One reader would like to know more about oil pastels. Here are my answers.
I recently got an email from a reader about oil pastels. She has just started using oil pastels and would like to know if I could recommend some books and pastel papers. These are great questions and I thought I'd share them with other readers. Here is the response that I sent her:
My article Painting With Oil Pastels is a good place to start learning about oil pastels, if you haven't read it already. Also, this article is helpful for choosing papers, Art Paper Terms and Uses.
On good books, I would just go to my library and read all I can about oil pastels. Also, most of the rules that apply to using colored pencils for paintings also apply with oil pastels. I started out using colored pencils and found that it was an easy transition to oil pastels. One of the key factors to remember is that heat is what will make your oil pastels look like paint. Warm the pastel in your hand to get it ready to use, or let them sit in the sun for a few minutes. Make sure that you use a paper that has plenty of "tooth" to grab hold of all that creamy pigment, otherwise your painting will end up muddy. I like to use canvases with a pre-treatment of gouache or paint for extra texture.
Hope this helps!
Alina
