I have loved oil pastels since childhood. My pastels were collecting dust in my art studio and I was craving to use them, so I decided to play around and create a mixed-media watercolor and oil pastel painting.
Using watercolor and oil pastel together is a great way to experiment and create a unique mixed-media painting.
This project is easy for any skill level and almost impossible to mess up. Watercolors and oil pastels are both very loose mediums, and you have a lot of freedom when you use them together.
In this post, I will cover the steps on how I created this watercolor and oil pastel painting along with tips, supplies I used, and more!
Supplies I Used To Create This Painting
Oil Pastels (I love this set)
Check out all of my favorite supplies here!
My goal for this project was just to experiment and have fun. I had a vision of a pretty flower field in my mind and just went for it. Sometimes we just need to play around with materials to see what comes out of the exercise. That is how we learn and grow as artists!
Watercolor Underpainting
For this abstract floral field painting, I created a watercolor underpainting before I used my oil pastels. This helps give the painting a nice base and texture to work with.
For the sky, I used a wet-on-wet technique and loosely painted in the sky colors I wanted.
After the sky was completed and dry, I started adding greens to my field. I was going to cover most of this field with oil pastels afterward, so I didn’t worry too much about the results. The point of this step was to create a nice base and texture layer for me to put the oil pastels on top of after.
You cannot paint watercolors over oil pastels, so paint whatever you want at this point because once the oil pastels are on there is no going back. All I was hoping for was a nice colored base to work with.
Oil Pastels
Working with oil pastels can be messy, but what I love about them is they are forgiving, great for abstract art, and buttery smooth. In this experiment, they worked great for the flowers in my flower field. All you have to do is create dots of colors to indicate the flowers!
I went in with my desired colors and just started creating dots (or blobs lol) of color. This is a great time to experiment with color!
I kept layering the pastel until I was happy with the result. There are so many beautiful ways to create a flower field! As I mentioned I didn’t have much of a plan, I just sort of went for it.
And here is the finished piece! Even though this isn’t perfect, it made me happy to create with all the colors. I also love the texture oil pastels create! It was a fun project and I am looking forward to creating more oil pastel and watercolor paintings.
Watercolor & Oil Pastel Painting
Have you used watercolors and oil pastels together before? How did you like it? Or do you not like one or both of these mediums? Let me know in the comments below! I love to hear about others’ experiences.
Thanks so much for reading!
-Amanda
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