After such an inspirational week, I had an urge when I got in from work this evening to create a new drawing. All week I have been working with children getting them to concentrate on their mark making and explore the mediums they have been given to their full potential. I thought "Why am I not doing this in my practice". I am desperate to get my acrylics out and start creating some colour theory canvases, but feel I have not quite finished with oil pastels. As I have mentioned before I love the quality of the mark, the subtle blending and the strong colours in oil pastels. But how far can I push this medium?
A few weeks ago I visited an English Heritage building with my husband. The first thing we do when we arrive is grab a coffee and cake (my God doesn't that make us sound old!). On this visit once I had stirred my coffee I was intrigued by the marks left on the spoon and took a photo - commenting that I would attack this as a painting in the near future. Well today was the day. Normally I layer a maximum of two colours when using oils as often it can lead to a smudgy nasty colour if you use more, I can be quite heavy handed with my medium as I like to feel the marks being made - for this piece I used my normal technique for the plate, the table and parts of the spoon but for the froth and highlights; in some areas I have `gently` layered up to four colour. I have found that this have allowed me to create great depth and contrast and well as interesting textures. Maybe the acrylics will have to wait a while.
I see this picture as almost a self portrait of my husband and myself - I will leave it up to you to decide who the spoon is and who the froth is!
Froth and Spoon
A close up showing the different colours used
