Watercolor and oil pastels seem to be my favorite combo lately.
I do a lot of mixed-media work, and rarely do I create a piece of art where I only use one medium to make it.
In this post, I go over my process of making this painting and the supplies that helped me create it. Let’s get right into it!
Supplies Used
For this painting, I used Arches Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper, watercolor paints, oil pastels, and just a little white gouache.
Arches Cold Press paper is my absolute favorite. I always go heavy with water when I’m using watercolors so quality paper is important for me.
Since the cold press paper has a prominent texture, when I use oil pastels on it, the pastels have a very textured finish.
If you’re interested, I explain a bit more about oil pastels and watercolor paper in this blog post here: Using Oil Pastels On Watercolor Paper.
I’ve been using the Mungyo Gallery Oil Pastels for almost a year and they’re my favorite. Buttery smooth and rich in color! And honestly, the best part is they are very affordable.
Watercolor Background
As with much of my work, I didn’t really have a plan when I started this painting. I knew I wanted to paint an enchanting forest green background and that I was probably going to draw flowers in oil pastel over the watercolor wash.
I used several beautiful greens and nickel azo yellow to make an enchanting watercolor wash background. To create texture, I dropped salt on the background for some interesting blooms.
After the background was completed, I used gouache to outline some daisy flowers. These were going to get covered with oil pastels so I didn’t spend too much time doing this. It was essentially just a sketch for when I went over with the oil pastels.
I then went in with my oil pastels and started adding details to the white daisy flowers.
I added some little fireflies as well.
After finishing with the oil pastels, I scanned the painting onto my computer to make some adjustments. I then imported it to my iPad to make a few tweaks with Procreate to make it more magical.
I absolutely love Photoshop and the app Procreate. It really helps me refine details in my work.
As I do with a lot of my work, I made this painting available as a notecard. Now listed in my online shop!
Overall this was a fun painting to do. As I mentioned, I love watercolors and oil pastels together. More specifically, I love to create unique watercolor backgrounds and then draw over with oil pastels.
Thanks so much for reading and let me know if you have any questions or comments in the comment section below. š
-Amanda
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