Vase of Purple and White Freesia (Oil Bar Painting Day 1)

Vase of Purple and White Freesia (Oil Bar Painting Day 1) Originally uploaded by randubnick

This is the oil bar painting I started yesterday. I really only had an hour to spend at the studio yesterday, but I got very involved in the painting and forgot the time, so I would say I was painting for an hour and a half, maybe a bit more. Basically I was just able to block in the rough placement of vase, flowers, and background. The colors will change a lot by the time this is finished. When I am laying out the composition or making changes in a painting, I sometimes use high color contrast to make it easy to see where things are. It is easy to get tangled up in leaves and stems when painting a vase of flowers, and I thought the yellow would provide higher contrast than brick red, just for now. I am new to oil bars and it is quite a struggle. I am using a palette knife which gives me much less control than I am used to with a brush, and I am also struggling to mix the colors by mashing up pieces of the oil sticks or mixing the colors right on the canvas. But it is quite an adventure and I am learning a lot. Afterward, it was plain to see that I had enjoyed myself; I came home with orange paint all over my black sweatpants, and bright yellow paint on my face. But I had a great big smile on my face as well.