How to Use Oil Pastels
The Basics of Drawing and Painting with this Flexible Medium
Pastel, for many artists who love to draw, is painting at its finest. There's no water to worry about, no special brushes, no messy clean-up. Best of all, though, it lets the artist who mainly draws get the look of a painting while still getting to draw.
Getting Started with Oil Pastel
To get started, of course, you will need to chose your pastels. There are a wide range of brands, but don't let this scare you. Any brand that is not student grade will be just fine to start with. Student grade is too waxy and doesn't blend as well as artist quality pastels. As you progress you may find that a different brand will lend itself more to the look you want.
You don't have to buy a huge amount, at least at first. A set of 24 is usually enough to get a good range of colors.
Choosing a Canvas
The next thing to think about is canvas. There are many different options for the pastel artist to chose from. Many artists chose a heavy grade of pastel paper. This paper comes with a "tooth", or a gritty surface that grabs the pigment of the oil pastel. Others chose ordinary oil canvas, which has a raised grain to it that is perfect for holding layers of oil pastel. Yet another choice is sandpaper. To learn more about papers read this article.
Drawing and Painting
Now that you have your main two supplies, you can start to draw. Lightly sketch out your painting onto your surface using a soft lead pencil, making sure not to indent the surface. Pastel will not get caught in an area that is indented as well as it does on the rest of the canvas, which will lead to lines of uneven color.
Next, go over your pencil lines with the main color you are going to use in that area. Also, lay down your first layer of color. This layer will be very light and transparent. Don't worry if there is canvas showing through; that will get covered up in the next layers.
Layering
Some artist prefer layering light colors over dark and others prefer dark over light. Plan your painting before hand and decide which technique will work better for your painting. For the whitest whites, leave the area that will be white free of pastel.
Beware of adding too many layers: this will also muddy the surface of the painting because the "tooth" of your surface will no longer be able to grab the pastel. If you do make a mistake like this, you may be able to save the painting by wiping out the offending area with a dry cloth wrapped around your index finger.
As you add layers and colors, you can blend the pastel with your fingers or with cotton swabs. Your fingers also will add heat, melting the pastels into each other, making them more paint-like. The friction from drawing with the pastels will also melt the pastels on the surface. You can also add oil or melt pastels to get a more painterly look. For more information on this technique see How to Paint with Pastels.
Finishing Your Painting
To finish, let your painting harden. The time it takes for a pastel to harden varies according to the number of layers used. You may want to add a fixative to ensure the life of your painting as well.
Tip: Do not use glass to frame your painting unless it has a mat spacer to keep the glass off of the pastel.
Oil Pastel Painting
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