About Sketching

History of Oil Pastels

At the end of World War I, in an overhaul of the Japanese education system, the many hours Japanese children had once spent drawing with ink were replaced with free drawing with color. The oil pastel, a high-viscosity crayon, was designed as a relatively cheap, easily applied, colorful medium, giving students greater freedom of expression than the popular German colored pencils or the expensive French chalk pastels. Oil pastels were an immediate commercial success, prompting new, improved products to be developed for professional artists, among them Pablo Picasso. However, oil pastels never completely dry out and the oil continues to permeate the paper, so professional artists do not often use them for finished work.

Techniques

Using Oil Pastels

Note: Oil pastels are soft and break easily.

To draw, use the tip of the pastel. To fill in large spaces, use the side of the pastel. To create a color that is rich and glossy and resists washes, color heavily. When oil pastels are used lightly, the result is an effect similar to that of chalk pastels. Heavy buildup can create an almost impasto effect.

Blending Colors

Layer darker colors on top of lighter ones. Use either a finger or a Q-tip and blend the colors until the object has an even, smooth surface.

Blending in Shading

Along one edge of an object, add a line of darker color, then smooth the darker color in toward the object’s center with a finger or the pastel.

Sgraffito

Using colors that blend well together, such as warm reds for portraits or cool greens for landscapes, color a base color, starting with the lightest color. Layer the other colors on top of it, then scratch through the layers to reveal the base color. To create texture, scratch out a regular, repeated pattern, such as a line of Vs.

Magic White

Using white oil pastel on white paper, first color an object heavily, until it is glossy, then paint a wash over it. The color will be absorbed by the paper but resisted by the pastel, making the object appear “magically.”

Texture

To add texture to objects, add as the last step a layer of short marks of color, such as lines or V shapes. Leave them unblended.

Creating Detail

Outline objects and add details using thin lines of color. Go over the object’s contour lines or details with analogous colors to emphasize shapes.

Maintenance of Materials

When pastels wear down to the level of the paper, peel some of it off. Pastels can be used down to even the smallest piece.