Thursday 15 March 2012

Loose woman...

Amy's "STEve's ARTFIRe" vid this week is a refresher on drawing portraits, so I thought I'd have a go with my oil pastels again...:S
Found this pic of my mum from the 1971, and tried working on an oil sketch pad...
used a soft grey to set position of features...
then a deeper grey to give it some definition...
then started to add black for the darkest areas..

I forgot it was pastels and lent on it...smudging the nose all over..aaaaargh! just made a right mess of it trying to clean it up, so I cut it in half and used the original image as a base for a mixed media piece I will share tomorrow :D XXX
Photobucket

12 comments:

  1. Oh bless this is gorgeous but sometimes pastels are just not fun - I always smudge them - I don't mean too just utterly useless and think all art supplies should stay where they have been put LOL!

    Can't wait to see how you've used it in a mixed media piece

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  2. rad! i like your portrait (:
    i hate touching pastels.
    and charcoal.
    and cardboard!

    xxa

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  3. It sounds complicated... but I still love the expression on her face.

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  4. Great work Gina. I've never tried pastels....think I'm too messy, I'd be sure to smudge them!
    Hugs xx

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  5. omg! did you draw this from the portrait? wow! i am sooooooooo impressed!

    hugs :)

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  6. Delicious portrait, I love, her mother was very pretty in 1971.

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  7. Love the drawing -- can't wait to see what happens next. Know what you mean about the smudging! Annoying. hugs, Donna

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  8. Uggh been slack on my posting & visiting but always love to drop by Gina & see what you are creating, I watched Amy's video too, it often inspires me to get off my butt & do something, hopefully on the weekend ;) Hate smudging but sounds like you're going to turn it into an advantage, I actually like this, the pose & the drawing! Have a great weekend :)

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  9. you can 'pull' oil pastel off with putty rubber, and use masking fluid right early on to protect your whitest-est areas, and you can 'paint over' smudges

    you can easily use tips to correct aspects that you don't like so you can rescue good work without the need to be radical?

    - matte or varnish glaze over oil pastel will set it so it will not smudge, if you are confident you can glaze the pastel into place

    as you work, use an easel (always) or one of those desk boards Clare bought so you never lean over your work...discipline yourself to be in position and work 90 degrees to the substrate never across it.

    your sketching skills are becoming very accomplished indeedy - try using dark navy blue instead of black or paynes grey ( dark charcoal) instead of black - see what you think...

    I love how this piece ended up but I want to weep that you no longer have a sketch that could have been rescued from the smudge...argghhh, never mind.....

    Glad you like the journal.

    Dxxx

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Donna...I still have the photo...so just for you I will give it another go next week :D

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  10. The scetch is gorgeous and your mother is real beautiful :))

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  11. Hey Gina, I am sorry, I am behind in blogging! I am catching up ;o) I can't wait to see how this turns out! Sometimes those mistakes, turn out to be the best thing ;o)
    The sketch is looking really good and your mom is beautiful ;o)

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