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[sheersimulacra]

More art babble.

I've been highly enjoying my oil pastels lately (I did a horse head this morning and the way the colouring turned out - all grey and black tones - was amazing), and I was reading some stuff online this morning about pastel techniques and I kept reading that soft pastels are a lot more blendable and versatile than oil pastels. I love

Comments

[heezer]

I LOVE chalk pastels! I find them much easier than the oils..lol

a nice cheap paper to use them on is plain ol' construction paper..lol. But pastel paper is also fairly cheap too...and it comes in soooo many colors.

or the insides of picture mats that you don't use for anything? that works really well.

and I don't use blending stumps to blend them with...i use my hands and occasionally a q-tip for a small area.

I love the soft, velvet-y look chalk pastels have after you are done too... http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13889348/

I also use watercolors, pencil, pen and ink, sometimes acrylics....and most often here lately, my Wacom Graphire4 tablet and GIMP...lol

[sheersimulacra]

I definitely have to give the soft pastels another chance ... especially since I bought a pack of 48 ... haha. I think I'm just too used to the oil pastels, which have that thick impasto feel to them.

Love those bunnies!

[bold_text]

I enjoy art, but, it's been one of the things that has had to give way because I can't work full time, have a horse and do everything I like.

I mostly paint with acylics just because they're easier to clean up than oils... love the look of watercolours but find them frustrating. I experimented with sculpting in clay and I thought I could really get into sculpture if I had more time. And I'm interested in fibre art, like knitting and felting. I'd like to make some kind of a tapestry/wall-hanging thing using yarn and incorporating beads and objects.

[sheersimulacra]

Sculpting, that's something I've never tried ... that's really neat.
My mom is really into knitting, as you know, and I've done a few projects here and there, it's usually something I get into more in the winter when I spend more time sitting in front of the TV in the evening, hehe.

You should try the water soluble oils. They are known for behaving just like traditional oils, but you can mix them with water to thin them, and the cleanup is just soap and water. I use them and absolutely love them :)

[sheersimulacra]

My easel was a birthday gift. I think they paid around $60 though - I believe it was from Michaels. I think it was the cheapest one there haha. I didn't want a huge wooden one, I asked for a small alunimum one that wouldn't take up a lot of space.

You should buy some higher quality pastels. You get what you pay for when it comes to art supplies.

[sheersimulacra]

Err ... aluminum.