It has been another week where I would share with you the series of my personal art journey that started more than a year ago. This time, I explored another medium that most of us would be familiar of because we had this along with some crayons during grade school days. I present to you my oil pastel works. These were mostly done during February and March this year. In case you missed my previous episode, check this out: Spreading Colors Through Spray and Aerosol

The right kind of paper makes a huge difference! (based on experience)

Before, we usually use oil pastels on bond paper or oslo paper in our homework or art projects during our grade school and high school days. It works, but to a certain extent. But I have discovered a paper that is perfectly made for pastels in general including colored pencils. This brand is called the Canson Mi-Teintes (not sponsored lol). This paper is excellent due to having enough tooth for the pastels to grip on, which makes them stick to the paper without the risk of being smeared easily. It also facilitates easier blending and allows more layers due to the thickness of the paper.

I was irritated using oil pastels before due to their difficulty to wash since it has lots of oil content in it. But I can say that it's one of the easier mediums to play with as it blends so well and you can cover large areas quickly. In these works, I tried to cut the paper crosswise in order to avoid wasting a lot of paper.

The oil pastels themselves

I bought these ones again from Shopee sale during February. I chose the Mungyo brand because I see lots of people recommending it for the good price in terms of quality and blendability. Before, we usually use the Pentel oil pastels as they are cheaper and have good blending as well. They have creamy consistency when you try a blending tool, cotton swab, or even your hands to blend the colors.

First Attempt: Moon and Sunset Landscape

This is the first project that I did and I am glad with the results. I was able to capture the sunset glow before the skies totally turn into night time. The moon is an exaggeration and I experimented with some colors to express the light coming from it. Silhoettes were like the cliffs that we see from mountains or large hills. It was done by using the black color alone. As for the stars, I experimented using acrylic to spread them out, and it worked even if the pastels are oily.

And here's my personal assistant and curator who sits in and judge my work. Well, it looks like he loved it! He said that I could do better next time.

Second attempt: Colored Pencils and Oil Pastel Background

With this, I tried combining oil pastels and colored pencils which go hand-in-hand. The pencils are useful for details while the oil pastel offers efficiency in covering backgrounds. As a subject, I tried Bulbasaur because I am a die-hard Pokémon fan (even from my previous article I chose Kingdra). The background suggests his typing which is Grass/Poison.

Third attempt: Beach and Seashore

The third attempt for the time was this top view of a beach. This was inspired by the summer season here in the country that starts in March and ends in July. The beach really calls us again, it seems.

I was having some difficulty with this because the colors are quite hard to match considering that my set does not have the teal, aqua, and sand colors. In order to capture well the feel of the beach and waves, I tried to blend and mix several colors that are close. For example, in the aqua color I mixed some light green and white with light blue. And for the white sand part of the beach, I mixed brown with some white by blending. It took some tries and the desired result was achieved.

Key takeaways

Oil pastels are a common medium that is well-suited for both children and even professionals because of its great covering power as a dry medium. You can easily "paint" landscapes and backgrounds with these and achieve seamless blending. They can be combined with other dry mediums like colored pencils which covers the tiny details. Even if you are having difficulties with creating art, you can achieve fantastic results with them, as long as the paper you are using is right for these.

Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed it! See you in the upcoming parts!

For my recent works, try to navigate through the previous parts here:

Part 1: It's Never Too Late to Learn Something New (Start of Journey)

Part 2: I Was Encouraged to Just Keep Going (Colored Pencils and Inktober)

Part 3: Taking the Next Step, While Dealing with Memories and Loss(Acrylics)

Part 4: Spreading Colors Through Spray and Aerosol(Airbrushing)

Part 5: Blending Different Hues With Oil Pastels

[#23] Published, September 23, 2021