The Devil

So, since I drew Gandhi, I thought I would draw Satan as well.

Oil pastel on bristol board

Since oil pastels never really dry fully, I dared not place this on my scanner, so I took of photo of it and did some minor histogram adjustments to make the white places more accurately reflect the color white.  I started off with whites, pinks, oranges and reds, then moved in with darker reds and finally blacks and yellow and whites to use as shadow and highlights, respectively.

I started adding some orange to be used as a midtone between the darker reds and red, and the orange was pulling up the underlying color.  The edge of the pastel was too pointy.  I had to use the flat edge instead.  In this way, not too much orange is laid down.  It smears and pushes around the other colors and some orange remains, but if you are patient, I think this is the way to go.  Subtly adding layers and color, some smudging, some pushing and blending of the other colors.

I only used a little bit of turpentine on a blending stick.  I have used turpentine more liberally in the past on a paintbrush, but this was on bristol board, not a heavier watercolor paper or canvas. I kind of like how this turned out.  I like being able to see some of the underlying paper shining through.  Not everything has to be black ink on white paper with digitally added colors.  Although it would be outrageously painstaking, I am thinking doing an all oil pastel comic strip, even if it is very brief would be a good idea.  See the idea through to the end.  Never give up, you know?  Just like my man, Satan!