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                                          Chippie                                             7"x5"                                  Pastel/Sanded Paper Well we are officially half way through the challenge and I am still alive.    YESSS!!!!!    We have a couple of chipmunks (today's inspiration) which provide us with lots of entertainment when we sit on the porch.   ...

Well the experimenting with the oil pastel goes on.  This was done with the Pentel line of oil pastels, they are pretty creamy sticks, but they are little guys and wear down quickly.  This reference comes from the September challenge on Paint and Draw Together.  You might want to check this site out, http://paintanddrawtogether.blogspot.com/ , Lela comes up with great reference photos each month, it is a nice little community of artists to comment and help, and always subjects that you might not attempt on your own.  Lela posted the rooster and said to change up the composition; so I added the little chick as additional interest and a bit of humor as he is taking strutting lessons from Dad.  Been wanting to do a rooster for a while and this guy was pretty colorful. I am still unsure about this media, oil pastel, it puts a lot of color down and there is a point where it blends pretty well, and then it gets clogged or super slick.  Seems more waxey than...

Ok, here is the first oil pastel on a scrap of black Artagain paper.  I am not sure I really like using the dark paper on this and am going to do another try but with a white background and a bit rougher texture.  I think it will put more paint on the support with texture and I can try doing some sgraffito which I think would be pretty neat in the seed areas and maybe give the leaves some additional interest too.  But for a first try I found out that the Crayola Portfolios, while creamy don't cover each other that well, but they can be diluted with water and that might be something to try.  I also have had for many years the Faber Castell pastels and found them to be quite dry, now that might be my fault in that I've had them forever.  I also had some Pentel which I found quite creamy, but they are pretty small sticks and not sure how many pictures you could actually get and could they be replaced individually?  All good questions and certainly calls for ...