Working with Oil Pastels

Hello all-

I started working with oil pastels about a year ago with hit or miss results. There are a variety of ways to work with this medium, but I think the main issue to overcome is that oil pastels never really "dry out" I tend to frame mine with at least a single matte to keep the work from touching the glass. There are also several fixatives available. I have used the Sennelier brand with good results.

My first experiments with oil pastels was on paper. I just grabbed what I had lying around, which happened to be watercolor paper. This is the same scene done twice (something I rarely do) on watercolor paper with different finishes.

The paper with the smoother finish is very different that the same scene done on cold press paper. I used a scratch tool to draw in the branches on the shrubs. A big tip for working with oil pastel on paper: For archival purposes, you should apply a light coat of gesso to paper. Not everyone does this, but if you don't you run the risk of the oils seeping into the paper and discoloring it over time. Oil pastels can be loose or blended.

There are a variety of brands of pastels out there. They are all very different in texture and softness....additionally, they work very differently with each other as well. I find I can usually blend with Sennelier and Van gogh brands, but not cras pas.

For beginners, this is a nice resource for information.

This is a light smooth oil paint on gessoed illustration board.  I don't use any thinner when working with oils.  

Just blocking in basic shapes and color.

At one point, I realized that applying oil pastels over a loose smooth oil paint surface was a great way to work....I like the process a lot. Here is step by step process of hammerhead sharks:

Bit by bit, I work in the details with the oil pastels until I have the final piece:


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Working with Chalk Pastel: Just the Basics

I've recently been doing a great deal of work with chalk pastels and have found them to be the bomb! I have numberous past pastel works that have been abandoned due to lack of a successful end. All because I wasn't willing to take time to learn a few basics.

Patricia Savage, an excellent pastel artist (http://psavageart.com/) taught a fantastic workshop a few years back in Raliegh, NC and much of this basic knowledge is thanks to her!

Carcharias taurus, sand tiger shark

What you work on is critical with pastels. Some of the pastel papers have a slightly rough surface but its very limiting on the amount of pastels one can apply. I prefer:

1) Paper with tooth to hold pastels. This can be store bought or make your own. (http://www.explore-drawing-and-painting.com/pastel-papers.html) has excellent instructions. I have been working with Sennelier pastel card and really like the level of tooth. (http://www.cheapjoes.com/catalog/product/view/id/27116/)

2) Chalk pastels are all often refered to as "soft" pastels, but in truth there are three basic soft pastels grades:

Hardest of the soft pastels: such as Nupastels and Art stitcks
Medium soft (Grumbacher, Winsor & Newton)
Super soft (Sennelier)
Not sure what your pastel grade would be? As a rule, if it looks like its going to rumble in your hand, its super soft, if its edges are very clean and precise, its a much harder "soft" pastel.

The grade is really important because the harder pastels such as nupastels and art sticks will not work on top of the super soft pastels. I really only use the harder soft pastels for preliminary sketches.

3) Work BIG. You can actually do fantastic detail with pastel, but its much easier if you work big. I prefer 20 x 24 or so...

One thing is its hard to convince people to just start drawing sketching with the pastels instead of working from a pencil drawing. Roughing in the image in a neutral color and the blocking and refining as you continue to work.

I like to lay down colors with the soft and medium pastels and then use a medium grade pastel to blend the colors together loosely with quick crosshatching strokes. But you can also use a gum erasure or vinyl erasure cut into a wedge or point.

I hope to post a video shortly with a demo has that's much easier to show technique than trying to describe it.

Now you can get started too! Have fun!

Hamadryas amphinome, Red Cracker

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