Mixing Pastel With Oil Paints with Random Underpaintings

'Indian Summer Bouquet'         8x10         pastel       ©Karen Margulis

I love mixing pastels with other media. One of my favorite combinations is pastel and oil paint.  A few weeks ago I wanted to use up some leftover oil paint on my palette so I prepared some random underpaintings.  I call them random underpaintings because I didn't have any subject in mind when I created them.  It was all about making interesting colors and shapes and drips.  See my original post on oil underpaintings here.

My goal was not only to use up the paint but to create an underpainting that was an interesting abstract.  I would go back to these random underpaintings when I was looking for a painting challenge and didn't have anything in particular in mind.

A Random Underpainting...oil stain on Uart paper

Today I didn't have anything in particular in mind to paint so I took out one of the random underpaintings.  I looked at it for a few minutes and I started to imagine some wildflowers that would be past their prime....maybe taking on the colors of Fall.

 I took out my reference photos and found a photo of Queen Annes Lace taken in the late summer/early Fall.  It became my inspiration for the painting.  If you look at the finished painting you can see bits of the underpainting peeking through.  The main thing though was this underpainting suggested my subject and I went with it.  This is a good way to help you interpret a photo rather than copy it!

Does working with pastel and other media intrigue you? Are you in the Atlanta area?  I will be teaching a course in January on pastels and mixed media at the Art School of Sandy Springs.  Email me for more information!  Visit the school's website The Art School in Sandy Springs