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Introduction
Introduction
Join me as I explore the possibilites of Oil Pastels as a medium. Oil pastels are quite versatile and come in different qualities of wax binder and pigment depending on the brands. For the sake of this exploration, I tried Fabercastle, Pantel, CrayPas Junior, Craypas expressionist, and watersoluble Portfolio Oil pastels. I will walk you through the color qualities, blending methods and other tips and techniques to assess the strengths and weaknesses of oil pastels as a medium and conclude with a potential lesson for the classroom.
Materials and Prices
Materials and Prices
Oil Pastels, 24-Color SetFaber-Castell$13.49 – $17.99
Oil Pastels, 16 ColorsPentel Arts$3.74 – $4.99
Oil Pastels, 12-Color Set (Water Soluble) Portfolio/Studio Quality$7.00 – $9.99
Oil Pastels, 12-Color Set (Junior Artist)Sakura Cray-Pas$7.39 – $11.69
Oil Pastels, 12-Color Set (Expressionist)Sakura Cray-Pas$5.99 – $8.30
Vinyl/Plastic Eraser (Block)Prismacolor Magic Rub$1.23 – $2.49
Kneaded Eraser (Gray)Generic (often Faber-Castell or Prismacolor)$1.56 – $1.59
Retractable Utility/Snap-Off Knife (Red)Generic/Various brands$6.50 – $6.99
Retractable Stick Eraser (White)Generic (e.g., Pentel Clic)$2.30 – $4.19
Other: Pink gum Eraser, water cup and brush for water soluble pastels, blending stump, pen and tips
Overall first Impressions:
Cray Pas junior was the least pigmented and pantel came second. Cray pas expressionist blended nicely and the sticks were larger and more vibrant. Faber Castell has a bigger range of colors and is more expensive. This pack came with a small Sgraffito tool included which I have lost. Faber Castell's sticks are the most compact and pigmented. Portfolio Pastels have the largest size and really pointy haed. they were the most transparent and soft quality of all the pastels so there wasn't much residue build up like the other ones and everything blended really easily like melted butter on bread.
Exploring Supports
Exploring Supports
I used a series of different papers or supports such as sketch paper, canson mixed media, spare black color pencils, clear plastic, strathmore Tracing paper, and canson Toned sketch paper.
Drawing on parchment Tracing paper
Exploring MarkMaking on Clear Plastic
Colors seem really matte and opaque on the toned paper.
Trying colors and Hatching on Mixed Media
Exploring Color mixing
Exploring Color mixing
While different brands of the same primary colors can be a little different in temprature and saturation, oil pastels usually blend easily with each other if enough pressure is applied. To create a seamless blend between two colors I layered colors with a circular motion; otherwise they might not blend and sometimes just act as coverage. This is specially the case with darker colors like black.
Comparison:
Pantel and Cray pas colors seem less transparent than Portfolio and Faber Castle which creating the need for more manual blending with hand and other tools.
It can also be seen clearly that the CrayPass Junior (CPJ) is clearly less pigmented than its counterpart CrayPass Expressionist (CPE.)
Colors on the black color paper helped distinguish the individual qualities of each color and brand. some colors were more transparent while others were more pigmented and opaque. The grainy texture of the oil Pastel was more obvious on black paper.
blending by layering
Use of Fabercastle pastels on winton watercolor textured paper. (before Smudging)
Colors are less vibrant and more muted after smudging and blending with a blending stump.
blening an area with my finger (purple and pink) to get rid of the white texture of the paper (seen on top of the drawing)
I was able to create subtle washes with the waterSoluble "portfolio" oil Pastels
Exploring Mark Making
Exploring Mark Making
Since the Pastels sticks are soft and oily the markmaking changes depending on the amount of color and pressure. Textured papers require layering and blending with finger, stump, or paper towel to create a full coverage of the white of the paper, I tried layering and Scumbling to see the different effects and qualities of each method. Hatching however, doesn't seem as suitable since the sticks lose their linear sharpness pretty fast due to the softness and cream and butter like quality of oil pastels.
Line and Scumbling
Using the side of the pastel instead of the tip allowed a better coverage for larger areas
Blending and Sgrafitto
Additional Tips and Tricks
Additional Tips and Tricks
A sharp eraser and sharp tipped pen can be used as tools to take away some of the pigment off the paper to create negative shapes and lines as fun and cool sgraffito effect.
Explore the possiblities of sgraffitto with a variety of sharp tools and utensils. I used a dry ink pen tip to create different pattern. after each stroke make sure to catch the residue with your left hand.
Strength and Weaknesses
Strength and Weaknesses
Strength: They are soft, transparent, easily blendable vibrant colors which can be really fun to color with as opposed to hard and wooden color pencils.
Weakness: Depending on the color and the brand, the oil pastel sticks can blend really easily but this comes at the price of losing linear precision and accuracy. Also, they are also not so easy to lift and erase, although, you can scrape them off with a tool like a pallette knife. Another weakness is the messiness that is created around and in the drawing because the sticks are just so soft.
The drawing strokes create a visible texture even when the entire paper is covered. stains are hard to erase and clear sharp lines are almost impossible with oil pastels.
Sometimes the colors stick to one of the pastel tips or the paper and before you know it they get blended into your drawing with little chance of removal.
To ensure a clean work without dirt from other colors I had to use a scrap paper to keep the tip of my pastel stick pure. This is especially the case with brighter colors like white and yellow.
Note the messiness on my hands and the table. Make sure to wash hands with soap before touching face and eyes.
Covering the white of the paper can be labor intensive and requires multiple layers.
Lesson Example
Lesson Example
One of my best memories doing art is playing with scratch art with black oil pastel on top of rainbow colored paper. I thought I can recreate this fun experience while incorporating some color theory about warm and cool colors as well as complementary color relationships This lesson will be most appropriate for early Elementary students . Follow these Steps:
Step 1: On a piece of plain white papers Layout squares of warm colors in two colums: one side with oranges and yellows and one side with reds and pinks. (I used my 24 colored Fabercastle Set)
Step 2: Now overlay cool complementary colors on the two Columns. Since the light blue appears really brown on the orange I replaced it with cobalt blue again.
Some of the lighter colors are not as pigmented and blend very naturally when layer like this light cyan on the orange.
The Green on the pink in the next picture, however, keeps its pigment rich and little blending happens with just layering.
Note: For oranges and yellow Blue and purple are the complementary colors Respectivly. For Reds and pinks, Greens are complementary Colors.
It is more likely to have pigment residue buildup on the paper and stick when layering. It can be handy to to have a brush or paper towel to pick up the dirt.
Use a paper towel or cotton to gather and clean up around your paper and notebookmake sure to wipe your table with an alcoholic wipe as colors tend to stick around.
Step 3: Now that you have cool complementaries overlayed on all of the warm colors you can start making different patterns with a sharp Sgraffito pen/tool.
Note: The combination of complementary warm orange colors beneath the blues creates a neon color effect due to the contrast.
The final Result of the Oil Pastel, color and patterns exploration Lesson! When all of the students are done, drawings can be placed together to create a large quilt design!
Overall Thoughts
Overall Thoughts
Overall I think oil pastels are pretty fun to draw with. They have diverse markmaking possibilites and really lively colors and textures. I personally don't feel the most confident working with them as it can get labor intensive to get accurate colors and shapes. As explained before a main strength of oil pastels is that they have vibrant and painterly colors without the extensive tools and mess of traditional oil painting. I think they are appropriate for working with all ages above kindergarten since they might irritate the eyes if children touch their eyes without their oil pastel colored hands.
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