I Like-A.

Here was my experiment with chalk lines on dark paper, with underlayers (here and there) of white acrylic, application of oil pastels, then an India ink wash. I love the results but am looking for sturdier paper as a base. Any suggestions? I plan to continue to experiment with this technique. Off to the studio!

Sunbathing on the Raft

VERY Interesting.

I'm trying not to be too excited but I think I'm on to something here. I used chalk lines on dark paper, added oil pastels and then did an ink resist. I like the overall results. My only concern is the overall darkness. (I did tweak the Calipso Hippos in my photo editing software.) If I can find the answer to keeping the light colors "light",  I may be onto something....

Calipso Hippos

Lobster Back Riding

The Elephant's Tea Party

Hippo Diva

More with Oil Pastels and Dark Paper

Hippo Ballerinas

 I wanted to see what happened if I tried to leave a dark line between the application of oil pastels. Although I like the image, I was frustrated trying to keep the bare lines of the paper visible as I worked. I also used a more textured paper which was also NOT a good idea. I fought it most of the time. Live and learn.

Working with Oil Pastels on Dark Paper

Underwater Swings

I gave up on glue as a linear devise for my work but continue to work on dark paper, here with oil pastels. Once again, delighted with the effects of blending and the painterly effects of applying one color over another. The drawback for me this time was the broad tip on the oil pastels. It is hard to create small faces, even though I was working on 12" x 18" paper. I ended up etching through the application of heavy color to make the scales on the fish and detail the face. Still experimenting....

Searching for my media

Knitting Buddies

Although I liked working with glue and dark paper, the process had some drawbacks: glue doesn't photograph well (too reflective) and like pastels and construction paper crayons, oil pastels were impossible to get totally off the glue and it shows. However, I love the painterly texture and blend-ability of oil pastels in this example of a sheep and goat sharing a quiet moment knitting.

Glue, Chalk and Construction Paper Crayons on Dark Paper

If you follow pinterest, you might have seen some nice chalk and glue images done by school children. I vaguely remember experimenting with the process when I taught art in the elementary school but never presented a lesson where we used the technique. So in my search for new media, I tried some variations on the theme. What I learned in the process is that pastels are dusty and spraying them with fixative sometimes changes their appearance. It is next to impossible to get the chalk off the glue lines without disturbing the color next to the line.  I love the way color holds up on dark paper with construction paper crayons, so I used them in the next images even melting them (used in my favorite experiment the monkey farmer). Layering construction paper crayons expanded their limited color range but the dark paper makes every image look like evening or dusk.  Here are my results.

Elephants Glue and Pastels

Glue with Crayon Encaustic

Glue with Construction Paper Crayons

Glue with Construction Paper Crayon

Glue with Construction Paper Crayons

Discovering Collage

Hubby and I decided to purge a stack of magazines from the house and like most things we purge from the house, they ended up at our studio. After paging through a few volumes, I found myself pulling pages that had interesting colors, textures and patterns. In a flurry of scissors, pages and modge podge, the following images came to life. The range of patterns and textures available from the humblest publications surprised me. However, I hate the feeling of glue on my fingers and trying to manage wrinkled paper was beyond me. My results were interesting but I can't see myself doing  collage full time.