New To Oil Pastels ?
Find Out More
Using oil pastels provides a dust-free way of drawing and painting with vibrant colors on a wide variety of surfaces.
They can be used on their own or with other media.
Their versatility allows you to use them thickly, like heavy, impasto oil paints.
Mixed with turpentine or other oil paint thinners, they can produce a delicate wash or glaze.
They can be used on their own, in
the same way as
ordinary 'chalky'
pastels.
Or they can be
combined
with say, oil paints or watercolors, where
their particular qualities can complement or contrast with the
other media.
Let's look at some of the most frequent questions asked by artists new to oil pastels...
Q. What are these pastels made of?
A. The same rich pigments as found in soft pastels. The big difference is that unlike the 'chalky' binders of soft pastels, oil pastels are bound with non-drying oils and waxes, giving them a much smoother and creamier feel and texture.
They are very pigment rich and the waxes enhance the vibrancy of the colors.
Although a close relative of and intermixable with oil paints, they tend not to dry out completely and are less prone to accidental smudging than soft pastels.
Having said this, you still have to exercise care as small flecks of pastel can get on the 'wrong' areas of your painting and put an unsightly smear where it isn't wanted.
For this reason, some artists leave the background until last when doing say, a portrait or still life.
Q. Can I use them for thick or thin effects, like oil paints?
A. Yes, no problem. Pressing hard can give impasto effects and warming or even (carefully) partially melting the pastels enhances this effect.
A light glaze or wash effect can be achieved by mixing them with turpentine, low odor thinners or other oil painting mediums and additives.
You can do this several ways. Rub a little of the pastel over the area to be colored, then brush this out with pure medium to the translucency you require.
Or paint the medium on the surface first and rub the pastel lightly over it.
Also, try rubbing an oil pastel on a piece of scrap board, adding medium to the desired consistency, then applying this where required, like a thin oil paint glaze or underpainting.
Another difference between oil and chalk pastels is that oil pastels can be more readily mixed both on and off the painting surface.
This means that there isn't quite the range of shades of a color as in chalk pastels. However, there is still a fair selection of shades available as the photo below demonstrates.
Q. Can I use oil pastels with other paint media?
A. Certainly. They can be used as a resist with water-based media such as watercolor paints or acrylic paints.
A 'resist' simply means that the water-based paint will not adhere to the area covered by the oily pastel, thus creating some interesting effects.
It's the same principle as drawing with a plain wax candle and then painting watercolor over the top to achieve a 'hit& miss' effect.
Or you could use watercolors, acrylics, colored pencils or whatever as a base, then add oil pastels to develop your picture.
Oil paints are an obvious partner to these pastels as well, being largely intermixable.
The main thing to watch out for is that because oil pastels don't dry out, avoid putting oil paints on top, unless you have only used the pastels as a very thin underpainting, which I mentioned earlier.
There's no problem the other way round, ie: pastels over dry oil paints.
Spray or brush with a retouching varnish first though so the pastels adhere to the paint. Don't try them over wet paint though, as you'll find the pastel drags the paint rather than sitting on it.
You could also use acrylics for a thin underpainting, over the top of which you apply the heavier, oily pastel.
Q. What surfaces can I use?
A. Virtually any hard or soft surface is suitable. art canvas panels and boards obviously, but watercolor paper with a reasonable tooth is also very good.
However, most absorbent surfaces are best primed with gesso so the waxy binders in the pastels don't soak down into the fibres and reduce the vibrancy of the colors.
You can buy acrylic primer that is pre-tinted and creates a small amount of surface texture, ideal for creating a 'toothy' surface for all types of pastels.
Hard surfaces such as glass, ceramics, board, metal and plastic can also be used with oil pastels.
These latter surfaces are particularly good for scraping back or scratching out textures.
Q. Do I need to fix the layers or final coat of oil pastels like hard & soft chalk pastels?
A. Strictly speaking, no - though some artists think this is a good idea as oil pastels don't dry out like oil paints eventually do, so need a protective layer.
Bear in mind though that oil pastel fixatives often have a vinyl resin base (use the oil paint mediums link above to find out more). Once dry, this will restrict any future attempts to alter your picture, if this becomes necessary.
...So there we are with a brief overview of oil pastels. Hope you use the information to good effect. Don't forget to use the links above and below to provide you with even more hints and tips for your painting!
Related Articles
Pastel
accessories to improve your pastel drawings
Using
a few, well chosen pastel accessories with your pastels can
greatly enhance the quality of your work...
The
rough guide to using pastel paper
Choosing
the right pastel paper to use with your pastels can be
confusing at first...
An introduction to the world of soft and hard pastels
Soft and hard pastels have been around since the 16th century and have been used by some of the world's most famous artists...
Return from
this oil pastels page
to the main pastels section.
