Re-Discovering Oil Pastels

In the weeks before I stepped away from my art studio, I was spending a lot of time with oil pastels. I’d fallen in love with the medium — which was surprising, considering how frustrated I’d been with them on my first attempts.

If I recall, it was through a class — perhaps at Craftsy or Creative Bug — that I gave oil pastels another try and found myself enjoying the process… a lot! I enjoyed oil pastels so much that I began buying different sets — ranging from very inexpensive to the most expensive, highest-quality brands. I found that I loved them all. Different oil pastels were useful for different applications, and I created quite a few paintings that I liked, such as the one shown here as today’s featured image: Shadowy Forest.

But then, for one reason or another, I put my pastels and other art supplies away and only came into the studio on rare occasions, and then only to do anything and everything but art. I needed a break, and it turned out to be a much longer break than I’d anticipated.

Now, coming back, I’ve often glanced at my big box of oil pastels sitting in the corner. I’ve been tempted to get them out, but hesitant, too. Would I remember how to use them? Or would I find myself starting all over and feeling the same frustrations I’d experienced on my first attempts at handing those waxy, colorful sticks?

The art lesson I re-visited today featured oil pastels, so while I was excited to try it, I was also apprehensive. With the first few strokes, I’ll admit, a lot of my doubts re-surfaced. Soon, though, I settled into a comfortable rhythm, moving the pastels across the page, slipping into that quiet, peaceful state of mind that comes when we’re doing something we enjoy.

I followed along — somewhat — with a landscape scene shown in the lesson, although there was no actual reference photo to use. Mostly I just played around, reaching for different colors, making different marks, recalling different techniques for oil pastels.

When I was finished, I was actually pleased. While it’s not a masterful painting, it shows promise, I think. Well, at least I’d like to think it does.

It looks very splotchy. That’s because I had to scan it twice, and oops! I didn’t clean the scanner off before the second scan, so yes, you see little marks that aren’t really supposed to be there.

Next to landscape oil paintings, I think perhaps landscape paintings with oil pastels might be my favorite art to create.

This particular piece was quickly done — really good oil pastel paintings require a bit more time — and was mainly for the purpose of re-acquainting myself with the medium and for having fun playing with colors — which is a bit challenging right now because of my vision problems.

Even so, I’m encouraged. It was a starting point, and now that I’ve re-opened that big box of oil pastels, I’ll keep using them, re-learning techniques, and definitely enjoying this re-discovery of a favorite art medium.