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Oil Pastels are

SO

MUCH

FUN!


I am so glad that someone else has discovered this unbelievable medium.
OIL PASTELS FTW!!!


First off, when you get the oil pastels, you want to be using a different kind of medium for your canvas. One of my favorites happens to be, you would never guess, CARDBOARD!!! Yes, cardboard. Since you need to be more expressive than with a pencil, it requires a larger canvas than just a 8.5x11 sheet of computer paper. So, cut off a piece of a cardboard box, and turn it into a piece of art! Cardboard also has a wonderful texture for the oil pastels, so it works great.

When you want to blend something softly, use a water in order to tone down the pastels to bring out a duller, softer feel. Pastels are very easy to blend, but you should always keep in mind that you DON'T TREAT THEM LIKE THEY'RE YOUR COLORED PENCILS! They're ridiculously expensive! Because they're so expensive, I usually go with Chalk Pastels, which are 1/4 the price. 24pack of Oil Pastels are like $40, while I can get a 24 pack of chalk pastels for 10 smackers.

As said earlier, don't treat them like colored pencils. With colored pencils, you're about precision, but with oil pastels, it's more about expressionism than anything else. SO! That being said, if you ever have used charcoal before (Which is a brilliant medium mind you, messy and fun) you would get the idea real fast.

I find it best when standing to use it because you want your arm to be really loose over the large canvas. When you're sitting, you usually focus on a small part of the picture to get it right, however, when you stand, you have a tendency to move faster, and have wider strokes when painting. Which is EXACTLY what oil pastels are for.

Be very gentle with those things, they can break easily, and if yo exert too much pressure on it, the edges can melt on your hand. It may not be as messy as charcoal, but it still can have that aspect.

USE CIRCULAR MOTIONS IF YOU WANT TO BLEND AND BE SURE TO HAVE A SPARE COLOR PALATE! Never EVER just apply the colors directly to your masterpiece, always ALWAYS test the colors before you do anything. And also, before you work on your final project, please, SKETCH IT OUT ON A SHEET OF PAPER BEFOREHAND.

Since you already discovered it, you'll get it soon enough. Good luck!



EDIT:
I never use this medium unless I'm going to be drawing seriously. Meaning for a project or something else. This is NOT for Anime Art. This is for expressionism, surrealism, and anything else on the more realistic side for standard art. NOT anime, which standard markers are better.

Another thing, my favorite medium happens to be any form of drawing tool. This includes Oil Pastels, Chalk, Crayons (It took me a while to figure out how to make the best of it), colored pencils, markers, pens, and of course, pencils. SO! That doesn't fall into any of those categories.