Reverse Oil Pastel Paintings

I wanted to introduce my students to some new materials and techniques. Since they had never used oil pastels, I thought it would be the perfect medium to introduce to them. The other materials they used were clear acetate to paint on, a variety of tools for blending (such as tissue and Q-tips), and metallic foil. This was a reverse oil painting lesson in which a painting is created in a backward fashion. Our paintings, once completed, would have the look of a stained glass window (at least that was the goal). The metallic foil (we used aluminum foil) was placed behind the painting in order for light to be reflected through the pastel. If you look closely, you'll see a shiny background texture on some of the paintings where the paint is more transparent.

Subject matter ranged from landscapes to animals to the abstract. All of the students were challenged and everyone learned how to select colors, to paint with oil pastel, and to blend. Everyone seemed to really enjoy this new (to them) medium and the process of painting with oil pastels. Just look at what great art they created!

Bookmaking - Notepads

Learning how to make handmade books, for use as notepads, was the next project for my students. They all enjoyed this one and had fun learning the bookmaking process. Again, we used a variety of our bright specialty papers for the covers, combined with some colorful ribbons for the binding. For the insides, we used plain white paper. Three sizes were made for variety ...small, medium, and large. As you can see here, the results are eye catching and funky.