WHAT IS OIL PASTEL?
Oil pastel is pigment (coloring matter) mixed with oil and wax into a stick of color. It was invented in Paris in the 1920's by the Sennelier company at the request of Pablo Picasso, who wanted a drawing/painting medium that he could use on a variety of surfaces. Oil pastel is very versatile: colors blend readily and mistakes are easy to correct. It can be used on many different surfaces, including paper, wood, canvas, slate, metal, etc. Unlike traditional "soft" pastels, it does not produce dust that can irritate artists' lungs. It is somewhat like oil paint-in-a-stick, but, unlike oil, never dries completely. For that reason, many oil pastels are framed under glass. Marilynn's oil pastel paintings, however, are framed like oil paintings, without glass, because she has developed a method of protecting the surface with fixative and varnish.

ABOUT GOUACHE AND WATERCOLOR
Gouache is an opaque watercolor. Traditional transparent watercolor is pigment (coloring matter) mixed with a water-soluble gum; gouache is simply transparent watercolor with the addition of a chalky substance. Transparent watercolor and gouache are entirely compatible and can be used together in a painting. In fact, the play of transparent and opaque effects is one of the most exciting aspects of mixing these media. Many of Marilynn's "watercolor" paintings include gouache. Like transparent watercolor, gouache can be used on paper, or gesso- and clay-coated surfaces. Unlike transparent watercolor, gouache is easy to correct, by wiping out and painting over. Marilynn uses gouache as an underpainting for her oil pastels, because it covers surfaces so well, can be mixed to a desired color and retains the texture of the painting surface (panel or canvas), i.e., the "tooth" that holds the pastel.