Join me on a quick exploration of these pastels' versatile effects!
The last time I touched chalk or oil pastels was in middle school. I remember my favorite project being recreating a landscape in the style of Vang Gogh, especially because with oil pastels you can mimic oil painting textures. Having done the charcoal/graphite exploration before this, I had a mental archive or mark-making that I wanted to explore with these mediums!
MATERIALS
Oil pastels (Winsor & Newton or CRAY-PAS Jr Art)
Chalk Pastel (Faber-Castell)
White or pink eraser
Q-Tips
Ruler
Various surfaces (thin paper, thick paper, rough surface, tone tan, black surface)
Pastel Exploration
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Chalk Pastels
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Oil Pastels
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Pastel Techniques
There are so many techniques you can use when it comes to pastels! Please expand the pictures to read my notes. Oil and chalk pastels are a very expressive medium, especially because they have the additional quality of color. Like charcoal, chalk pastels are easy to blend using Q-tips or paper towels, and you can build upon them to create “smudgy” marks. You can choose to make a smudged background surface and then add finer/defined marks on top of it for detail. Its wispiness and easy-to-blend qualities allow for captivating drawings with smooth movements as well.
Oil pastels, on the other hand, are not easily blended with Q-tips or paper towels because of their oiliness. Colors should be stippled or heavily blended by layering or scumbling to create similar effects of oil paint. Stippling is a great opportunity to think about movement and the creation of new colors by placing at least two next to each other. Sgraffito is useful for pattern-making or fine details in a drawing by scraping off the top layer of the oil paint with a pointy tip. Overlaying oil pastels also add an incredible texture with blended colors that bring dimension to the drawing, and it compels you to want to touch it.
Personal Thoughts
When it comes to working with many colors, it can be a little overwhelming because it’s easier to forget about what emotions you’re trying to portray, whereas a limited color palette can help you think more about what you’re saying with the specific drawing. Cooler palettes can be calming, soothing, or even sad. Warmer palettes can be associated with passion, anger, or power. If not going for a single feeling, other things to consider include the representation of values in a drawing. Warm colors may show the warmth of the light, whereas the shadows can be cool colors from the lack of light. It's also important to think about color theory and which colors blended make murky tones, unless that’s what you’re going for.
Lastly, oil and chalk pastels are very vibrant, therefore I think they look best on darker or more neutral surfaces. Toothier surfaces would allow for more texture as you blend the chalk pastels, and the oil pastels would “grip” better onto them as well. Overall, oil and chalk pastels are both multi-purpose mediums that add life to your drawings through color, emotion, and texture!
Exploring my Theme - Cat Characteristics
Inspiring oil and chalk pastel artists who have cat/animal series: Yael Mimon, Eva Fialka, Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Chalk Pastel
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Oil Pastel
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I chose to represent a happy cat and a grumpy cat for this medium exploration. With the happy cat, I wanted to give it a heartwarming feel, therefore I chose more feathery strokes layered on top of one another. For the highlights, I used warm tones of yellow. For the shadows, I chose its cool complementary color, purple. Because I layered different color shades instead of blending, it added a fluffy texture to my drawing and a kind of abstract feel. As for the oil pastels, I wanted to compare the grumpiness of the cat by scumbling and stippling with my stick. With scumbling, it looked like the "fumes" of anger or grumpiness whereas stippling emphasized his fur. My color choices were also complementary cool and warm tones to challenge myself with a limited color palette. One thing I've learned is to be careful when placing them next to each other because they can accidentally blend to make murky colors or new colors you don't want (i.e. yellow next to blue makes green).
For the Classroom...
Age appropriateness & behavioral expectations:
Pastels can be used with all age groups. Elementary students could focus on learning about color theory through pastels and making swatches or practicing different blending techniques to make simpler artwork. Older students could create more intricate artworks focusing on composition and color choices (monochrome, analogous, warm vs cool palette, etc).
Students are expected NOT to blow any of the chalk residue!! Have them place their drawing on an easel or a titled surface so residue gathers at the bottom and not on their artwork.
Students should clean their stations with a wet paper towel to avoid chalk getting everywhere.
Please encourage students to rub their pastels on a scrap piece of paper after finishing so the next person can have a clean pastel with no mixed colors
Accommodations
Project Ideas
Safety & Health
Reference:
Hafeli, Mary Claire. Exploring Studio Materials: Teaching Creative Art Making to Children. Oxford University Press, 2015.
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