Oil pastel studies

Oil pastels and I have not exactly been on good terms over the past couple of days. I don't know, maybe I should switch brands or something, or perhaps increase my color palette. Then again, a good workman shouldn't blame his tools.

So I decided to try something new: oil pastel studies, using the sticks as I would a sketching pencil.

This was my first attempt, a monotone sketch using my favorite orange-brown color.

For my second attempt, I used two colors, orange-brown and light brown for the sketch, and rounded out the details with a colored pencil.

And finally, a study in black-and-red, which lent a decidedly sinister atmosphere to the subject.

Sigh. I think I've gotten as good as I'm going to get on my own. It's really time for some classes.