I must not/must resist

I continue to produce my Above and Below pictures which has grown into quite a collection. I enjoy doing these abstract landscapey and watery pieces. I have put a number of them up on my walls in frames. I like having my pictures surrounding me.

With each of these, I used paper with a nice tooth, or texture. Then turning it on it's side, I lightly dragged a stick of oil pastel  over the paper. Because the paper is so rough, the color sits on the little peaks and leaves plenty of white. I started each piece the same way, using different color oil pastel. As I felt like I was experimenting, I admit I didn't take the time to plan out the picture. I was more interested in the kind of effects I'd get.

I've used oil pastels with watercolor before, so I knew not to use a good brush, or one that was too soft. A good brush gets kind of torn up and waxy. The soft one fills in too much of the white.

The oil pastel acts as a resist, causing the paint to skip. I mostly held the brush by the end of the handle, in an effort to apply the paint lightly. l always find it interesting to focus on the materials and/or technique instead of an object or photo in front of me. There's great freedom in not having to get it right.