Changed to new Blog site

I am setting up a website and have moved my blog to that location.
My new blog is at:
http://artblog.oilpastelstudio.com/

And my website is still under construction but can be found at:
http://oilpastelstudio.com/

I hope you will come visit.

Testing Subscription Service

I added a subscriptions service to this blog. What is supposed to happen is once you sign up, you get an email notice whenever I update this blog.
I just subscribed with one of my other email addresses so I'll see if it works.

Three on a Popsicle

Three on a Popsicle, 8x9” oil pastel on canvas

I have been reading a lot about edges. How when an eye focuses on something, that something is in focus with sharp edges and high contrast. But everything else is slightly blurred with soft edges between colors and shapes. And that an artist can use that to guide a viewer into the painting.
So I have tried the concept with this painting. Only my focal point has sharp edges and high contrast. Can you guess what the focal point is?

This was adapted from a WetCanvas WDE photo by bjcpaints.

Self-Portrait: End of the Day

I’ve always found that the better I know a person the harder it is to do a portrait of that person. It seems that my mind “knows” what the person looks like rather than letting my eyes “see” the person. And I end up struggling and not being able to get a likeness.

So I’m doing a self-portrait to work on this issue since I am the one person I have the most pre-conceived notions about and really truly “see” the least.

In keeping with the looser style of painting I’ve been doing lately, I just did a minimal sketch and then began laying down patches of color.
I did this from a mirror rather than a photo. If I’d used a photo, I would have gone through them until I found one that I looked good in. Instead I used the mirror and got what I got, forcing me to really look.


It does look like me a little but some of those preconceived notions did come through like the forehead is far too tall and the eyes are a bit too deep and too blue.

Also, since I was using a mirror, every time I looked at the paper and looked back up I had to reposition my model. So I think the face came out a bit narrow.

But overall for a first effort, not too bad but definitely room for improvement.


9x12” oil pastel on paper