subject: Oil pastels and oil sticks guide [print this page] Oil pastels and oil sticks guide Oil pastels and oil sticks guide
Oil pastels are a relatively new medium first developed for Japanese schoolchildren in the late 1920s, which may explain why they handle more like children's crayons than chalk pastels do. Oil pastels and oil sticks, larger versions of the oil pastels, are sometimes considered a wet medium. They consist of a thick paste of pigment, oil, and oil-soluble wax; you can draw on canvases and treat oil pastel as a painting material, or you can use it as a drawing material on paper. The binder captures pigment in much the same way pigment is suspended in paint, and even used as a drawing material, oil pastels' effects can be quite similar to paint. As drawing materials, oil pastels have a certain appeal over chalk pastels because they don't create dust and adhere more easily to less-toothy papers.
Built up in layers, oil pastels look much like impasto, thickly applied oil paint. Unlike oil paints, oil pastels never dry, so you need to handle and store any artwork you make with this medium very carefully. Because oil pastels are a waxy medium, artworks made from them are prone to developing a white haze called bloom across the surface unless you apply a special oil pastel fixative. Like oil paints, oil pastels on paper are prone to oiling out as the paper absorbs the oil out of the pigment. This condition causes a different kind of bloom and, in the worst cases, can cause the surface of the art to crack as the pastel becomes more inflexible than the paper it lays on. Another concern that arises from using oil pastels is that they aren't acid free and will eventually break down any paper they come in contact with. Priming the drawing surface with gesso, an art primer that acts as a barrier to the oil, prevents both of these problems.
Oil pastel is a tempting choice because it doesn't create dust, and its texture is interesting. However, when you're first starting out with pastels, we strongly suggest you stay away from oil pastels. Save them for a time when you're ready to experiment and don't have to worry so much about your drawing skills at the same time. Although oil pastels make a popular choice for children's art classrooms, chalk is more flexible to use, so you struggle less with chalk as you build your drawing skills.
