Sheila M. Evans

Have I become an oil painting convert? Well, I don’t know about that, but my latest painting became an interesting experiment for me. Early this week I had run out of canvases, so I did a pastel sketch between making some panels. The next day I began painting the same image, Springswept (above), in oil. Maybe it’s just that I’ve been away from pastel for so long. Maybe it’s because I chose to work so small (7″ x 12″) in pastel. But I found myself getting frustrated as I worked on the pastel study, not finding the right colors in my palette, not feeling as if I could get the effects I wanted, and feeling generally awkward. 

When I began the small pastel, I was fairly certain I would do a larger version later, but not certain which medium to use. After my trying pastel session, I switched to oil and found I had a much easier time. Now that I am finished, I really like both paintings. But I was especially happy with the way I captured the subtleties in oil. 

I’m sure that when I transition back to pastel, it will become second nature again, but I’m happy to be at this point. I think this is what I was trying to accomplish, after all.

See the pastel study here: