“The buttery feel of the oil pastel in oranges and creams stand out in flicks of colour against the black and greyness of the smoke and ash. The raspberry scent from burning vines and flowers combines with a heavier acrid smell of burning branches I find such thoughts and verbal expressions help when I paint. The clean, instant touch of the oil pastel is ideal for adding to the picture without being affected by any adjoining wet colours. The colours can be flicked on with a satisfactory flourish, nice and thick and juicy. A complimentary colour also adds a little something extra to the result.
I paint on board for two reasons. The colour it gives to the ground and secondly, board will stand up to rough treatment – I scribble, scrub, rub and scratch with a great deal of “hard” blending of oil pastel, using anything that comes to hand, punishing a canvas would end up slack and in ribbons. I give the board several tonal washes mainly in neutral colours and when dry, I search for some time, the scene and the impression that is left behind. The colour and drawing in oil pastel then begins. In haste.”