Feeling Sassy – oil pastel drawing of a woman

This is how the last drawing I posted yesterday turned out. After I drew it, I let it sit for a couple days to dry out a little, and then went in and changed the shape of her face, and hair. She had not enough face, and too much hair, imo. 

I’ve read that oils pastels don’t ever dry completely. However, I’ve learned that when I reach that point in the drawing where I’m making a muddy brown mess, and layering is impossible because the pastels smear, it helps to let a drawing sit out in the open to rest for a few days. It does seem to firm up the pastels enough so they hold another layer on top instead of just smudging and smearing. 

I was able to go in and widen her face, and I used Gamsol to erase some of her hair to make it more manageable.   

I think she looks a bit like Lucy Hale from Pretty Little Liars. I wasn’t using a reference photo when I drew this portrait, and it’s been years since I saw the show..but there’s something about this drawing that reminds me of Lucy’s character standing in the classroom flirting with Ezra. Maybe it’s just me? 

Feeling Sassy
Acrylic mixed media 
9×12 inch watercolor paper
Available here
SOLD

This is a mixed media piece – the face, neck and hair were drawn with oil pastels. The rest of the painting was painted with acrylic paints. It recently dawned on me that I can clean up the background smudges and fingerprints with acrylic paint..that I don’t have to fill the entire paper with oil pastels – I don’t like having all that blending to do, so painting the background or any large area works better for me. I love discovering new things as I go along. 

I hope you’re having a peaceful, creative Thursday. If you like this blog post, please share it using the buttons below. Also, if you haven’t done so, sign up now to get my blog posts delivered to your inbox for free.