Buttery, Brilliant, Blendable Oil Pastels

Their creamy consistency and brilliant colors make oil pastels a uniquely fun medium to explore. They are versatile because they adhere to a lot of different surfaces, and they have the ability to produce a number of interesting effects. I’m happy to be introducing you to this wonderful medium!

Oil Pastels are a blend of Pigment, Mineral Oil, and Wax binder. I said Mineral spirits in this video. Oops.

Here’s that ancient box of Cray-Pas! Still useable after decades. I’m not tellin’ how many 🙂

Working With Oil Pastel – Basic Blends

Working With Oil Pastel – Tools

Papers and Mediums

Types of Pastels and What to Buy

Oil Pastel Final Notes

Here’s some more examples of the small Landscape and Seascape paintings we do in class. They’re only 3×5 inches – on gesso covered mat board.

Student work – a tranquil lake scene on Canson Pastel paper A big blue eye – it’s always fun for me to see what my students choose for subject matter. I loved this student work – a star nebula! Pastel paper.

This is a small Landscape I did to show different blending methods. On Pastel paper.

Florals were a great subject in this recent class!

Here’s an example of the flower…up close and personal.

Here’s a couple of Landscapes I did as I was trying out some new pastels – Cray Pas Expressionist on left, Mungyo Gallery on right. I like them both.

This is the paper used for both of the above landscapes. The one on the right is Strathmore brand – not sure about the one on the left.

This is the landscape I did with my new Erengi set – it’s on canvas board. I’m not a fan of the texture, but I know other artists who like canvas a lot. I signed it, which is usually a sign that I’m done, but I feel like the water is a little muddy. I may do more…another day.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this lesson!

Blessings to you –

Stay Creative,

Elaine