Oil Pastel Drawing Ideas
Oil pastels are easily blendable, slightly greasy, versatile art materials made from pigments mixed with a binder. They can be used in many different ways on a range of surfaces to create unique, highly textural drawings. There are many different subjects, from still lifes to wild animals, which you can choose from to draw to help you practice oil pastel techniques and create a satisfying piece of art.
Other People Are Reading
-
Still Life
-
Drawing from still life is a useful way to practice oil pastel techniques and create vibrant, textural and visually appealing art. Oil pastels do not smudge, unlike pencil, and are more easily blended than paint, making them ideal materials for beginners to use for still life drawing. Still life drawings can consist of many different objects, including fruit, flowers and reflective objects. Begin drawing studies of single objects before arranging them into a still life composition. Control the lighting as you draw your still life and choose a point of view. Unlike if you were to work with pencil or another medium, work from the background to the front of the picture to create crisp lines and avoid gaps between objects. If you are drawing outdoors or in a place where the objects may get moved, take photos to refer to later.
Portraits
-
Portraits in oil pastel can create highly tonal and textural works of art. Because they remain slightly greasy and blend well it often is easier to create stronger contrasts of tone and thicker textures within portraits using oil pastel than it is with paints or other mediums. Attention to detail and drawing what you see are important factors to consider. Starting by drawing a self portrait using a mirror is great practice as you are willing to sit still for as long as necessary. When you are confident about your strokes and how to use oil pastel to create the desired effect, move on to draw other people. Study your figures closely and concentrate on achieving an accurate portrait in fine detail, blending when needed. Pay careful attention when drawing hands; make sure to always draw what you see instead of what you know is there.
-
Landscapes
-
Oil pastels can be used to form stunning, contrasting landscapes. Different textures and intensities of tone and color can be easily achieved by applying oil pastels with varying pressure and blending. There are plenty of landscapes that take advantage of the versatility of oil pastels, ranging from vast countryside scenes to parking lots. Wilderness landscape scenes, consisting of lots of trees, grass, rocks and sky, can create inspiring drawings. Architectural oil pastel drawings are more difficult to get accurate as they mostly consist of geometric shapes, straight lines and intricate features, such as writing on a sign, but can make strong compositions. Seascapes and landscapes with water can include dramatic weather conditions and interesting reflections.
Animals
-
The pigments from which oil pastels are made create naturally textural drawings, making them ideal materials for animal drawing. They combine well with other mediums to create the details of fur, scales, feathers and other animal textures. Birds, cats, dogs, zoo animals and woodland creatures can all become subjects for your oil pastel drawing. If you are drawing an animal from still life, make sure to observe it closely and watch how it moves as you try to capture it on paper. Drawing an animal from a photograph can help you to carefully examine the anatomy and smaller details of it. Experiment with different oil pastel techniques, such as hatching or using a palette knife, to add texture and tone and help you to draw a lifelike animal.
-
References
- Photo Credit George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images
