Trying new OP's with a copy of vG Sunflowers

[Terri]

We had an interesting discussion in this thread about van Gogh. It reminded me of one of the things I used to do quite a bit, those first few years I was learning how to handle oil pastels, which was to "copy the masters." (Does anyone else do this? I find it relaxing as well as educational to follow along a painting by a master, and I always learn something.) I'm a big van Gogh fan so I really enjoyed using these paintings for the practice. It spared me having to compose anything; all I had to do was try to figure out a palette, blending, etc. (No painting experience at all when I took up oil pastels, but that's another story.)

So, when my husband gifted me a new set of van Gogh oil pastels, I thought I’d be cute and make my first painting with these new OP's a van Gogh copy. I picked one from his Sunflower painting series, the one with the blue background (as opposed to another famous one with a yellow background). I used 12×16″ Arches oil paper.

The set has a nice range of yellows and a few good ochres. Although I wanted to paint with nothing but the van Goghs, I did grab my Neopastel olives and a couple of Mungyo ochres. The vase highlight is Sennelier white.

The van Gogh op’s blended great with the Neopastels and Mungyos, and I ended up with great texture without a lot of effort. A couple closeups:

In van Gogh’s painting, this lettered area is where he painted his signature: just “Vincent.” I didn’t want to ignore the lettering because I liked how it looked, but it seemed wrong to paint his signature (or worse, put mine there).

So, given that Dutch was his native tongue, I looked up “I love you” in Dutch. That is “Ik hou van jou.” I used colored pencil and kinda dug it in there.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Schuee]

This is very interesting, Terri. I am a Vincent fan, too. I really like your sunflowers. I find oil pastels difficult and end up with muddy colours. You, obviously, don’t have that problem.

 

[Queen Bee]

It turned out beautiful. Thank you for posting the closeups. Love seeing the textures you were able to create.

 

[Donna T]

This is spectacular, Terri! I am blown away by how beautiful this is - and how closely it resembles Vincent's. Thanks for the close-ups. The texture is amazing! The lettering on the vase is the perfect tribute to this beloved artist.

 

[Enyaw]

That is one good copy. I never knew pastels could give such texture. Great job Terri.

 

[Perry]

Well done Terri!

 

[Lazarus]

What a beautiful piece.

Vincent was genius. he is a source of a view that is one of a kind, no one before him and after him is usless if trying to be a source. same as Cezanne become crazy with geometric shapes viewing.

 

[ams]

Well done. I also didn't know you get this type of result with oil pastels.

 

[Terri]

This is very interesting, Terri. I am a Vincent fan, too. I really like your sunflowers. I find oil pastels difficult and end up with muddy colours. You, obviously, don’t have that problem.

Thanks so much, Penny! I'm more comfortable with oil pastels than I used to be, that's for sure. They do take some getting used to, and there are wide differences between manufacturers as far as palettes and quality.

Thanks again. ❤

 

[Terri]

It turned out beautiful. Thank you for posting the closeups. Love seeing the textures you were able to create.

Thank you, Deborah! The closeups tell the story better, don't they?

 

[Terri]

This is spectacular, Terri! I am blown away by how beautiful this is - and how closely it resembles Vincent's. Thanks for the close-ups. The texture is amazing! The lettering on the vase is the perfect tribute to this beloved artist.

Donna, thank you. ❤ The beauty comes from Vincent, of course. He's one artist who can easily make me cry! I thought about that little signature while I was working, and came up with something I thought worked. I'm so glad you like it, too.

 

[snoball]

Exceptional! You've done a beautiful job with the OPs, I could never learn to get along with them.

 

[Terri]

That is one good copy. I never knew pastels could give such texture. Great job Terri.

Thank you, Wayne! To be clear, these are oil pastels, and you can build them up pretty thickly. I have a knife too, but can usually get texture with clay shapers.

 

[Terri]

Well done Terri!

Thank you, Perry! It was fun to do.

 

[Terri]

What a beautiful piece.

Vincent was genius. he is a source of a view that is one of a kind, no one before him and after him is usless if trying to be a source. same as Cezanne become crazy with geometric shapes viewing.

Thank you, Lazarus. ❤ I agree with you completely. I never get tired of looking at his work!

 

[Terri]

Well done. I also didn't know you get this type of result with oil pastels.

Thank you, Anne. I used 3 different kinds in this painting. Fortunately, the van Goghs played nicely with my Neopastels and Mungyos. It makes it easier to build up layers.

 

[Terri]

Exceptional! You've done a beautiful job with the OPs, I could never learn to get along with them.

Thank you, Sno! I went through a lot of trial and error, learning OPs. Different brands, papers, trying to find what works best for me. I'm so glad you like it! ❤

 

[Triduana]

This is gorgeous! I love all those lovely clean yellows and the textures are wonderful.

 

[Terri]

This is gorgeous! I love all those lovely clean yellows and the textures are wonderful.

Thank you so much, Kay! ❤ I'm happy you like it.

 

[Trier]

Truly wonderful Terri !
Vincent, I revere his works. This is a marvelous homage to him,thank you.

You and Nufocus have inspired me to make another try at OP's.
Will water soluble OP's from Mungyo, Caran D 'Arche and Portfolio, which I have, do the job as well as the regular OPs that you apparently use ?
Thanks for any advice.