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I find that it is good to swap mediums once in a while. The painting below is done in oils and is a work in progress. What are the differences between working in oil vs pastel?

1) With oil I need to mix the colors I want vs pulling pastel right from the box with the color, value and intensity work already done. Mixing the colors reinforces the basics of color theory.

2) I need to adjust mark making to create textures and do so from a brush at the end of the stick vs holding the pastel with my fingers.

3) I need to understand how wet medium reacts to the canvas vs dry pastel on papers.

4) The downside of oil painting is waiting for the paint to dry

5) There is also prep and clean up time I need to build in 30-45min.

As you can see the skills are transferable, it takes patience and practice.

After several years of following Tom Christopher on Instagram, I had the opportunity to take one of his Workshops. Tom has a unique process for creating texture and movement in his work. He graciously shared his process during a two-day workshop hosted by the Ozark Pastel Society and some members of the Arkansas Pastel Society joined as well. The first morning was spent learning the process Tom uses to create the underpainting. Then he worked his magic during a demo as he shared his thoughts on value’s importance over color, mark making, standing back often, and keeping it simple. Let the human eye knit it together.

The afternoon was our turn to try his process for the underpainting and mesh it in with our developed mark making style. Tom walked the room and provided guidance and praise to each of the artists.

Day 2 was the same flow as Day 1; however, our focus was a snow scene. At the end of Day 2 we came together as a group and Tom critiqued each artist’s piece. It was amazing to see all the wonderful pieces using Tom’s process, yet each artist added their own flair. I was in awe, the work of this group of artists was stellar!

I will definitely be leveraging this process in some future pieces. Thank you Tom!