Welcome to Spring of 2015 and what better way to celebrate than with a bright oil pastel painting ~
Welcoming Spring, an oil pastel (8×10) was done on a gesso prepared hardboard using mainly Senneliers and Holbein oil pastel paints. An acrylic underpainting was done first in order to set the stage for a dark background. Lots of fun colors went into this piece and I loved every minute of painting today.
My wish was to paint one of my daffodils that opened this past weekend, but the snow and ice crushed the stems. Oh so sad, what would have been beautiful flowers are laying flat on the ground.
Painting again was awesome and what a breath of fresh air to paint with color, lots of color! Happy Spring – hope you enjoy!
Reference image used was from my good friend, Nicola B an awesome photographer and artist from pmp.
DON’T TAKE MY IMAGES!! MY ART IS COPYRIGHTED.
PLEASE DON’T COPY OR USE MY IMAGE WITHOUT RECEIVING MY PERMISSION FIRST – SEE DISCLOSURE ON THE RIGHT PANEL.
Oil Pastels by Mary 
Always stunning. I thought of you today when the crocuses opened,
What a beautiful compliment Catherine – thank you so much!
There’s wonderful light coming through those petals. Terrific!
Thank you Elena – developing the contrast of developing light against dark is what appealed to me. Thank you for mentioning.
Welcome is right! And this is beautiful! Love the red against the dark background!
Thanks so much Elisa – I wanted something that instantly woke our senses toward Spring’s warmth and the new signs of nature waking up after a long and cold winter. Glad you enjoyed it!
Really beautiful! I love the contrast of the flower and the background!
Thank you so much for your beautiful comment – I really appreciate it. I had to unfollow and then re-follow your blog as it wasn’t loading into my Reader.
Love those darks you created with the acrylics! Really sets this flower forward dramatically. Beautiful!
Thank you Leslie – glad you enjoyed this. When I want darks as a background the acrylics give such wonderful rich layers and oil pastels are still applied on top of it for nice breaks in the color like with magenta and prussian blues. Really appreciate your feedback!
A beauty, Mary. I like the use of light and shades here.
Thank you so much Cynthia!
Love the illumination from within. Beautiful.
Thanks so much Mona! Have a great week ~
Oh how gorgeous, Mary! The perfect welcome to spring. 🙂
Thanks Elizabeth – a symbol of brightness and the energy of Spring, after a long Winter.
So beautiful dear Mary! A great painting for welcoming to spring and it looks like coming out from screen❤️so realistic❤️
xxxx
Thank you so much Violet Very happy that you’re enjoying my entry back into painting – it’s great to celebrate the newness of Spring. Love your feedback!
I love it ❤
Thank you Leyla!
Beautiful rich colors. Hope spring appears soon for you!
Thank you Janell – it was a real nice change to go from B&W for several to color, glad you like the choices. We are finally starting to see the beginning of Spring around here, love the warmer temperatures.
Stunningly beautiful!! ❤
Thank you Lorrie for being so generous with your feedback!
Perfect for spring! ❤
Thank you Christy!
Absolutely gorgeous Mary! Love how you incorporate depth and light into your work. Hope spring arrives soon 🙂
Hi Madhu, thank you for your beautiful comment – Happy Spring to you!
Mary, this is so gorgeous! I love the colors in this so much! 🙂 We have had lots of daffodils blooming around here for weeks, but they die pretty quickly it seems. I bet you could paint one from memory!
Thank you so much Patsy! I might have one coming soon ~
Just beautiful, Mary! I love the chiaroscuro effect. Wonderful!
Thanks Stefano – glad you enjoyed the piece.
Very delicate! a real beauty!
Thank you for your lovely feedback!
Glorious, Mary!
Thanks Resa!
That is stunning colour, Mary! I think we’re all in the mood for Spring 🙂
Thank you so much Jo – time for color, lots of color! it’s time for the sun to warm the land, giving us lots of new greens, buds and flowers. Happy Wednesday!
Stunning. Spring is coming soon.
Thank you very much Jovina!
Oh Mary this is so magical! It seems we are on the same wave length (I posted the same colored roses), love how vibrant and intense it is, gives that warm feeling, a feeling of hope and happiness! Most beautiful tribute for the new beginning of Spring! I glad you posted color and flower, it is most beautiful! Thank you for bringing Spring into my day!
Ha, saw your gorgeous photograph last evening right after I posted my painting – I think we were moving along the same wave length. I love orange flowers – it’s exotic, can be delicate and shouts warmth, perfect for Spring. Thank you so much Eva for your beautiful feedback and comment – I’m so glad you enjoyed the painting. Have a beautiful week ~
Same to you Mary!
Such a magical glow! It is wondrous how two dimensions can become alive under the artist’s hands. 🙂
Thanks very much Rich for your generous comment!
I have a question, so I must comment again, sorry. I really love this piece, the flower looks alive in it. I’m wondering about oil pastels… I’ve never used them (I’m new to pastels, only a few months experience, with chalk). Are they very waxy? Do they blend easily? I imagine something close to crayon, with a bit more freedom, of course….
Hi Marick, thanks for the question. One of the first posts I did was on oil pastels and what the medium is https://oilpastelsbymary.com/2012/08/06/what-is-an-oil-pastel/. There is a lot of information there and hopefully will answer your questions. Student grade oil pastels are very waxy and makes it difficult to move the medium on the surface, whereas artist quality oil pastels have oil in the formula, which allows for the oil pastel to move easily. The student grade are closer to crayon, thus the bad reputation for the medium.
Softies are a great medium, but the dust is a dangerous element and I couldn’t get past that aspect, as well as having dust everywhere. I do love the look of soft pastels though.
Oh so gorgeous!
Thanks Fiona, glad you enjoyed the painting!
so much full of spring…
Thank you Arlen, nice to see you ~
Marvellous!
Thank you Ashok!
What vibrant colour, a beautiful spring painting Mary.
Thanks Beth!
Glorious, Miss Mary, glorious!
Big Hugs
uncle john
Thank you Uncle John! Time for Spring to kiss the Earth and wake her up ~
Beautiful painting and gorgeous colors! Just perfect to welcome Spring!
Hi Francesca, thank you so much – glad you enjoyed the painting!
How nice to come on here and find that bold burst of colour! Well-timed and executed in such a soft style I can’t help but be cheered! Love that deep green too!
Thanks A! – glad you enjoyed a bit of Spring color! The specialness of Spring is on the way to visit your place.
Oh my! This is glowingly beautiful. You did it again girl! 🙂
Hi Dorann, well I thought you needed a little Spring pick-me-up! Thank you, you made my day ~ glad you enjoyed the painting.
A beautiful start to spring Mary! 🙂
Thank you Karen – Happy Spring to you!
It’s good that you’ve made it clear to the public how your work is copyrighted. That’s how we know you truly value your work. That’s a lovely paint BTW. All the best!
Thank you and nice to meet you Wifey!
I lost for word… ❤
Thank you, means a lot Amy!
🙂
Your spring flower is so beautiful, Mary. 🙂 What a pity about our daffodils.
Thanks Sylvia – time to celebrate Spring again. I know the buds and flowers are all laying down, we were really looking forward to them.
Your return to color is wonderfully timed with spring. For my area, March can be a tease followed by a slap in the house … even on back to back days. As a whole, this week is going to be the tease.
Thanks Frank – now that our 30 degree weather is gone, we look forward to Spring storms (not!). Enjoy your week of wonderful Spring-like weather.
Oh yes … one of the bads that accompany the goods for the season.
Isn’t that the truth!
My dear Mary, your flower was ‘a breath of fresh air’ to me! Happy Monday and new week! 🙂
Hi Marina, thank you so much – we all need to see Spring’s renewal again. Love your comment – have a beautiful week!
Oh, yes we do and your painting is such a wonderful opening to this beautiful season! 🙂
Thank you Marina!! Have a good evening ~
Just gorgeous! The colors explode off the canvas Mary! Great job!
Thanks Rhonda, it was fun just diving in and working the oil pastels again. A little bright after all the B&W ~
For sure. I’m gearing up to start painting again. Plein air season is calling me plus I have an idea for a new painting in the studio.
Yeah, now I’m excited and looking forward to seeing what your next creation.
😊👍
Lousy snow! Bad stuff. Great colors and detail in this one!
Thanks John!
Beautiful! And the flower looks so realistic too.
Sorry to hear about your daffodils- hope they still have some strength to perk up 😉
Hi Jess, thanks very much! Yeah so sad, I was really looking forward to them opening as we had about 30 buds ready to go ~ instead we have happy spots of yellow dotting the ground.
Hi Mary, This is lovely. Its so nice to seeing you use color again! Thanks for the sneak peak of spring! ~Rita
Hi Rita, thought it was time to infuse some color into the blog again ~ thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the piece.
So beautiful dear Mary, I loved this spring painting. Thank you, love, nia
Hi Nia, thank you very much for your beautiful feedback!
Gorgeous!
Thanks Marick for your generous comment!
This is simply beautiful, Mary. Thank you for the glimmer of hope! ❤
Hi Cynthia, thank you so much – I thought it was about time that we moved Spring along! Hope the color brings some light to the long dreary winter months up in Maine for you.