How to Use Oil Pastels and Oil Sticks
Oil pastels and oil sticks are similar pieces of artists equipment, although the fact that they are made up of different components means that the oil pastel is ultimately a non-drying oil, whereas the oil stick will develop a dry top layer and is therefore suitable to be used over dried oil paint. Both oil pastel and stick can be inaccurate and slightly messy to use, although one benefit of using these tools is that they are slow drying. Paintings that are created with pastels can be worked on for several months.
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Things You'll Need
- Oil pastels
- Oil sticks
- Thick art paper
- Pencil
- Cotton buds
- Solvent
- Varnish
Instructions
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1
Prepare by scraping the dried top layer off the oil stick if this is the tool you are using. Pastels will not require this. Purchase thick art paper to work with rather than print paper, which will be too thin for the oil fibers to stick to.
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2
Draw a sketch on the paper using light, faint strokes with a pencil. Avoid adding details with the pencil and instead use this stage to plan out the basic shapes that will make up the image you want to paint.
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3
Apply a base color by adding small amounts of color to the painting. Both oil sticks and pastels are made to create a highly saturated appearance on paper, so use a shade that is three times lighter than you ultimately want the area to appear. Smooth the colors out using your fingers or cotton buds. You can also dilute the color by adding a small amount of specialized solvent. Leave darker base colors until last to avoid spreading unwanted marks onto lighter areas.
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4
Build up the painting by adding darker shades to create texture, detail and shading. Do this by again adding small amounts of color and manipulating it with either your fingers or cotton buds.
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5
Spray the completed painting with a specialized varnish, which you can purchase online and in art supply stores. This is particularly important when using oil pastels as the painting will not dry for several months if left unprotected, which could result in smudging and damaging of the art piece. Alternatively you can place the finished work beneath glass for protection. Remove any stains from skin and clothing with washing up liquid.
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References
- Photo Credit pastels image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
