Sketchbook Sunday! Oil Pastel Avocado Anyone?

Hi friends! Since launching my Soft Pastel for Beginners course last week (FYI it’s 50% off for the month of February with coupon code COLOR) I have been asked a lot about oil pastels. I did not include oil pastels in that course as their properties are different but I did have fun playing with them this week in my sketchbook! The first brand I used (as shown in today’s video) was Royal & Langnickle. They seemed a bit weak and very crumbly but still got the job done with a bit of help from some oil paint.

Then I decided to see what else I had and I found a set of Pentel. They were much more pigmented and creamy, cost less than the Royal & Langnickle and are widely available. I sketched the egg on avocado toast picture with the Pentel, no oil paint needed. I don’t have a lot of brands of oil pastels, mostly they come in kits with other things so I don’t have a comprehensive overview of all the brands. I have been thinking about trying the Sennelier brand but I really need to prove to myself that they are something I will really use as I can have the tendency to fall in love with a product and they have to try all the brands and lose interest. Please say I am not alone in that…

In today’s sketchbook Sunday video I am working in my old faithful Fabriano Venice book. I like working on toned paper so I used some gouache to make a background. enjoy!

Supplies (Affiliate links used)

• Oil Pastels: I use Royal & Langnickle but the Pentel ones I tried after were so much better.
• Sketchbook: fabriano venice book
• Gouache for underpainting if desired
• Masking tape, paintbrushes
• Oils if need be

This was a lot of fun but I enjoyed painting the avocado toast more because the Pentel pastels were creamier, they reminded me of using Cray-Pas as a kid in school. I loved it when the teacher let us use those in class! Sometime you need to go back to feeling like a kid again when you create!

If you are interested in learning about soft pastels (the chalky ones) please check out my new Soft Pastel for Beginners Class, I have a 50% off launch month special running through the end of February, simply click on the discount link in the blog post or use coupon code COLOR if the discount doesn’t appear. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

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Optimistic Retro Fruit!

Hi friends!  I love bright colors and kitschy designs so when I doodled a little postcard with orange slices on it yesterday:

I knew I wanted to explore this subject more and thus was born my optimistic fruit from my imagination:

Fun huh? This took me about an hour to create but through the magic of YouTube you can see it come to life in about 15 minutes. I hope you enjoy! It is not a difficult painting, it is a fun piece you can doodle and get to know your supplies with. Feel free to use any water-soluble pastel or crayon you have and paint along. I’ll also list the exact supplies I used below, they are a bargain and I have been having a ball playing with them:)

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Meeden watercolor fan palette  *42 colors for $19 (compared to the $60-$120 the crooks advertising on Instagram are charging for the same thing!)
• Gel crayons *36 colors for $15
• Sketchbook: Hahnemule  *this is the 5″x8″ size, mine is 8″x11″ or so but I could not find that one, the paper is not that important for this technique.
• Zen all media brushes *any synthetic angles, flats, filbers and rounds for acrylics will suffuce

So, I asked my hubby about creating something like this in a large format for the kitchen (I have like a 3’x4′ canvas burning a hole in my studio) and he seemed OK with the idea but not overjoyed by the thought but I think it would look really cool with maybe some of my other tropical inspired paintings. What do you think. I mean, it’s a kitchen, it can’t make it any worse right? LOL! I just want being in the kitchen to me more pleasant, I want a kitschy kitchen haha! I think it would look good with my black and white checkerboard floor, white cabinets and blue walls, what do you think? Also if I d the large acrylic do you want a tutorial? Oh, on another note I might have a live stream watercolor palette tour this evening, I am thinking after dinner, maybe around 7pm Eastern time just to give you a heads up.  And one more thing, we just updated the shop with new paintings for July so check it out if you want to own a Lindsay original. Phew, that was a lot of info, have a great Sunday and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s Paint Garlic in Oil Pastel!

Hi Friends! I loved seeing all of the garlic, gourds and pumpkins freshly harvested at the Common Ground Fair last week. A friend recently gave me 2 heads of garlic from his garden and I really wanted to paint them. I decided to use a cheap ($5) box of oil pastels for this. Have a look at how they turned out. You can follow along and paint with me using oil pastels, soft pastels or crayons, it’s all good!  Watch the video to see how!

Whenever I use oil pastels I am transported back to being in 2nd grade.
I loved it when out teacher announced it was cray-pas day! In grade school our homeroom teacher did art projects with us, there was no “art” teacher and my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Poulin,  was really gifted in that department. I have even done some of her projects in my kids classes. Thanks so much for stopping by. If you like in New England (or someplace else with gorgeous leaves) make sure you get out and paint them or at least take a photo! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!