Tanya's Charming Creatures - oil pastel paintings and more: 2007

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Cold December night

oil pastel ACEO

ACEO prints of this painting are available in my Ebay and Etsy shops

To purchase a T-shirt, mug, magnet etc with this image please check my Cafepress or Zazzle shops

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Guinea pig ACEO

Charming critter series

oil pastel on black card 2.5 x 3.5 inches

Can be found in my Ebay shop

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Cute little lambs

Available as prints in my ebay and etsy shops

Friday, December 07, 2007

Fawn ACEO

original oil pastel painting

sold

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Ok... At this stage I've been tagged twice... so I have to give in...

My first "tagger" is Irish Rose and my second "tagger" is Paola.

1. I lovelovelove oil pastels (you sure know that already:))

2. My studio is my kitchen counter!

3. I have two little hooligans that are constantly driving me bananas

4. I love them all the same:)

5. Last Sunday I finished my very first Christmas window painting for a local café.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

IRISH FIRESIDE UNVEILS LIST OF MUST-HAVE GIFTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Click here to view the 2007 Holiday Gift Guide
MILWAUKEE, WI (Nov 28 2007) - The folks at IrishFireside.com, home of the top-rated Irish travel podcast, have again put together a list of their favorite Irish and Ireland-related gifts for the holidays. The Irish Fireside Holiday Gift Guide features unique items that will add a Celtic flair to this year’s gift giving – including handcrafted tiles, chocolates, books, artwork, jewelry and even a full Irish breakfast.
“This year we asked our subscribers to nominate their favorite Irish gifts, and they provided us with some exciting new finds,” said Liam Hughes, co-host of the Irish Fireside podcast. “There really is something for everyone on your list.”
The Irish Fireside Gift Guide is posted on the Irish Fireside website at www.IrishFireside.com/giftguide.
About Irish FiresideThe Irish Fireside podcast, website and e-newsletter provide informative and entertaining resources for individuals dreaming about a trip to Ireland . The podcast, which compares to an internet-based radio show, was launched by Ireland-enthusiasts Liam Hughes and Corey Taratuta in February 2006.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Cheesy dreams

Mouse and cheese ACEO

oil pastel on black card

Can be found in my Ebay shop

Friday, November 02, 2007

Colander and eggs

oil pastel on black card

8 x 8 inches

available in my Ebay shop

Monday, October 29, 2007

Keel strand, Achill island,

County Mayo, west of Ireland

oil pastel on black card

10cm x 20cm

available in my ebay shop

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Perfect birthday present

mouse and cheese ACEO

2.5 x 3.5 inches

oil pastel painting on black card

available in my ebay shop

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Kitten in an eggshell

original oil pastel ACEO

available in my ebay shop

Monday, October 15, 2007

These are my recent paintings

All of them are ACEOs - 2.5 x 3.5 inches

They all can be found in my Ebay shop

Yourkshire puppy

Chihuahua

Bunny rabbit

Exotic kitten and mouse

Monday, October 01, 2007

Tabby kitten playing with wool - free oil pastel painting tutorial

original oil pastel ACEO

ACEO prints of this painting are available in my Ebay or Etsy shops

To purchase a T-shirt, mug, magnet, stamps etc take a look at my Cafepress or Zazzle shops

Step-by-step instructions or how to paint this kitty in oil pastel:

Materials used: 1. neocolor oil pastels by caran d'ache

2. cray-pas (sakura) expressionist and/or junior artist oil pastels

3. a small sheet of black card (this particular painting is 2.5 x 3.5 inches, but you can try any other size that you feel comfortable with)

4. very sharp black, brown and white prismacolor pencils (or any other good quality pencils)

Step 1. Outline your kitty with white pencil. Make sure not to press it hard as this can damage the surface of the card and leave marks. If you are unhappy with some lines do not erase them as this can also damage the surface of the card and pastels would not layer in the same way on such spots. Instead lighty cross out the lines that are wrong and put in new ones.

Step 2. Take white neocolor OP (oil pastel) and paint all the light bits of your kitty. I always start with white as I work on a dark surface. Take brown, yellow and orange neocolors and paint where those colours are dominant. At this stage of work do not get carried away by trying to put smaller details, just put in basic spots of colours.

Step 3. For the eyes - take black and generously outline contours. Use light blue neocolor for the insides and then apply blue cray-pas OP to create blending from black to light blue. You can keep adding more black or light blue neocolor OPs and blue cray-pas and keep blending until you are happy with the result. With black cray-pas OP put in the pupils. Take white neocolor and add sparkle. You can also lighten up some light blue around the pupil by gently tapping the white over it.

Step 4. For the nose use salmon pink neocolour and a few spots of dusky pink or purple and then white. To gently blend it use light pink cray-pas OP, however make sure that your strokes are tiny as you don't want to mix all four colours in one mess!

Step 5. Now you can use black pencil to define nose and mouth area.

Step 6. Now that neopastels have settled a bit you can use cray-pas OPs over the fur to define it with thin stroke take shades of dark brown, orange, and white and with gently but firm strokes follow the direction of the fur.

Step 7. For the wool use black cray-pas to outline the thread, then use turquoise cray-pas (or any other colour of your choice) in between the black lines. Take a very light shade of turquoise neocolor and with gentle strokes define the texture of wool.

Step 8. Using VERY sharp black, brown and white pencils define the fur. Put in a few dots on kitty's cheeks with dark brown neocolor. Use sharp white pencil to define whiskers. You might need to go over them several times to ensure visibility.

FINISHED PAINTING: These are my first oil pastel step-by-step painting instructions. If you found them useful please leave your comment. Thank you for looking.