My first love was sketching in pencil until I took an art course where I learned to use charcoal and acrylic paint. Since then, I have experimented with oil pastels. This medium reminds me of my childhood and the hours of enjoyment coloring.
Versatile Oil Pastel
Here are some ways oil pastels are versatile:
- Oil pastel can be applied to a variety of papers and even canvas.
- A thick watercolor paper works well.
- It can be used on canvas.
- Pastel paper is meant for oil pastel.
- Any paper with a good tooth and thickness.
- Oil pastel can be used over acrylic paint. Sometimes you may want to use an acrylic wash on the background; however, oil pastel sticks best to a good tooth.
- Oil pastel is user friendly and easy to blend. You do not need solvents, just a good paper and your finger to blend.
- You can blend with your finger, a stump, or a cotton swab (with some mineral oil or baby oil.)
- Oil pastel is economical depending on brands compared to paints.
- There is no drying time; however, once finished you should either use a pastel fixative or frame the art behind glass. (Oil pastel can smudge).
- It is easy to do texture with oil pastel.
- Oil pastels are non-toxic making them child friendly as well.
Oil pastel comes in plain, soft, and extra soft varieties. My first set of oil pastels given to me was a Mungyo set. The colors are nice for the bottom layer, but blending is nearly impossible. I then bought Sennelier, but these are crazy expensive. A set of 24 cost me $76.00 in 2018. Since then, I switched to Gallery which are much better. Again, the colors are great. A set of 48 cost me $35.00 in 2019. Gallery soft oil pastels blend well.
The image below shows oil pastel left to right as plain, soft, and extra soft:
The Mungyo set is quite hard and not easily blended. Sennelier are the opposite, so soft they break easily, and get used up quickly. Personally, I find the Gallery set in between, very blend-able, easy to apply, but firm enough not to break easily. It is important to buy artist quality for the best results.
High-quality oil pastels are made with the best pigments and very few additives, making them extremely lightfast. Good oil pastels also use high-quality additives that not only improve shelf life and the texture of the pastels but also make them resistant to the air, humidity, and other weather conditions.
Below are a few samples of what you can do with Oil Pastel:
