I think oil pastels are great for impressionist style. I really love them and their portability. The texture I can make with them makes me forget about the cons, almost!
Yess you are right . But when l did a beautiful portrait of my sis it turned out incredible but after 1 to 2 years there were a lot of problems on storing it.
Hello, I found a way to preserve my oil pastel work from when I began my journey into it 6 month ago. From pentels to caran d'ache neopastels (cda). 1- If using pastels that flake, use a kneadable eraser to pick up frilly/flakey bits when done. 2-If using cda pastels, straight forward process because no messy random bits. *those are the only two brands I have tested and know works. 3-Let piece air "dry" /set/settle/harden for 3/4 days (away from, dust, heat and moisture). 4-Cut baking wax paper masking width smaller than the paper size and mask down all sides fully (rough/matt side up) (Upgrade to glassine paper which is antistatic and acid free). 5-Slip into a portfolio. I currently am using a cheap one that I make sure only holds 10 pieces A3 and place only one per leaf to avoid heavy tension and pull at the spine that causes wrinkling and too much pressure from stacking. 6-Store in a sturdy box, away from heat, light and moisture. 7-Handle in a way that does not cause bending of the portfolio or "archived piece (reduces chances of transference or smudging). One could make large envelopes or mask thinner paper artwork onto firmer boards with this wax/glassine as a protective layer and store in boxes. The key is to secure it in a way that doesn't allow for bending and movement that causes friction between the wax/glassine sheet and your pastel layer. And avoid over stacking the portfolios on top of each other. For finicky pieces that must have white parts preserved , one could use a light duty tape like washi tape over those parts, but its optional. *(Using 250gsm fabriano mixed media paper) Wet wipes keep fingers clean. I have up to date had no issues with storing in this cheap yet effective method. I hope that it helps.
Dear Syndia u started me on a love journey/adventure with oil pastel paintings... what a helpful, honest down to earth analysis of the pros & cons of this medium! Like u, I still love it cons n all... Lol. This wonder pigmt- packed stick like a magic wand stirs the childlike imagination in me! Lol
Pra mim é sempre uma felicidade extraordinária ter um pouco de sua sabedoria.😇😊🤗💖👍Muito boas dicas, sei que me ajudarão muito, um grande abraço.😊💖🇧🇷👍🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🙋
For me it's the best medium. I got into it by chance two years ago and never looked back. I have shunned most other media ever since. I draw in sketchbooks mostly and use fixatives and/or wax paper to protect them.
Watercolors frustrate me to no end just discover oil pastels and have been loving it. Buy baby wipes for cheap and your cloths will not be messy from wiping your fingers off.
Lovely video, as usual: clear and honest. I found that the flaking with certain brands is lesser. I was about to give up on oil pastels when I found the Mungyo Gallery ones. Not much flaking even in my sketchbooks. Btw, your video on how to soften hardened pastels were the one saving me 🤗🖤 So, thank you!
ive always i loved them for abstract paintings/drawings. now ive been trying to dip my toes in figure drawing and its kiiinda hard with the non-pointy ones xD im thinking of circling about it through mixed media, doing the details with pencil or marker and the big parts with pastel. we'll see how it goes. not a big deal because art for me is just fun, not serious business :D
Re the storage: I wish all pastel paper pads were like the Daler Rowney Ingres spiral bound pads. These have greaseproof paper between the pages to prevent the pastel smudging on the underneath of the page before it. So far this has protected my oil pastel paintings. I just wish the Mi-Teintes had the same characteristics.
When I get crumbies while using my oil pastels, I actually use them and smoosh them into the piece lol. And I love the feel of finishing a piece and my hands have art mess on them lol I feel accomplished 🙈 but yeah the protection part is the worst, I have a piece from 2013 that while it scratches doesn't give off any 'wetness' but it's cos I slathered turpentine on it while drawing lol
For me the part about them not being really good on detailed content is a huge PRO, exactly because I'm terrible at drawing I need my artwork to be intentionally not very realistic.
Hi. Allow me this opportunity, to ask u a quick question about oil pastels. Hope you see this! Since you know so much about it, could you recommend a truly red one? Like a fire engine red, a pre-school primary red.... Do u know what a mean? Not a red that leans toward orange or pink, but a true red. From a brand that I can buy open stock! So that I can buy some reds alone! I have been watching swatches on line, but I can distinguish which, if any are a true red. Any help in this regard I would highly appreciate! 🥰 Thank you in advance.
Hi Syndia! Your videos have helped me so much! I’ve gotten started with oil pastels and love learning! If I sketch with them in a sketchbook, should I avoid drawing on both sides of a page? I had been doing studies on both sides of the page, but don’t want my sketches to be ruined. They are just studies to learn, so not sure what will work best. Any advice is appreciated!
I would not work on both sides even for studies. (just in case one turns out nicely and you want to frame it, it's worth the extra few dollars of paper a thousand percent) :o)
Im so with you..i have oil pastels but i dont know why i bought them..i dont know what To do with them..i hate the messyness of them and the detalness of them..im just a beginner..and fir some reason im really into hyper-realistic portraits..like crapping moon from the sky..oh im so far from hyper realism as one can be..
I would advise to use a larger format to make it easier (oil pastels are chunky so details can be hard) and you can also take a look at this one I did ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tEsELwZxjwM.html Have a great week!
lovely video as usual, felt in love with oil pastels but i have your same problem with the preservation. just bought the resin to use it as you did in one of your video. gonna try it on a koala i did for my granddaughter which was impossible to frame...finger cross
Hi! I can only count a number of artists here in youtube who dwells well in oil pastels, and yours is the best and my go to. Know that your contents are helpful and very much inspiring. ❤️
Hi Syndia😊 there is a way to keep them intact. I came across RU-vid video where the artist uses the polyurethane, water based topcoat. You can buy it at the local hardware store. I tried that. It works very well. What I did: used polyurethane right on the oil pastels painting and after it dried, I sprayed varnish - 3 thin coats. It is as hard as a rock and looks beautiful. You can even add another layer of pastels on top of polyurethane and it doesn't smear or ruin the previous layer. Just have to wait until dries completely. Have a nice day😊
Yeh I have problems storing with smudging and speckles. Wax paper between works and spacing. I like oil and chalk pastels to study lighting colour be d for acrylic painting.
I tried glossy DIY varnish for my oil passtel paintings, and they work as charm. The painting does not stick afterwards, the gloos adds to the colours, and it preserves the painting. And it dries fast!
@@donnamcdaid3510 Yes You can put them under glass as they don't buckle usually (depends on the paper though, I usually use crap-ish paper for OP :D ) and yes I apply them with brush. I use a brand that is local in my country but I think almost any varnish or even decoupage glue is OK. I used that as well. You may want to do some tests before though, as there are afew brands that stick even after you applied and let them dry.
This is the exact video I was looking and NEEDING you tell me everything I need to know, oil pastel doesn't sound like the right medium to me, still wanting to try them but not right now. Your channel is amazing I just find you.
Thank you Syndia. You are right it’s a difficult medium but I don’t want to work with dusty materials and toxic fumes. Water Colour is not my medium, too. I especially love the creaminess. To blend them with oil. I use them on Pastelmat sanded paper, so nice. For Details I take colour with a pencil from the Stick. Big Format will help, too, like you mentioned. But I have the same problem like you with storage.. I don’t want to use toxic sprays, varnishes and so on. Maybe the walnut oil does harden out them, I make some tests at the moment. If they harden out, I also will make an experiment with cold lamination, it’s only a try, I think it will fail 😳
Hello Syndia! I love so much the oil pastels. They are ideal for expressive painting. But yes, I get frustrated when I have to protect my paintings. I use the sennelier fixative, but it becomes sticky. So above it I put a coat of acrylic satin varnish and the stickiness is gone. So far I'm satisfied with this combination, because my paintings do not get messy while being in storage. However they are not scratch proof. I haven't tried resin yet, because I can't figure out how to use it on paper without frame. All the instruction I have found so far are from a framed paper. But how we can use the resin on a simple paper?
I'll try the spay and varnish combo, thanks for the tip. As far as resin on paper, I don't know how it can be done... Let me know if ever you find a way to do it. Have a great weekend :o)
Bonjour Syndia Je viens de Chicoutimi donc nous sommes deux Québécoises. Combien de résine en terme d’onces minimum aurais-je besoin pour couvrir deux portraits d’art animaliers de grandeur (11X14 “/ 27.9X 35.6cm) avec mes pastels à l’huile auxquelles j’adore travailler avec mes 72 Mungyo Gallery et mes 65 Senneliers? Félicitation pour tes vidéos qui sont toujours à points concernant les conseils que je me sert fidèlement! Merci!
Salut Danyel! Je te laisse le lien du calculateur de résine www.artresin.ca/pages/calculator c'est ce que j'utilise et ça fonctionne très bien. Passe une belle semaine :o)
Thankfully i have found your channel!! Your videos really helped me a lot in my journey since I'm a beginner in this medium. Thanks Syndia! 😊 Do you have a review on Mungyo student grade oil pastel? The one with the blue packaging. I'm really curious what's its difference to Mungyo Soft Oil Pastel & the rest of those you recommended.
I didn't review them because I find them to be very bad quality. If you want a cheap but good option you can try the Junior set by Cray-Pas (they are my fave cheap ones). But if you can get the Gallery Soft Oil Pastel you'd LOVE them.
Great idea about the resin. Yes - they are good for what they do. If you use them in the way that they perform best - then it's easy. Using them in unique ways is hard. Also - even though you can get less expensive pastels, the better brands blend easier, are less crummy and don't get gummy. Thanks for the video. Great way to start my day.
Very true! Wishing you a wonderful weekend and as always, thanks for your kind words and insight. :o) P.S. I'll go post a mini vid of Lennox for you on stories ;) Haha!
I've been using parchment paper (taped to the back) to preserve it. Crummies - going with a one direction stroke helps. Watching the tip for build up and cleaning. Great video!
