Oil Pastel: Instructions for Beginners

One of the oldest materials that is used for creativity is the pastel. She wrote her magnificent works Renoir, Leonardo da Vinci, Degas and other artists. Pastel can be used both as an independent means of imaging, and as an auxiliary material in other techniques, including modeling of polymer clay, as well as decoupage. Pastel is distinguished by bright, lively colors and velvety texture.

A pastel is made from a pigment and a binder, in the role of which can be wax, gum arabic or mineral oils. In the shops you can buy pastels in the form of pencils without a rim or colored crayons. There are three types of pastels: watercolor, oily and dry. In more detail, consider the oil pastel and ways of using it in drawing.

Oil pastel is very similar to wax crayons, which have sufficient softness. In addition, the colors are very saturated. Crayons pastels are made in the form of small brusochkov with a square or round section. They differ from wax by the presence of more pigments, high elasticity and elasticity. It should be noted that the oil pastel is practically not spoiled, and after applying it to the surface of the sheet, no additional fixation in the form of a varnish is required.

For painting with oil pastel, any surface is suitable. The advantages of this tool include the ability to blur it. To do this, the artist must have a special solvent for oil paints and feathering - a stick of compressed paper. It dipped in a solvent and washed out to obtain the desired shade. Drawing with a solvent should be carried out in a room that is well ventilated.

The texture of oil pastel allows you to create effects that can not be performed in other drawing techniques. For decorative paintings is often used oil pastel, the technique of applying which allows you to convey the rich and deep tones of the depicted object. Artistic drawings made in this way, it is desirable to store within and under the glass, and there must necessarily be a gap between the glass and the pattern. This is necessary to save the image, since the drawings made by the pastel are very susceptible to minor damage, shedding, and also easily erased.

An oil pastel requires a rough foundation, because it is poorly held on the surface. For this technique, special paper is needed, for example, emery, loose fleecy cardboard, suede, canvas, parchment or "torchon" paper. The advantages of the material in question include the ability to shoot and cover several layers at once.

The oil pastel is represented by a huge number of shades, which number is more than one and a half thousand. This variety allows you to implement any creative ideas in different genres. The pastel technique has come a long way from a simple tri-color drawing to a full-fledged painting, which has become especially popular during the Baroque period, and now it is used by the Impressionists.