I recently took a painting workshop called "Experimenting with Pigment Sticks", with instructor Lisa Pressman at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point Wisconsin. I had a blast. Met some really great people including Lisa who was not only a great instructor but very inspiring as an artist and a person as well. And she got me painting in oil which is something I've not done since my art school days, yonks ago. I came away from the 3 day workshop with 11 paintings - in varying stages of "done-ness", and I haven't stopped since.

R&F Pigment Sticks are kind of like big oil paint crayons, except they're mixed with oil, beeswax and linseed oil which makes them really creamy in texture and incredibly versatile as a tool. Lisa taught us numerous ways to use this medium - drawing with them (kind of like drawing with lipstick), mixing them with different solvents, adding glaze like you would a traditional oil painting, and even mixing them with cold wax medium to give infinite possibilities for creating texture. Scrape, scratch, push, pull, smear, wipe, layer, escavate... let me tell you, I am hooked.

Following are some samples of finished works.

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