How to use oil pastels - for the beginner by Regina Donaldson

Using oil pastels as a medium for canvas-based painting is no longer any different at all from using regular, petroleum-based oil paint. Oil pastels are easy and flexible to work with; offering artists of all skill levels an unlimited armory of creative potential. Most importantly, oil pastels are also considered a safe alternative to both oil pains and soft pastels.

For centuries, artists have had to give up oil paints, especially in their old age, as the dust associated with oil paint itself caused health concerns. In the 1950s, advances in the science of oil-like pastel paint made it possible to produce the first-ever dust-free alternative, but painters have never taken to it until recently, when they got the formulas just right… Over time, the blacks finally became dark enough; the hues finally became separate enough, and so on. The end result is that we now have a dust-free, ecology-friendly alternative to oil-based paints that can be made into tube or stick form, and perform just as well in every way. It's taken over 50 years for science to get the formula just right, but in the 1990s they finally succeeded in producing a non-petroleum-based paint that had no harmful effects to the environment, and best of all, no dust!

The man who wrote the book on how to use oil pastels, quite literally, has a lot to say on this subject. In 1983, an artist from New York by the name of John Elliot wrote the very first article on how to use oil pastels, even before the formula had been perfected, for the prestigious American Artist magazine. For many years before that he passionately worked towards pushing paint manufacturers into speeding along the progress of their work towards perfecting the paint. If there is any one many behind the phenomenon of oil pastels, it is John Elliot.

Often noted as the world's leading authority on oil pastel paints, his 2002 book, Oil Pastel for the Serious Beginner: Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Painter (Watson-Guptill publications) demonstrates step by step how to become a master of oil pastels. He covers every aspect of oil pastels in this book, far more than I can even hint about here. He includes the history, the chemistry, and the techniques of oil pastels, or "dust free pastels" as he would like us to refer to them, as the name 'oil pastel' implies that they are a petroleum derivative, which they are not.

Unfortunately, many artists will still have issues with the high price tag associated with these perfected paints. Perhaps they aren't for everyone, at least not at the beginner's level. Still, finding the right medium to work in is a very crucial first phase for any artist, so you really should give oil pastels a try if for no other reason than to make sure that the cost should not be justified. The following is a way to inexpensively make your own oil pastels, although the sharpness and overall quality will naturally not be as good as the professional grade.

Start with manufacturing a Gum tragacanth solution. (1 part gum tragacanth powder, 30 parts distilled water, & a cap-full of alcohol)

Simply put the gum tragacanth, available at a fine arts store, into a clean bottle and stir in just enough alcohol to make a soft paste. Then add the water, shaking it all together. The hard part is that tragacanth can't be forced to bond within 2 whole days, only then will it absorb all the water and swell into a true gelatinous suspension.

Next, combine equal parts of dry pigment (of your favorite color) and zinc white, (also both available at that same fine arts store) with just enough distilled water to make a stiff paste. Once mixed, add just enough Gum solution (that you finished letting sit for two days) to allow you to grind it with a pallet knife until the paste is completely smooth.

Finally, deposit the soft color paste on a blotter or newsprint and let it absorb most of the moisture before shaping it into sticks. Use room temperature, or only slight heat, too much will cause cracking.

You can roll these oil pastels directly to pastel paper or cardboard and use in the traditional way you are used to. Again, I must stress that this method will produce a more basic, dusty version of oil pastels, not the expensive, but worthwhile grade that you can buy from your local art supply warehouse. Still, considering the low price of these materials, there is probably no better way to get started in oil pastels, and of course to reduce the risks when just trying them out.

If you haven't yet given oil pastels a try, or if you know you like them but still feel they are too expensive, I encourage you to attempt this recipe a try. There are few mediums as rewarding as oil pastels on canvas, in both performance and product. You owe it to yourself to at least learn more about this wonderfully evolved medium, and of course how to use oil pastels.

About the Author: Thriving artist Regina Donaldson is a professional painter with pieces in several galleries throughout the Southwest. Visit her oil paint informational website for free tips, techniques, and resources on all oil painting mediums, including more instruction on how to use oil pastels: http://www.oil-paint.info

 

Learn How to Draw Using the "Five-S" Method by Will Kalif

One of the difficult things about learning to draw is understanding the process an artist uses to go from a blank piece of paper to a completed drawing. The “Five-S” method is an easy way to understand how an artist does it and how you can do it too.

Drawing is not a process where an artist starts at one end of the paper and works his way to the other end and by the time he gets to the right side of the paper the drawing is done. Drawing is a process of creating an object, subject, or scene on paper in stages. With each successive stage the object comes closer to looking realistic.

Of course every artist is different and that means that every artist has his or her own process of drawing but they all come down to five simple steps that you can learn and follow. Here are the steps:

 

1. Silhouette 2. Shape 3. Shade 4. Smudge 5. Shadow

This method, called the Five-S method is really easy to follow and you just progress through the steps from beginning to end. Here is an explanation of what each step means.

1 Silhouette: This is the first step. What you do here is look carefully at the subject you are drawing and then in light lines you draw a silhouette of it on the blank piece of paper. In this step you don’t have to do just the outside lines of the subject you can do some of the inside lines too. But keep them very scant and very light.

2. Shape: Fill in the internal lines of the subject. Use the strokes and directions of your pencil to represent the shape of the parts of the subject. If a part of the subject is curved you should use curved lines in that area of the drawing and in any flat sections you should use straight lines. But for now you are not filling anything you are just getting the shapes right.

3. Shade: This is where you fill in the shapes with either color or shades of grey. Look carefully at your subject and note how light falls on it. This is the most important aspect of this step because even if a surface is all one color it may have different shades of that color depending on how light affects it.

4. Smudge: You can use your finger for this step but it is preferable to use a tortillon (blending stump). Very few subjects or objects are composed of sharply defined lines. Everything is composed of subtle gradations of color that flow around and through the surfaces. You should blend the colors on your subject using strokes that follow the shape of the subject – rounded areas should be done with rounded strokes etc.

5. Shadow: This is the final step. Look to see how your object or objects cast shadows on themselves or on the things around them and add these shadows. If you are using color in your drawing the shadows should be composed of darker shades of the same color. This will ground your object in reality. You should also use an eraser to erase any graphite or color from areas that have bright light reflections on them.

Drawing is not magic but it does take practice, skill, and an understanding of the process that is taken in order to go from a blank piece of paper to a finished product. The Five-S method is a good way of helping you to understand and to remember this process.

For More creative ideas and Projects visit the author's website at: Storm The Castle - Creativity and Medieval Fantasy with an edge. Or visit his site devoted to learning Fantasy art at: The Free Fantasy Art School

 

Brilliant Ideas: How to Have Them by Andrew Broadhead

The way to be creative and have brilliant ideas is very simple, but it is a technique that many people do not feel comfortable using.

To have great ideas, you must come up with lots and lots of ideas. Your ideas will, of necessity, be good, bad AND ugly. Most of them will be so awful that you will almost certainly dismiss them before you even allow yourself to write them down.

This is a massive mistake. Brilliant people have just as many bad ideas as everyone else. The difference is that they do not let that fact stop them from writing the idea down and then coming up with loads more ideas. They simply set aside their judgement while they are in the brainstorming phase and then later on they discard the ideas that are not so brilliant.

The secret is to trust that if you come up with enough ideas and do not judge them at all, you will eventually come up with a few good or even brilliant ideas.

Sound too good to be true? How many people do you know that actually allow themselves to come up with lots of bad ideas? Not too many I would imagine. Most people are so conditioned by society to judge everything, that anything different or new gets automatically discarded as rubbish.

Try this technique with honesty and an open mind. It never fails - assuming you stick with it. Remember though, you may have to have a thousand ideas that do not work until you get one that does. If you do not believe this, look up one of the greatest inventors of all time, Thomas Edison, on the net to see how many attempts it took him to invent the light bulb...

Most aspiring artists are told to throw away their first 100 paintings because the chances are they will be cliched or simply not very good. In the same way, potential novelists are told that they will probably have to write around a million words before they are any good, or that they will more than likely not get a publishing contract until they have written three or four novels. I ask again, how many of us are that dedicated that we would stick it out? Success comes to those that persist and never quit.

Visit the author's self-improvement & spirituality blog

After a highly successful career in sales, Andrew gave up the 'rat race' almost four years ago and now writes and works from his home in rural Derbyshire, UK. Having been on a spiritual path for most of his adult life, Andrew now feels inwardly compelled to share some of the things he has found along the way.

You can read more from Andrew at http://solotow.blogspot.com where he discusses all manner of self-improvement and spiritual matters.

 

Placing your precious paintings in storage by Sandy Cosser

There are occasions when it is necessary to place valuable possessions in storage. In these instances, it’s important to see that the storage conditions are conducive to the safety and preservation of your valuables. Works of art, and paintings in particular, are vulnerable to changes in the environment and can be easily damaged owing to excessive handling. Many materials are used when creating an oil or acrylic painting, such as fibreboard support material, preparation layers, various layers of paint, and varnish. Each of these will react differently to handling and the environment, and will contribute to the condition of the painting.

 

Each time a painting is handled there is an increased chance that it can be damaged. Changes in environment can also have an adverse effect on its preservation. In dry environments, such as an attic or household that’s dependent on heating, the paint is particularly vulnerable to cracking. If it’s necessary to transport a painting in cold weather, ensure that the transportation vehicle is heated. The optimum condition for the transport of paintings is moderate temperature and a neither too high nor too low humidity level.

 

Packaging of the painting for transport is extremely important. Wrapping should include moisture and water resistance, and puncture and dent resistance at the front as well as the back. The wrapping should also include insulation against extreme heat, coldness and sudden changes in temperature, and should be cushioned for shock absorption and protection against bumps and accidental drops. After the successful transportation of your painting, you must take the appropriate measures for its safe storage. Try to match the climate conditions of the storage facility as closely as possible to those in which the painting will ultimately be displayed. Airflow is an important factor in the storage of paintings. They should be raised off the floor for maximum airflow and to prevent possible water damage. Cotton sheets should be used as covers, as this will prevent mould.

 

If you are storing many paintings it’s advisable to insert carton dividers between them to avoid undue pressure. Interior walls are best for stacking your paintings, as they are drier than exterior walls. If the storage is long-term, examine the paintings from time to time to check for degradation. On these occasions they should be dusted, and the covers and other means of protection should be changed. Sachets of silica gel, which absorb moisture from the air, can be used to protect the paintings from humidity.

 

Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting, the Mona Lisa, is an example of a brilliant work of art showing visible signs of wear and tear. The Louvre, in Paris, has made a relatively controversial decision to not restore old paintings simply because they look old. They believe that works of art should look their age. This is why the sky in the Mona Lisa remains a coppery colour instead of a vivid blue, as it was originally painted. Curators at the museum say that the coppery look has been acquired through the repeated application of varnish over several centuries.

 

The National Gallery in London, on the other hand, follows a different approach. It removes built up, yellow varnish from its paintings and applies a fresh, clear coat. Restorers know that the process will have to be repeated, perhaps in a 25-year cycle, but they believe that paintings should be viewed as the artists intended them.

 

Paintings are often bought, not only for their beauty and aesthetic value, but also as investments. Well maintained works of art can double or triple in value, making them an excellent return on investment. To keep them in good condition, however, it’s necessary to pamper them and treat them as delicate, but temperamental, loved ones. Taking the proper care when displaying, and especially when storing them, could result in a monetary sum that makes the effort worthwhile. Recommended Sites: http://www.preservation.gc.ca/howto/articles/painting_e.asp#top, http://www.sternart.com/article_item.asp?ID=1, http://www.oberlin.edu/alummag/oamcurrent/oam_fall2002/main_conservation_1.htm.