Oil pastels: types and advantages

Children’s art projects often use oil pastels as their medium. They are enjoyable for kids to use because they provide brilliant colors that are simple to blend. Oil pastels, as opposed to regular crayons, have a smooth, soft texture that makes them glide on paper easily, encouraging creativity without causing frustration.

Oil pastels come in a variety of varieties, ranging from beginner-friendly student-grade pastels to artist-grade pastels with deeper pigment. Parents and educators can select the best option for their children’s needs by being aware of the benefits that each type offers.

Oil pastels are a flexible tool that can improve any child’s artistic experience, whether they are used for basic drawings or more complex techniques. They are a fantastic addition to any art supply collection because of their robustness and simplicity of use.

Type of Oil Pastels	Advantages
Soft Oil Pastels	Rich colors, easy to blend
Hard Oil Pastels	Great for details, less smudging
Water-Soluble Oil Pastels	Can be mixed with water for unique effects
Student-Grade Oil Pastels	Affordable, suitable for beginners
Artist-Grade Oil Pastels	High-quality pigments, ideal for professionals

What is it?

It should be mentioned that despite pastels’ long history and widespread use, many parents are still confused about them. In actuality, they resemble regular kid’s crayons in that they are completely open and have no covering, allowing for complete drawing. Pastel pencils are a tiny exception to this rule; they are regular pencils with pastel crayons in place of a lead, but they are more frequently categorized as unusual pencils than unusual pastels.

When purchasing a drawing medium for their own children, parents are also mindful of the product’s ingredients. In actuality, non-drying oil, wax, and dyes are the primary ingredients of oil pastels. Oil bases are typically selected for their natural origins, and if the chalk’s color is also natural, the child can safely use it.

It is safe to say that pastel is one of the safest materials for children’s creativity because it is hardly ever accused of endangering the health of young people.

Advantages and disadvantages

• The ability to draw literally on any surface, since the special composition successfully "clings" to a large number of materials, including paper, wood, metal and glass surfaces, as well as fabric.

In this sense, parents need to pay closer attention to how the creative process is organized; otherwise, the entire apartment will be detailed!

• Oil pastels resist drying out, they are always fresh and soft enough to not require special efforts from the child to draw. Such chalk also almost never cracks, so it is very convenient to store it for a long time.

• Unlike many other types of pastels, the oil version does not really need a fixer – due to its fat content, it is well absorbed into the surface, which allows you not to process the surface of the drawing after completing the work.

• The colors of oil pastels are very bright and picturesque, reminiscent of traditional oil painting, although they are done in a completely different technique. Even the baby"s first clumsy attempts turn out very colorful and interesting, which only contributes to further passion for drawing.

• Most types of pastels are completely safe for the child, which allows parents not to worry about the health of the baby.

Since this material has no overt drawbacks that would actually discourage kids from using oil pastels for drawing, the following arguments will only be relevant to kids who have already attained a particular degree of proficiency in the visual arts and are searching for products with very specific characteristics. Accordingly, the following characteristics of oil pastels can be critiqued:

• Although the drawing itself, made with oil pastels, does not require any special fixation, it can be difficult to protect it with additional means (for example, from accidental moisture). Most fixatives are not suitable for this purpose. For this, special substances are needed, and it is still a question whether they will spoil the creative idea.

• Oil pastels practically exclude the possibility of mixing existing colors in order to obtain new shades. It is impossible to do this outside the surface of the drawing due to the hardness of the material, and when applied to paper or another base, it is simply covered with a new color.

• Oil pastels are characterized by a rather hard edge, which is useful when depicting objects with clear outlines, but creates problems for drawing blurry contours.

Oil pastels are generally excellent tools for fostering children’s creativity, but they can also be utilized as an adjunct at more advanced drawing skill levels.

Types

Even though oil pastels are already a subspecies of pastels, they can still be categorized based on specific traits if they are studied carefully. All of its variants are fairly similar to one another because there aren’t many different parameters, but professional artists find these differences to be extremely noticeable.

Firstly, it is important to note that while oil is a common ingredient in all pastel crayons in this category, the percentage of this ingredient may vary. Water-oil and watercolor artistic oil pastels are available in addition to traditional oil pastels. Though it requires precise work with a solvent, the classic version is thought to be more professional and produces a result that is as close to an oil painting as possible.

For artists who, for whatever reason, cannot tolerate strong chemical smells, the two alternative varieties have a unique specificity that makes it possible to wash them even with regular water.

Furthermore, hardness is a dividing factor for all pastels, including oil pastels. Hard varieties are more arid than other varieties, which makes them stick to the surface a little more. However, only these types allow for precise and fine drawing of small details and contours, and the colors do not blend well. Soft pastel has the exact opposite properties: it blends in areas where multicolored details meet while adhering well to most foundations and producing slightly hazy contours.

Children are advised to use the softer varieties because of this specificity.

Although soft pastels are available individually, multi-color sets are more frequently offered, which is particularly useful and convenient for kids. Sets of 12 colors typically include one category of shades (standard, fluorescent, or with a metallic sheen); 18–24 colors contain an extended palette of one category, or colors from two categories simultaneously; and 36–50 colors are already gifts that even a fairly skilled artist could appreciate.

How to choose?

A child’s needs should be the first consideration when selecting oil pastels, taking into account both his age and drawing ability. It is clear that a teenager who is already proficient in drawing needs something more professional than a standard children’s pastel, and that for a beginner starting at preschool, the benefits of chalk are even more outweighed by convenience and safety.

In this way, kids are typically given soft crayons, which mark very easily and don’t require much effort. They can also draw on nearly any surface, so they don’t need to buy a special album to store their pastel drawings. The process of drawing with oil pastels typically entails blurring after shading, but a child cannot handle such a challenging task by himself, especially since the solvent used is most likely toxic.

Because they are easily cleaned with regular water, beginners typically purchase oil pastels that incorporate watercolors.

Furthermore, oil pastels can be used to tint foamiran crafts in addition to traditional drawing. Though oil pastels adhere much better to fabric surfaces and take longer to dry in well-ventilated spaces, experts say that dry pastels work better for these uses because they produce richer shades.

If you’re looking for a home hobby that involves crafting with foamiran, oil pastels will be a very handy addition.

Brands

Making a decision can be challenging for novices who have never been interested in this subject before, and only experienced artists are knowledgeable about the various types of oil pastels. Their simplest option is to concentrate on well-known brands, and this strategy can occasionally be quite effective.

The company "Luch" is typically the source of oil pastels found on the shelves of domestic retailers. This brand is probably well-known to all because of its extensive distribution, large selection of inexpensive children’s creative products, and low cost. However, the catch is that these products are only appropriate for very basic art.

To put it briefly, you shouldn’t expect exceptional quality when purchasing these crayons because they are essentially a basic set.

.. If you would like to show your support for a Russian manufacturer, you should consider the oil pastel "Sonnet" made by "Nevskaya Palitra."

When comparing the products of foreign brands, the Korean company Mungyo, which specializes in pastels and has virtually no competition in the oil crayon market, is the one with the most promotional activity. These are premium goods with the ideal amount of softness, making it possible for even young children to sketch, but they are also made to meet the demands of professional artists. Still, there is enough variety to choose the finest solutions for every kind of creative person.

Derwent and Artbar are two brands that are worth considering as substitutes for foreign oil pastels.

Additional accessories

An oil pastel is no more useful than regular kid’s crayons if you purchase just one and no other accessories. It is worth investing in at least special pastel drawing paper because of its ribbed texture, which helps the pigment adhere to the surface more effectively and brings out the best qualities of the material. Additionally, because this type of paper is thicker, you can add more artistic effect by blurring the applied strokes.

Soft children’s pastels, on the other hand, can be drawn on any surface.

Once more, children’s water-based oil pastels or those that have watercolor added can be cleaned with just water; however, a solvent is required to clean more sophisticated professional varieties of this medium. It is best to purchase this material keeping in mind the particular kind of oil pastel that will be utilized.

Any large art supply store will have the solvent you want to buy, as well as information on what kind is required.

Since pastel is an analog of chalk, drawing with it doesn’t require any additional tools; however, applying the diluted pastel requires a specific tool. Some artists use a special paper stick to apply it to the shaded drawing, while others use regular brushes that are specific in size and shape.

Families and kids can enjoy a different and fun way to encourage creativity with oil pastels. They make art approachable and enjoyable for people of all ages with their brilliant colors and fluid application.

Oil pastels come in a variety of grades, from student-grade for novices to professional-grade for more sophisticated techniques, offering creative expression flexibility. This enables families to select the best kind according to their requirements and degree of expertise.

Oil pastels are an excellent medium for both serious art projects and casual sketching because of their easy blending and long-lasting results. All things considered, they are a fun and adaptable option for artistic pursuits at home.

With their bright colors and silky, smooth texture, oil pastels are an adaptable and beginner-friendly art medium that’s perfect for kids and families to enjoy creative projects together. Oil pastels come in a variety of forms, each with special qualities of their own, but they all have the benefit of being non-toxic, easily blended, and suitable for a wide range of surfaces. These characteristics make oil pastels an enjoyable and approachable choice for fostering children’s artistic abilities, fostering creativity, and fostering relationships through art.

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