How to Draw With Oil Pastels

Oil pastels can be a very fun and versatile medium to use for artwork. They can be used to create a dynamic sketch with hatching and cross-hatching that indicates gesture and movement. Pastels can be blended with a finger or tool to mix the color on the paper. They can also be blended optically by placing colors very close to one another.

Things You'll Need

• Oil Pastels
• Surface to work on
• Pencil
• Mop-haired brush
• Blending stub
• Turpentine
• Flatblade

Instructions

1. Choose a subject. Many subjects work well for oil pastels including landscapes, still lifes, portraits and animals. It is best to have a basic understanding of the subject and maybe even sketch the subject several times previously.

2. Choose a medium or surface to work on. Paper is very commonly used. Paper works best for oil pastels when it has a tooth, or grain, to it. This means that the surface has a texture to it and is not smooth. Choosing the color of the paper is important also. Traditionally artwork is done by starting on a light surface and moving to dark by adding outlines and shadows. However, with the thick application of opaque color, it is possible to begin on a dark surface and add highlights or even starting on a medium-toned paper and moving both ways, adding shadows and highlights.

3. Outline the basic shapes and proportions of the composition very lightly in pencil. Do this by breaking the subject down into very basic shapes.

4. Place blocks of color in the basic shapes. The first blocks of color will not be the colors of the final picture. If working on a dark paper, use white to block in the areas most highlighted. If working on a white paper, block in large areas of basic colors for undertones to add depth.

5. Blend colors together very softly with a large mop-haired brush. This works best while blending large areas. Use a blending stub to blend smaller, more detailed areas.

6. Use oil pastel as a glaze or wash effect by diluting with turpentine. Oil pastels will never be translucent. No matter how much they are diluted, they will remain opaque and not allow any surface to show through.

7. Use a flat blade or putty eraser to remove pigment build-up. While blending colors, often too much pigment gets built up and needs to be scraped away to allow perfect blending. Detail can be achieved by scraping pigment away to allow the shadows or highlights, depending on the color of the paper, to show through.