great contrast and highlights. Some blending and overlay is good. Too much though and you'll have mud.

A different horse painting in process

Here is another draft horse painting of mine, as a work in progress. I have often found a wealth of information in how to work a medium by looking at WIPs (works in progress.) So i've included this one because you can see all three stages (listed in the steps above) at one time, on the horses rump.

Fur In The Paint

I've been blogging about animals, art and the ceative experience for some time now. If you would like to see more of what I do and how I do it, please visit my blog.

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