Oil stick studies

This project focused on experimenting with and taming a new medium. Observation has become a bigger part of my work as I have matured as and artist and these pieces reflect that. I wanted to harness the smoothness of this medium and use the vibrant colors to tell my story.  The first observational piece was done in real life, here I strives to observe the colors or fall and depict the gloomy cool of the scene in front of me.  The second piece is more from my heart, I took this photograph at my grandmother's eightieth birthday celebration, my sister and my grandfather began dancing in my aunt's kitchen. In my photography ventures this has been a favorite of mine I keep close to my heart, not necessarily a very professionally done photograph but the candidness makes it real and raw.

I began by just placing color, knowing that I could move and manipulate it to my liking.  I loved working with the oil sticks, it freed me from my usual hunch for detail, and brought my attention to the colors and movement I was able to pull out with the medium.  I strove for contrast which was a bit messy to pull off with the oil sticks. At one point I ceased adding pigment and used a q-tip to pull out shapes and create cohesion. Initially the canvas was primed with a bright red acrylic and I enjoyed it so I tried to leave bits and hints of it around my work to add that zing of color.