experimentation with different media

This is a 1 hour exercise I have done in class using oil pastels for the very first time. I absolutely loved working with them. Love the way you can create shadows and lights with the overlaying the different colours. I am not happy with the perspective, which is one of my weakest points and I have to work extensively on, but quite happy with the overall outcome of my exercise.

This is a half an hour exercise I have done, while playing with my 3 year old daughter. We were painting using oil paints on watercolour paper. I have started by painting an apple, as I had the previous oil pastel drawing just behind me on the fridge, and ended up drawing some abstract shapes to which I have added shadows. On top of the oil paint, however, I have added oil pastels to correcta few issues (wrong positioning of the cast shadow and wrong light and shadow on one of the objects). Again, quite happy with the overall outcome.

This was a 1 hour exercise I have done in class,  with the theme human anatomy. It is not a finished drawing, but, in this case, I am relatively happy with the perspective and the shading of the side planes.

Another piece I have done while playing with Sophie (my daughter). We have both chosen a theme from one of her books and drew that. Obviously, my theme was a teddy bear. I have used cold press watercolour paper,  which, with the bumpy texture, created quite nice effects. Again, I have used oil pastels on top of oil paint, just to finish off the light and shade and to give it a more 3D look. It's not the best I have done, it's not my favourite, but it was a good exercise. Time wise,  it took about 2 hours in total, (it was done in 2 stages - oil paint first, for about 15 minutes, and the rest applying the oil pastels)

This was a 1 hour pencil sketching of a cartoon character. I have found this character on te internet and used it as reference, changed only a few minor things, but I absolutely enjoyed drawing this. This is my kind of thing, my preferred subject for drawing. I am really happy with the outcome of it. I intended to colour it, but then changed my mind and drew another one for that purpose.

This is my very own idea of a cartoon character, based on the previous one, but adding extra features (glasses, extra years :)), ha ha), and adding the colour that I was so tempted to do the previous one. I am happy with the way it came out, and I really enjoyed drawing her. I could have definitely spent more time on some details (i.e. making her dress more realistic,), but the I'm quite happy with the face, and that was my aim for this exercise.

I have purchased my very first set of oil pastels at home and was dying to use them, so I have drawn the first thing that was in front of me: my daughter's milk cup and a pack of baby wipes. The baby wipes were white, and I have encountered difficulty drawing them, that's why I have introduced the blue. I have applied black for the shadow, but it just doesn't work...:( The cup is not too good either, I didn't get the angle right, and I can say the same for the table mat: perspective at its poorest in this example. I have put this on my blog, however, as I would like to see this in the future, as a point of reference, where I started, and hopefully where I will get with lots of work :)