Stephanie Neely

Cinnabar

Oil Pastel
Stephanie Neely

This time of year many of us start longing for spring and warm weather. It's especially hard for those of us living in the Midwest and upper east coast. When digit's stay in the 20's we long for green grass and perhaps a fresh blooming flower. So It's a pleasure to view Stephanie Neely's beautiful ripe roses in Oil Pastel. Her technique is realistic but very painterly. Some of her work has the look of having been painted in oil and some pieces look as though they were done in watercolor. She uses Senneliers so this could contribute to the more painted look because they are softer and creamier than most OP's. I contacted the artist and she was very gracious and wrote a couple paragraphs about her OP journey (posted below). She also wanted me to feature her flowers on my post because as she said, "They are really the culmination of my journey as an artist and represent my true love in art and in life (aside from my dear husband, of course)". That was fine by me because these were the paintings that I wanted to feature! Her other work is just as masterful. She is a Signature member of The Oil Pastel Society and has won awards and been represented by several galleries. Please check out here website here. I was really impressed with her artist's statement because she does such a good job at articulating her journey of painting and becoming the artist she is.

















Heirloom Roses
















Communion
First Prize Winner
Creative Catalyst Productions Summer Show of 2005, Private Collection


Oil Pastel was probably the last medium I thought I would ever use to create art. I used soft pastels for awhile but could not tolerate the dust, so I went back to watercolor and colored pencil. I was a practicing landscape architect and land surveyor prior to my current career as an attorney, so I am very tight in my drafting and final product. Pencils are really well suited to that goal, but I found that I could not get the rich finish that I wanted. My journey to oil pastels really began as the result of a craft project which called for the use of crayons. I thought that oil pastels might substitute well (they didn't) but it exposed me to the medium and its possibilities.

I use Senneliers exclusively. I have tried almost everything else but Senneliers are perfect for the way I paint. I love the rich colors and buttery texture. If I could have one art wish, it would be for an expanded palette of Sennelier oil pastels. My experience with application of color has been similar to that of Susan Bennerstrom, I often mix many colors to get just the right one (then I forget what I did and am forced to reinvent the wheel). I paint on 140 lb Arch Cold Pressed watercolor paper which I cut off the large rolls. Flowers and plant forms are my preferred subject matter. This may harken back to my days as a landscape designer. I live in North Carolina and make frequent pilgrimages with camera in hand to the arboretum of my alma mater, North Carolina State University, and to the Stowe Botanical Gardens outside Charlotte to capture images for painting. I also planted a large rose garden in the back yard last summer which is the source of many hours of pleasure as well as plants for painting.

The work of Joseph Raffael is my inspiration. I wish I could talk to him about his work because I feel such a kinship with him.



Thank you Stephanie for contributing!
Please feel free to make any comments or contributions to this post.

Red Pair
Oil Pastel on Panel

Susan Bennerstrom

I contacted Susan Bennerstrom recently and asked her if she would contribute a few paragraphs on what brand of OP she uses (and why) and maybe tell me a little more about her technique. She was so great and sent me this bit of info. I'm very happy to share this with you. Thank You Susan!
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It's weird, I keep buying more and more Holbeins and Senneliers because of the great range of gorgeous colors, but always end up using Caran d'Ache Neopastels almost exclusively, and the H's and S's sit there and gather dust. The Neopastels have a very limited color range, so I am forced to mix my own colors on the paper (or gessoed panel), often using as many as 10 crayons to get the color I want. I like that a lot -- it's more interesting, even though it turns out to be almost impossible to replicate a color since I don't keep track of what I've used.

Neopastels differ from Senneliers in that they are much less oily (and somewhat less oily than Holbeins), and therefore easier to control. They are "dryer," and that quality lends itself well to the kind of paintings I make, with defined edges and an overall smoothness in some areas. So Neopastels are my workhorses, and I occasionally use Senneliers and Holbeins for texture, details, and spots of color at the end. It's disastrous when I try to use them for the base layers -- they scoot around and don't adhere properly and goop up in little globs.

I rarely use mediums to mix and smooth out the oil pastels. I prefer instead to really load the pastels onto the paper (or panel) so that the pastels themselves do their own mixing. Those little rubber-ended tools ("clay shapers") are great for mixing in detailed areas, and my own fingers are the best mixing/smoothing tools. But I have found the very best technique for my way of working is to not be shy about how much pastel I put on the paper -- the more I put on, the richer and more subtle the colors get, and the more painterly the surface.

I hope this information helps!
all best,
Susan