Drawing a blue iris flower using oil pastel. Step-by-step demonstration.

In this post I will demonstrate a drawing process of a blue iris flower using oil pastel. Oil Pastels is a very interesting graphic material. Drawings created using it are preserved for many years without loosing its brightness. Oil pastel has a rich color palette and allows you to create vivid works with clear bright strokes. 

Sea shell painting using multilayer watercolors technique. Step-by-step demonstration.

This is a demonstration of a sea shell painting using multilayer watercolors technique. We will apply several transparent layers to achieve the desirable result.

Strawberries in watercolors. Step-by-step demonstration.

I would like to share with you the process of strawberries painting using watercolors.  I used multilayer watercolor technique, as it allows to create very detailed paintings.

Paintings of Nikolay Roerich

Nikolay Roerich (1874 - 1947) was a great philosopher and painter. If you have a chance to read his theosophic books "Agni Yoga", "Shambhala" and other works, you will understand that he was a highly spiritual person with a massage that opens people's hearts and minds. He was painting in symbolism style mainly using egg tempera.

Oil Painting "Tears of Happiness"

I have tried a new technique while creating this painting. First, I started it as an ordinary painting in "a la prima" technique, but noticed that the idea of the painting was not matching it. The idea was deeper. So, I repainted it and made it in two layers: monochrome umber painting and then the color layer. This experience was very interesting to me. Thanks to it I decided to study multi-layer painting technique that old master were using, when they applied many thin layers of oil paints to achieve deep and harmonious painting.

This painting is currently for sale.

Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci

All of us know Leonardo da Vinci as a genius and one of the greatest painters of all the time but we rarely remember his contribution to other sciences, such as architecture, anatomy, biology, mathematics, etc. I offer to have a look at some of his scientific drawings:

New paintings from Kazakhstan

Recently I came back from my vacation in Kazakhstan. I was lucky to catch beautiful spring time and the beginning of summer and to enjoy beginning of nature flourishing. These paintings were painted from nature:

Tulips in glass

30 x 40 cm

Oil on canvas

Lilacs

18.5 x 27 cm

Oil on canvas

Lilac in Garden

22.5 х 15 cm

oil on canvas

White Wild Roses

22.5 х 15 cm

oil on canvas

Plain Air Painting

This is my new plain air painting of Suez Canal. I was painting while my husband and son were fishing. It was a great family holiday!

I truly enjoy plain air painting! It is like breathing in fresh air and breathing it out on canvas.

Pastel Rose on Handmade Paper

I've been thinking about making paper by myself for my pastel paintings for a long time, checking some tutorials, reading related information...This is my first attempt. It is completely handmade paper sheet colored with natural materials. I found it very suitable for pastel painting.

I am planning to continue my experiments with handmade paper as I have a lot of ideas awaiting realization.

History of Soft Pastel. Famous Pastel Paintings.

Soft pastel is one of the most beautiful artistic mediums with fabulous colours and velvet surface that reached to us from the Renaissance time. It is a pure pigment with a small amount of gum Arabic (binder). Due to its smudging, artists were always worried for their artworks safety and protected them by glass. The German painter and art theorist Anton Raphael Mengs compared pastel artworks with flowers and butterflies in the gardens of art. Many art specialists attempted to find a perfect way to fix pastel on paper surface in order to make life of pastel pictures longer.  Unfortunately, all fixatives invented till now changed its original range of colours and ruined its natural creaminess and fluffiness.

Message from the Future

       There is an interesting meditation that everyone can practice. When you need to get an answer about your life or your business, imagine yourself after some years. Imagine that you have reached all you targets and have what you want to have. Try to imagine clearly your house, your business, family, yourself, pay attention to all details. Make a kind of tour around your future life and then ask yourself in the future the questions, which are important for you, or advises. It has nothing common with prediction or future telling. It helps you to get information that you already have deeply in your mind but cannot reach. However this meditation can give you more information that you expect. For example, when I imagined myself and my studio in the future, I saw a painting. I saw it very clearly in all details. I painted it with oil pastel and keep it always in front of me when I am working. It is like a message for me from my future.

Wings

oil pastel, 30 x 40 cm

Step-by-step Demonstration of Orchids Painting

I love orchids. When I look at them, I always remember how amazing our nature is. Many flowers grow from the same root, but each of them is unique. Their beauty attracts us and we enjoy looking at them again and again. 

Painting in Kazakhstan

Here are the pictures that I have painted during my vacation in Kazakhstan.

Above Clouds

60 x 80 cm

Oil on canvas

2012

Apple Blossoms

30 x 40 cm

Oil on canvas

2012

Bouquet of Lilacs

30 x 40 cm

Oil on canvas paper

2012

Golden Heart

20 x 30 cm

Oil pastel

2012

Stairs

30 x 40 cm

Oil on canvas paper

2012

Tulips

30 x 40 cm

Oil paints and oil pastel on canvas paper

2012

Sunset painting

This is my latest painting (40 x 30 cm, oil on special paper for oil painting):

I have painted this sunset using only three colors: blue, orange and white. It was very interesting to mix these three paints in different proportions to get different shades.

Shell with Pearls

I am happy to present my new painting of the sea shell. I painted it with pastel few months earlier. This time I painted it with oil. I find this shell very interesting. You can study it for hours enjoying every little detail and when you turn it, you see it from another interesting perspective.

This is oil painting:

And this is pastel:

Grape Painting

I find  painting still lifes with fruits interesting and challenging, as I need to complete them before all fruits are eaten. It took me three days to paint this bunch of grapes. I was finishing it when there was no grapes left, all were eaten by my little son.

Pastel Orchids

Finally I finished painting my Pink Orchids. Since a long time I've been thinking to paint them but always delayed for different reasons. If you look at them closely, orchids remind butterflies sitting on a stem. They are so beautiful! I enjoyed painting my orchids and I hope, you'll enjoy watching them!

Pastel Painting

I tried painting with pastel after rain few days ago. It was amazing! Now I know the difference between pastel painting and pastel drawing! I am using a very soft kind of pastel made in St. Petersburg, so when there is high humidity, this pastel applies to paper almost like thick paint and the art creation process reminds painting more than drawing. This is the result of my experiment:

Colors Symbolism and Effect on People

Different colours have different effect on people, their mood and feelings. Some colours evoke romantic feelings, others - aggression or aloofness. Knowledge about colours effect and symbolism helps to choose the right color in paintings, interior design and fashion.

Red

Red is the most emotionally intense color. It fastens heartbeat and breathing. It is also the colour of love and passion. Excessive red can evoke aggression. In art, red is usually used as an accent as it always attracts attentions. It is used to spur people’s actions for example for sales purpose.

Pink
Pink is the most romantic colour. It is the colour of youth, tenderness, naivety and carelessness. Pink surrounding is very tranquilizing. Sports teams sometimes paint the locker rooms used by opposing teams bright pink to make their opponents lose energy.

Blue
Blue is the colour of sky and sea. Deep blue symbolizes mystery. The effect of blue colour is opposite to red. It calms and relaxes people. It is widely used for bedrooms and kids’ rooms. It is peaceful and tranquil; however, it can be cold and depressing. Studies show that people are more productive in blue rooms.

Green
Green symbolizes nature, life, fertility. Brides in middle ages wore green dresses that implied fertility. Deep green is the colour of wealth. Green is most popular colour in decoration. It is calming and refreshing colour. Green also improves vision and relaxes eyes.

Yellow
Yellow colour always attracts attentions. At the same time it is the most difficult color for eyes to take in. Yellow increases concentration and speeds metabolism. This sunny color always associated with warmth and optimism. However, it is noticed that babies cry in yellow rooms more often and people loose their tempers often when they are surrounded by yellow color.

Brown
Solid, reliable brown is the colour of earth and nature. Light brown implies genuineness while dark brown is similar to wood or leather. Brown can also be sad and wistful. Men favour brown colour more often than women.

Purple
Purple symbolizes royalty, luxury, wealth, and sophistication. Light purple is more romantic, dark – is more philosophic.

Black

Black is the colour of authority and power. It is stylish and timeless. It is widely used in fashion as black clothes are never out of time and make people look thinner. It also implies devotion to a person or to religion. A woman dressing black can imply submission to a man.

White

White colour symbolizes innocence and purity.

Gouache overview

Gouache colours are a popular medium for beginning and amateur artists, designers and illustrators. This article contains useful information about gouache, its features and usage.

What is Gouache?

Gouache is opaque watercolour prepared with gum arabic.

History of Gouache

There are different versions of gouache history. One of them says that it was discovered by an Italian monk in the 11^th Century by adding zinc white to watercolours. Since that time, gouache was considered as a type of watercolours for many Centuries. It was never so popular medium as watercolours and oil colours; however, nowadays its popularity grows more and more. The reason for this are gouache properties that allow to reach great results in technical and graphic illustrations, decorative and fine art.

Gouache Properties

Gouache is known for mattness, brightness and intensity of colours. Unlike classic watercolours it has high covering power, so it is possible to apply light layers of colours above dark ones. There are several types of gouache: classic and acrylic, art and poster gouache. Classic gouache painting can be easily moisturized and edited after drying, while acrylic gouache becomes waterproof. Art gouache features more natural colours than poster. Poster gouache has very bright colours ideal for poster drawing.

Supports for Gouache Painting

Gouache can be used on any kind of paper or canvas. The only limitation - it must not have oily surface.

Gouache Usage

Gouache is very easy to use. That is why it is recommended to art students to sharpen their painting techniques on gouache before they start using oil colours. All you need for gouache painting is paper, palette, brushes, water and gouache.

Useful Tips

• Gouache colours can be mixed with each other in order to reach to the desired hue. To reach a lighter colour, white colour can be used. Such famous gouache producers as LEFRANC & BOURGEOIS produce two types of white colour: mixing white and permanent white (the first one is used for mixing with other colours, the second one – for applying above other layers as it has higher covering power).

• Add sufficient amount of water to make gouache as liquid as shampoo or dishwashing liquid.

• Avoid applying very thick layers, as it can cause cracking of your painting later.

• Note that gouache colours change after drying. Light colours become darker while dark colours become lighter. With experience, you will know what to expect from every colour you use. Another solution can be using small containers for your palette. Place each colour of you palette in a small container with cover (to keep it wet) and stick a piece of paper on it with a colour sample. By this way you can keep the colours you use the most always ready for painting and see how they will look like after drying.