I previously posted that one of my October 2024 adventures in Tokyo was going to the home studio and shop Kawachi Art Supplies, trying the handmade oil pastels they are known for on kraft paper on the patio to confirm they truly are as buttery and lipstick-soft as I'd read (they are!), and then buying a gorgeous, balanced set of ONE HUNDRED of them, because the colors are so amazingly lovely.
Back in November, I finally started to put them onto paper, and decide how I would draw/paint with them. They are so much softer and blend so much more easily than other oil pastels I've tried, that it really did require some play-testing to choose how to use them. I'm trying to take up 'softer' ways of painting, unlike the precision of my architectural drafting back in the day, or even some of my watercolors with extensive under-drawings. And these seem ideal for this softer approach.
So, here's my first representational (non-abstract) color study, using an evening dusk phone photo I took back on Election Day 2024 as the color source. I zoomed in and made some compositional changes for the study. All of the colors I used are over on the right. I made the bay a little darker than it really was, as I work on how to manage reflected light on such a dark base.
One: OH MY GOSH, these are a delight to draw with. I use my fingers to blend the colors. I'm learning about how they do or don't blend, and how to layer them.
Two: I am very much out of practice for painting, so I am relieved this turned out well, and that I learned from it. I'm eager to draw/paint more!
Three: I got to the colors I want from blending, but also want to return to the shop to buy more shades of purple: I have many sunsets I want to paint, some with nearly neon violets within them, and those will be brighter and cleaner if I don't over-blend them. So yes, I'm making up excuses to buy even more colors. Yes, I know the owner makes some rather fluorescent violets, and I hadn't thought I'd use those, but I'm inventing new use cases!
I hope this is something that I can do more often - that I will make time for - among my other pleasant creative habits.
