Oil Paint Sticks

I’ve been experimenting with oil paint sticks. These are a kind of cross between oil pastels and oil paint. The sticks are much larger than oil pastels.
To give an idea of size, here is a pencil with an oil pastel and a paint stick.

Because these paint sticks are so large, I used a large canvas, about 24”x24”.
Here is the painting I did. I’m not sure yet if it is finished…

Oil paint on canvas, 24x24”

The overall colors in this painting are a bit different than my typical. I only had about a dozen colors. Although these paints are in stick form, almost as soon as you rub the stick on the canvas, the paint liquefies. So it becomes difficult to lay down several clean colors in the same area. Luckily these paints dry quickly, so I can come back later and put one color over another. This is a very different way of working. I’ve picked up a few more colors and will try more experimenting with this medium.

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And some days, whimsy just takes over…
One day as the above painting sat on my easel; I glanced at it and thought “they look like social butterflies”. And since I was in the mood for a bit of whimsy, I did a quick sketch of these “social butterflies”…

Metallic oil pastels on black paper, 6x8”

Hope you got a grin out of this, I did….