Among the most popular types of pastels are oil and dry. What are the features of its respective types?
What is oil pastel?
This type of pastel has in its composition a binder based on mineral oil. The paint on the surface after it dries is quite smooth, that is, dullness is not typical for drawings based on oil pastels. However, as drawing lovers note, pictures using the appropriate substance are usually very bright.
The type of paint under consideration is convenient in that its particles do not stick to the artist's hands, surrounding objects, and allow you to keep the room clean when drawing.
oil pastel- universal material. It is suitable for drawing on a wide variety of surfaces, and can be used to create drawings on the exterior of buildings. This type of pastel must be shaded, as a rule, using solvents, as well as a special brush.
What is dry pastel?
Dry pastel- a kind of corresponding paint, which has a solid binder in its composition. For example, dextrin. Dry pastel is most often produced in the form of special pencils or crayons. Depending on the percentage of binder, it can be classified as soft or hard. Some varieties of pastel contain an extremely small amount of binder: this type of paint is characterized by the highest degree of softness.
Dry pastel, which belongs to the soft varieties, allows you to draw with fairly thick strokes. Paint on the surface often has a haze, which is due to the inclusion of chalk in many types of pastels. Using soft pastel, you can create a graceful structure of the image. It can be quickly shaded, diluted with other colors, as a rule, without the use of solvents or other additional substances.
Hard dry pastel allows you to apply much sharper strokes to the surface during the drawing process. However, as some drawing lovers note, the dye in question is characterized by not too high brightness.
Comparison
The main difference between oil pastels and dry pastels is that in the first type of paints mineral oil is used as a binder, in the second - a solid component (at the same time, its amount is relatively small in soft pastels).
Oil pastels allow you to create smooth, vibrant drawings. Dry, in turn, is matte and not too bright (especially when it comes to solid types of paint). To blend drawings created using oil pastels, as a rule, you need a solvent. In the case of dry pastels, the use of such a substance is usually not required.
Having determined the difference between oil and dry pastels, we fix the findings in the table.
Oil pastels are different from dry pastels in many ways, and cannot be used in combination with them. As the name implies, in oil pastels, the pigment binds with oil, creating a dense and oily texture. Compared to soft pastels, the choice of colors is a bit limited and there are fewer color gradations. However, this tool is becoming more popular, and manufacturers are gradually beginning to respond to the request, increasing the color ranges of the material.
One of the great advantages of oil pastels is that they do not require fixing, which makes them easier to store; since finished drawings are more difficult to smear. Since these pastels, one might say, do not get dirty at all, unlike soft ones, they are great for outdoor work. However, they tend to melt at elevated temperatures, which is very inconvenient, like painting with butter; so they work best in the shade.
As with soft pastel work, strokes can be applied with either the tip or the side of the stick. You can paint with oil pastels on any of the standard pastel papers or surfaces designed for oil painting, such as canvas and paper primed for oil or acrylic paint. Oil pastel is sometimes used as an additional medium when working with oil paints.
ADVICE. For outdoors, include a bottle of white spirit and rags or paper towels in your sketching kit. If the pastels soften, it will be necessary to wash your hands.
Oil pastel:
Oil pastel on pastel paper:
Oil pastels on paper primed for oil painting:
The colors in the following figure are mostly optically blended by creating a network of linear strokes. For a striking effect in the foliage, the white paper was allowed to show through around and between the strokes.
Roy Sparks. Foliage:
OVERLAY COLORS
Layers of color can be created with oil pastels in the same way as soft pastels or colored pencils, but because of their oily texture, they tend to clog paper grain more quickly; so from the very beginning, try to work with oil sticks easily, without strong pressure. The best way to get to color levels is to use the tip of a wand, which quickly becomes blunt, resulting in broad, rather than thin, lines. Hold the stick close to the end and then you won't be able to push too hard. You should also aim to create a grid of lines that can be gradually filled in to create areas of denser color. Oil pastels cannot be erased in the usual way, but they are washed. If you make a mistake or want to change part of the design, dip a rag in turpentine or white spirit and gently wipe off the color, then let the paper dry before applying further pastel strokes. In general, turpentine or alcohol can play an important role in oil pastel work.
ADVICE.You can't blend oil pastel colors by rubbing with your finger, but a blending effect can be achieved by layering one color over another with fairly strong pressure.
MIXING COLORS ON PAPER
A stable contour is made with yellow oil pastel. The artist chose a “cold” blue-gray paper to provide contrast between the bright orange and yellow.
After drawing diagonal lines in orange, yellow was placed on both fruits. The strokes are kept open to add color without jamming the paper. When the primary colors are set, more contrast can be introduced and the secondary color blue is used for the shadows on the orange.
On both fruits, the main color is mixed in with the shadows to neutralize them.
To add further contrast, a slightly darker gray than the paper is added around the fruit; and now the artist creates the shape by adding highlights and emphasizing the shadows.
The colors have been masterfully blended, giving the fruit a solidity and texture. Light touches of basic orange are added below and behind the fruit. This is done in order to connect them with the background.
OIL PASTELS: MIXING WITH SOLVENT
(note: many advise using special oil, or vegetable oil for mixing)
This technique is very similar to moistening dry pastel, but here the pastel is "dissolved" with turpentine or white spirit to the point where it actually turns into paint. Thus, you can fill the paper with color quite quickly. You can mix colors to create subtle, subtle halftones.
The method can be used throughout the entire process of creating an image, but it sacrifices the linear aspect that actually distinguishes the technique of drawing from the technique of working with paints. Thus, it is usually more efficient to combine moisture with different dotted strokes.
Although pastels are usually worked on colored paper, in some cases a white base may be a better choice as it will show through the levels of color, creating the glow effect that watercolor artists strive for. You can work on white primed cardboard, but if texture is required, either canvas for painting or sketching paper are the best surfaces. All these types of paper allow you to make corrections by wiping the color with a rag and alcohol.
The consistency you want to achieve when mixing will of course depend on your goals and the subject to be depicted. You can use the method partially to soften the lines in some places or merge them easily (if they are of different colors) while still leaving visible traces. These techniques will help create the effect of working with a watercolor pencil. In this case, a watercolor brush is the best tool; however, for a more painterly effect where brushwork is the main focus, a bristle brush for oil painting is ideal.
ADVICE.You can use regular pastel paper for this technique, but if you use white spirit there is a small risk of it getting worse over time, so turpentine is a safer choice.
Mixing two colors with a brush and white spirit on watercolor paper:
Blue and yellow are mixed to make green:
The hatch line is softened and blurred with a brush and alcohol:
LANDSCAPE OIL PASTEL
Working on blue-gray Ingres paper, the artist outlined the basic shapes using side strokes and loose shading.
Then she dips a piece of cotton wool in turpentine and blurs the color in the sky area. Next, using the side of a pastel stick, she adds white to the sky.
She then works on the medium shot, adding the green of the medium rut and almost black. Small trees are painted directly with the tip of the brush over a layer of oil pastels, distributing colors over the plane.
The artist finds this method ideal for capturing fleeting weather conditions like this, as the paper can be filled in very quickly and changes can be made easily if needed.
(note: oil pastel is considered more convenient for sketches and quick sketches from nature, because it does not crumble and is less easily soiled, unlike dry.)
OIL PASTELS: SGRAFFITO
This method involves scratching one color to reveal the one underneath (from the Italian word sgraffito, to scratch). It's a bit like scratching through ink, but you can only draw white lines on black, while oil pastel allows you to get a variety of color effects.
(Grattage, we did this with my daughter)
This technique is one of many borrowed from oil painting. Rembrandt often scratched the wet layer of oil paint with the base of the brush to convey the texture of the hairs on the face or the details of the lace on the collar.
Although the technique can be used for other visual media, especially colored pencils. It is also almost perfect for oil pastels. It can be laid in a thick layer, which remains sufficiently damp and can be easily removed with a sharp tool.
Drawings in the sgraffito technique should be thought out in advance. This method is not suitable for improvisation, and it is necessary to constantly keep the final image of the drawing in mind, carefully planning each step and the sequence of layering.
The first step is to cover the paper with a thick layer of color, pressing it well into the surface (if you want, you can use watercolor, ink or acrylic paints for the first layer).
The second layer should be laid a little more loosely so that you can easily remove it with some sharp tool, such as a craft knife. For thicker lines, try the brush handle.
Look at the figure, from left to right:
- traces of a scalpel blade;
- traces of the blunt end of the brush;
- traces of the side of a craft knife;
- traces of a palette knife;
Using a palette knife when scratching:
ADVICE.Scratching is more successful when working dark on light, as oil pastels have limited coverage and the pale color on top will sink into the dark base color. For variety, you can use more than one color for any of the layers.
SCRATCHED GLOW AND TEXTURE
Working on watercolor paper that is thick enough to withstand the scratching method, the artist lays down the first layer of color.
After adding a few more colors and pressing them well into the paper, she scratches thin lines with the tip of a scalpel.
She continues the process by alternately layering and scratching the colors to create the texture of the flower head.
Scratching is an excellent technique for this kind of imagery, as it is impossible to achieve such fine lines just by working with oil pastels.
In this drawing, oil pastels have been mixed with alcohol, with the waves and movement of air conveyed by the removal of small lines and shapes with the end of the brush shaft. A variety of strokes emphasizes the movement of the boat. The texture of the paper also contributes to the overall effect.
Matthew Evans. Under sail:
Pastel for drawing is an art material that was born much earlier than oil paints. Such great artists as Leonardo da Vinci, Degas, Renoir painted their masterpieces not only in oil, but in pastel.
Art pastel (from the Latin “dough”) is a soft and pleasant material to work with. Usually produced in the form of crayons and pencils.
The composition of the pastel is quite simple - a pigment plus a binder. Adhesives such as wax, mineral oils or gum arabic can be used as a binder.
Pastel for drawing can be of four types:
- dry pastel (hard, soft, ultra-soft (soft))
Let us dwell briefly on each of the listed types of pastels.
Dry pastel
Such a pastel lays down on paper easily and softly. Gives a stroke ranging in size from 2 to 5 mm. It can be blended with your finger, turning the strokes into an even tone.
Superimposed on each other, the colors are easily mixed and allow you to get new shades. Thus, even a small set of crayons will allow you to create a picture rich in color.
A good pastel should not scratch the paper, crumble and break when working.
Depending on the ratio of pigment and binder, dry pastel is divided into:
- hard hard
- soft soft
- super soft extra soft
The more binder content in pastel, the harder it is. At the same time, some types of pastels, the softest ones, can consist only of pigment. H Often they are easy to distinguish by the shape of the crayons - soft pastels are most often made with round crayons, and hard ones with rectangular sticks.
hard pastel for drawing, it gives sharper and thinner strokes than soft. It is convenient for her to draw the details of the picture. It crumbles less from the surface of the paper.
soft pastel for drawing contains more pigment. It allows you to fill large surfaces with color, it is easy to shade.
It is more pleasant to handle, gives a beautiful velvety texture to the picture, makes it easy to create bright strokes.
However, it is not easy for novice artists to control this material - the crayons break easily, the previously applied layer is smeared, crumbled. Drawing with soft pastels requires special care.
Therefore, in the work it makes sense to start the picture with a soft pastel to clog the pores of the paper, and complete it with a harder one.
Pan pastel ("ultra soft" pastel) Available in special jars, which are very similar to palettes with shadows. Each such jar contains 35% more pastel than a regular stick of pastel.
Pan pastel mixes well and gives the most accurate color reproduction. Therefore, artists usually work with it in the technique of realism.
They draw with pan pastels using special foam sponges, mixing colors directly on paper.
This pastel is not yet very common, it is rarely sold in Russia.
The most famous imported pastel manufacturers:
- French company Sennelier(produces a palette of 525 colors from high-quality pigment - this pastel is quite expensive).
- Good quality pastels are produced by companies such as
- Rembrandt,
- Schminke,
- Faber-Castell
- Talles(Holland)
- Korean-made pastel is no less attractive in quality. Mungyo with a good range of colors. Very affordable, it is two times cheaper than Faber-Castell, but no worse in quality.
More foreign pastel brands:
Koh-I-Noor (Austria, Czech Republic), Conte (France), Lyra (Germany), Caran d'Ache (Switzerland), Stabilo (Germany), Cretacolor (ТМ Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth, Austria), Derwent (England) ), LeFranc&Bourgeois (France), Adel (Turkey), Jolly (Austria), Sakura, Daler Rowney (England), Maimeri (Italy), Bruynzeel (Holland), Apa-Ferrario (Italy), Bosung (China), Pentel (Japan) ), Titi (Korea), Crayon.
Common Russian brands of pastels:
- Podolsk Art Center
- Sonnet
- Aqua Color
- Spectrum
pastel pencils
This is a kind of dry hard pastel in the form of ordinary pencils. Such pencils have a number of advantages:
- convenient to use,
- allows you to apply more accurate strokes,
- don't get your hands dirty.
Indispensable when drawing small details and creating, for example, smooth textured transitions when colors are mixed with pencils directly on paper. They are best used for depicting animals and portraits of people, because you can draw hairs and feathers to make them more similar to the original.
Pencil manufacturers:
- Faber Castell
- Derwent
- Cretacolor
- Stabilo
All of them also differ in hardness, for example, the softest pencils are Conte. The hardest ones are from Faber Castell.
oil pastel
Despite the fact that these crayons are also called pastel, this pastel has completely different qualities and, accordingly, ways of drawing.
Oil pastel is made from pigment with linseed oil by pressing. Her crayons are hard and greasy to the touch. Over time, greasy spots may even appear on works made with oil pastels.
Oil pastel crayons leave bright, crisp strokes. The colors don't mix well. Pastel strokes are almost impossible to blend with a finger.
The colors of oil pastels are not as matte as those of dry pastels. Also, oil pastel differs from dry pastel in that it practically does not get dirty, finished drawings are more difficult to smear and do not require fixation.
You can paint with oil pastels on any surface. She doesn't need special paper like dry.
In addition, oil pastels can be blurred. Blur-shade the oil pastel with a solvent (special or for oil paints). For this, a brush or shading (a special stick made of pressed paper) dipped in a solvent is used.
As a result, the result of drawing will look like a painting with oil paints, and not like working with dry pastel.
Manufacturers are basically the same as for dry pastels. The firm is the best Sennelier.
wax pastel
Wax pastel is created on the basis of wax (most often polymeric) in combination with natural fillers.
Drawings made with wax crayons are juicy and bright.
Wax crayons can be used to draw on paper, cardboard and even glass. Wax pastel can be used in mixed media - paint in watercolor or gouache. Since water does not fall on such a pastel, with the help of such crayons one can draw using the “sgraffito”, “stained glass enamel”, “encaustic” and “frottage” techniques.
Wax crayons look like oil crayons. what is the difference?
Most often, wax crayons are a cheap material for children. They are harder than oil pastels, so they don't get your hands dirty. In the professional field, oil pastels are mainly used.
watercolor pastel
Watercolor pastels also have a waxy, wet texture.
But this is a unique material. It combines all the advantages of pastel, and at the same time it contains water-soluble components.
A drawing made with such a pastel is similar to an oil pastel drawing. However, it can be blurred by turning it into watercolor!
If you have dealt with watercolor pencils, then you will understand how watercolor crayons work. Unlike pencils, crayons are softer and brighter, more easily paint over large surfaces and blur.
Thus, under the same word, one can understand completely different crayons.
I hope that after this article you will not be mistaken in choosing the pastel you need!
I will be glad to your comments and very grateful for the reposts!
Italian drawing technique: watch the video for free!
Oil pastels are very different from dry pastels. In fact, these are wax crayons familiar to many - linseed oil acts as a binder for the pigment. People who do not know about pastel in general often come to the store and buy oil pastel because of its bright colors and beautiful crayons.
I bought myself a box for experiments. It turned out that there are a lot of ways to use these beautiful multi-colored crayons. I have Mungyo pastel 36 colors, excellent shades from acid to natural. Here's what they look like. Good for samples, if you want something even better, you can look at Van Gogh and Sennelier.
Drawing on plain pastel paper
It is better to take light-colored paper, because most likely it will show through the strokes and give a shade to the whole drawing. I took a dark gray sheet and regretted it, because the dark shades are lost, and the light ones are almost invisible. Oil pastel is difficult to rub with your finger, the crayons mix right on the paper, giving a smooth color transition. In some places you can scratch individual strokes with a sharp one. If there are pellets left after drawing, I just brush them off carefully.
Sandpaper drawing
A heavenly paradise, because the colors become saturated and a firework of shades is obtained. The rough base holds the pigment well and sometimes it turns out even to make accents with light crayons, although it is better to follow the sequence from light to dark. It is assumed that the pattern covers the entire surface of the sheet. When choosing sandpaper (sold in A4 sheets in hardware stores), look at the number. The smaller it is, the better. From 800 it is better suited for dry pastels, it is more convenient to rub on it without erasing your fingers. I drew at 280 and I liked it, in principle, you can safely take up to 400.
Solvent painting
Some convert oil pastel into a painting medium using a solvent. Turpentine, pinene and white spirit are mostly suitable. According to the written, they are carried out with a brush with a solvent, due to which the pastel becomes liquid, similar to paint. As a result, we get a kind of underpainting, similar to dark watercolor painting. In the shadows, we try to match the tone to the final result, and in the highlights and midtones it is better if the underpainting is a little darker. In the future, the underpainting in the shadows will remain, and the shadows will turn out transparent. You can blur with a brush, a finger wrapped in a cloth. You can dip the crayon itself in the solvent and run it over the paper. You can also use canvas as a base.I myself have not tried this technique yet, so I will show an example from the Internet of how a pastel blurred with a solvent can look like.
Sgrafitto
A magical technique similar to engraving. First, the entire surface of the sheet is covered with a light tone, then it is shaded with black chalk, and then the drawing is scratched with a sharp tool. The contrast between light and dark creates an image. I like the fact that it looks like linocut and allows you to make very thin lines. Again, I can’t show my works, because I painted in this way for a long time, back in the art school. Therefore, an example from the Internet, what can be the result
Encaustic
Painting is done with paints in molten form (hence the name). A variety of encaustic is wax tempera, which is distinguished by its brightness and richness of colors. Many early Christian icons were painted in this technique. Originated in ancient Greece.Today, encaustic paintings are painted using an iron. Here is a video that shows the process of work. Even highly detailed works can be drawn in this way.
Finally, a few features of oil pastels.
Over time, the oil is absorbed into the base and the pattern becomes a little darker. If the drawing was based on white paper, yellowish stains from oil may appear on it, so it is better to use colored paper or cover the entire surface of the drawing. There are still cases when, over time, the oil appears as droplets in the picture, you just need to carefully remove them with a solvent.
Oil pastels, unlike dry pastels, do not require fixing. Sometimes oil pastels are varnished, but I think this is redundant. Pastel should be stored in a folder carefully so that it does not stick to anything. It is best to keep the drawing under glass. The glass must not touch the work.
In general, oil pastel seems to me a very bright and lively material. It is suitable for "careless", generalized in style, paintings. For those who like to tinker with details and smooth undertones, oil pastels are most likely not suitable.
One of the oldest drawing materials is pastel. Oil pastels, dry pastels and wax pastels are its main types. Great artists created their masterpieces with the help of pastels.
Lively, bright colors, soft and velvety structure - all this distinguishes pastel from other drawing materials. If you still don’t know how different types of pastels differ from each other, then this article is for you.
oil pastel
oil pastel differs from other types of pastel composition, which contains a binding pigment - mineral oil. It creates a dense and oily texture.
In terms of color properties, oil pastels produce less matte colors than dry pastels. Oil pastel drawings are easier to keep because they don't smudge. It is great for outdoor art, but tends to melt in the sun.
Shading, oil pastel lends itself with a solvent. For these purposes, a stick for compressed paper or a brush is intended.
Dry pastel: soft and hard
Dry pastel is commercially available in the form of a pencil or in the form of a crayon, and can also be either soft or hard. The binder gives it hardness, and the more its content is, the harder it will be. The softest can only contain pigment.
Dry pastel is somewhat similar to the graphite of a simple pencil, the properties of which I wrote in the article "".
Since soft pastel has a greater amount of pigment in its composition, it becomes velvety and crumbles easily, and the most ordinary white chalk will give the color a haze. It creates a beautiful texture in the drawing, it is easy to blend and blend. But you need to be careful, because the crayon breaks easily, and the applied drawing is smeared. This type of pastel requires an extremely careful attitude.
Hard pastel creates a sharper and thinner stroke. Unlike soft, it is not so bright. On sale there are both pastel pencils and in the form of crayons.
The pencil is more comfortable, and allows you to make strokes more accurate, leaving your hands clean. Dry pastel requires rough paper, because only such paper can hold this material.
Dry pastel, or rather its powder, can be used in decoupage or other techniques.
Wax (watercolor) pastel
wax pastel or watercolor, as it is also called, in fact, a unique material, which contains a water-soluble component. After water drops fall on a drawing created with wax pastels, it acquires all the properties of a watercolor drawing.
Wax (watercolor) pastel gives a great stroke texture. To create the effect of a watercolor painting, it is blurred with water using a brush, and you guessed it, mixing colors, in this case, is much easier.
So we learned all the properties and features of different types of pastels, and the next one, I'm sure, will seem no less interesting to you.
