#042 A July 4th Food Plate in Oil Pastels

2024 drawing techniques Jun 30, 2024

Summer parties and celebrations are wonderful opportunities to draw colorful foods and decorations. This week many of us in the United States will celebrate Independence day in some way. Set aside a few colorful items for your next drawing.

Gather materials and references.

Materials:

Drawing pencil

Set of oil pastels*

Drawing paper – 4 sheets

*A reasonably priced oil pastel brand is Cray-Pas Junior Artist Student Quality Oil Pastels. I prefer a set of 25 or more colors.

Reference:

Select objects taken from holiday foods and decoration.

Step One: Arranging objects

You want to draw a still-life and you want to know how to best arrange the objects that you choose to draw. Here are a few tips. Select objects that are very different in height. Place the tallest object in the back. Place the lowest objects in the front.

Avoid tangents, (points where the contour of one object just touches the contour of another object, without overlapping. Tangents seem unnatural and can confuse the viewer, often making objects seem closer or farther away than they really are. The edge of the flag seems to touch the edge of the corn. The cookie and corn just touch the watermelon slice at the edges. The flag also touches the edge of the photo at the top and right side. This makes it appear closer to us than the other objects, when it is the most distant object in the picture.

The placement of objects is more clearly shown when you either overlap or separate. In this arrangement, the corn overlaps the watermelon, showing that it is in front. The cookie sits completely away from the other objects with only a red napkin to tie it to them. The flag pole appears to sit behind the plate because the plate overlaps it, while the flag overlaps the watermelon. Plenty of room is given around the objects so that they do not rest on the edge of the picture.

To draw, look at the outside edges first. Also look for shapes that you can put onto the paper. When some lines aren’t right, go back to that area of the paper and draw over them. There are no mistakes in drawing. Each correction means that you are seeing the object more clearly and accurately. Draw, redraw, and finally erase lines that make the shapes confusing or that do not belong.

Join me in the next step to see how to add local color to your picture using oil pastels.

Step Two: Add Local Color with Oil Pastels

Fill in the local colors, using light pressure with the oil pastel as you draw back and forth. You are actually making lines so close together that they overlap and create a solid block of color. Take a look at the teacher example. Here the watermelon, cookie, napkin, and flag are filled in with the color of each. The corn will be built up in layers. The first layer will be part of the shading of each kernel. Join me in the next step to see how to add layers of color on top of the colors you laid down this week.

Week Three: Layer Colors to Create Highlights

Once the local colors are put onto the paper, it is time to look at the effects of light. It is best to set up your objects so that they receive a direct source of light from one side only. A window is a great light source. Here white oil pastel is used to lighten the cookie color. It was applied directly over the tan layer. Peach is used over the red color to lighten the left side of the watermelon. Light blue is added to the background for color interest. Little circles of yellow and gold are colored within the tan grid lines to form corn kernels. The side of a white pastel is applied to the background to soften and blend. When you mix colors in this way the oil pastel sticks will get other colors on them. To clean oil pastel sticks, simply wipe the pastel gently with a soft tissue. It’s time to work throughout your picture, layering one color over another. Next, we see what a difference adding details can make.

Week Four: Adding Details

The wonderful thing about oil pastels is how well one color can sit on top of another, whether lighter or darker. It's time to add the small details. To create the highlights on the corn kernels and strawberry, white is dabbed onto the colors. To create the watermelon seeds, black and dark brown are added on top of the red. Cookie sprinkles and stars are added to the surface of the cookie and the flag by dabbing color onto the surface. Now add details to your picture.

I hope you had fun with the unique medium of oil pastels.

Your art teacher,

Brenda Ellis