An Immersion into Oil Pastel

Vibrant, luscious and portable, oil pastels are ideal for making quick sketches and producing stunning finished works. They are made from cooking raw pigments with an oil-soluble binder, thus eliminating the need for any solvents. This incredible medium boasts an astonishing array of color, value and texture that can be layered, scraped, blended and scumbled to achieve a seemingly endless variety of effects ranging from delicate lines to gooey impasto crusts. Working in small format, participants will emerge with new skills, a set of intuitive sketches and at least two finished pieces.

Participants should have some prior experience in painting, oil pastels or soft pastels, with a working knowledge of composition, shape, value, color and detail. We will be working at a faster, more intense pace than at a beginning level of experience.

Professional artist Sondra Holtzman’s artwork reflects musings of travel, afar and close to home. She leads painting explorations all over the world, including Europe, South America and the South Pacific.

After attending Rhode Island School of Design, Sondra worked as a freelance designer, creating artwork for clients like Nike and Delta Air Lines. Her work has been published in 1000 Artist Journal Pages and Signatures: The Art Journal Collection by Somerset Studio.

For Sondra, the true joy of being an artist also lies in the sharing of her passion with others, helping them to discover their own artistic voice.

• A support such as a piece of foam core or a clip board for holding the painting in place on the easel, 12" x 16" is a good size.

• One set of MUNGYO GALLERY SOFT OIL PASTELS, Set of 48/Assorted Colors ($22.80) which can be ordered on Amazon

• Small set of Sennelier Oil Pastels. Note: These are expensive but well worth the cost.  These can be shared between friends. Optional: A small set of Caran d’Ache Oil Pastels

• A small bottle of Elmer's glue

• A small sharp pair of scissors

• A roll of blue painter's tape

• Pencil

• Razor blade

• Package of baby wipes

• 5-8 images/photographs that you like (look for simple shapes - landscape, animals, still life)

• A small set of NuPastels

• A pad of SANDED pastel paper, such as UArt or Sennelier Pastel Card

• A small pad of drawing paper

• Pen and notebook

• A roll of wax paper for protecting the paintings (or) a photo album that can be purchased at Goodwill. A good size is 8” x 10”, 9” x 12” or 8” x8”

• Small set of pastel or colored pencils

• Two Pastel boards by Ampersand in the sizes you like for finished paintings

Optional:

• Half sheet of Arches 300 lb. watercolor paper coated once with Pastel Ground

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• A variety of pastel papers and supports, including one prepared 1/8" hard board> also prepared mat boards coated with Clear Gesso for daily paintings

• Extra tools for mark making including stencils

• Natural materials for still life studies like shells, etc.

• Handouts

• Large mat knife, cutting board and ruler

• Scissors and paper towels

• Extra blue painter’s tape

• Baby wipes

• A variety of blending tools Caran d'Ache Neocolor pastel crayons

• Sponge brushes

• Plastic dishes

• Acrylic sealers in matte and gloss

• Photo images