Another Oil Pastel Island Landscape -and the Procedure I Used

 I worked through a procedure to render the oil pastel.  I had made a number of value thumbnail sketches in my notebook and chosen one to render in oil pastels.  Once the sketch was done I taped the 5" x 7" card to my work desk.  

I taped the 5" x 7" card to the art desk that is front of the window looking out to the back yard and set up the styrofoam plate and practice pad for work.

The outline of the main parts has been done and the card taped to the art desk.

I have set out my harder oil pastel set that I use to set the base layer for the painting.

I have my brushes and odourless turpentine ready for use.

My studio work place is set.  The sun comes in extremely bright through the south facing sliding glass doors in front of my work area.  I close the blinds to mute the intensity of the light.

I add red to the areas of darker value.

I brush on odourless turpentine to dissolve and spread the oil pastel over the drawing.  If the graphite drawing interferes I stop and use fixative before continuing.

Other value areas are established with the harder oil pastels.

 And then blended and spread with odourless turpentine.

Once I have chosen the pastels to work with I put them onto the styrofoam plate so I don't forget which ones I'm actually working with.

Once I have completed the first layer using the hard oil pastels I put them away under the art desk and open up my set of Sennelier oil pastels.  These oil pastels are soft and creamy and go on like impasto painting.

I test out a series of colour combinations until a get what I like.  I might even consult colour reference books or charts.

I start up at the top layering thick oil pastel. I paint the leaves, then the lake, and then the trunks and branches of the trees.

Here I have added the oil pastels I will use for the painting to the plate so that they will be handy to use.  I continue to work down the card until the painting is completed -blending and adding oil pastels as needed.

I put the finished painting on to an easel then get up and move about the room to see that it feels right.  I will put the card back onto the art desk then stand above it adding more pastel if required.
I like putting it up onto the blog site as I get to see it in a different light -sometimes readjusting the image with more oil pastels if I see a need.