oil pastels

home| hard pastels| soft pastels| pastel pencils| oil pastels| water pastels

Oil pastels

This medium is unique among the pastel types, containing an oil binder that makes the texture dense and greasy and the colours slightly less opaque than soft pastels. Typically, the colours are quite strong and the variation of colour values is restricted. The moist texture of oil pastel can quickly fill the grain of the paper, so the capacity to work one colour over another is somewhat limited, but for painting effects, oil pastel marks can be softened and spread by brushing them with turpentine or white spirit.