I’ve been trying out different brands of oil pastels to see what works best for me. I actually have 3 brands that come in the number one spot, and are so lovely to use. The pastels in the photo are the HIMI brand, and I will be a repeat customer for sure. 

These pastels are soft and creamy. I find it so easy to layer one over another, and/or blend them together on the paper to make a different color. 

Other pastels (Pentel, Crayola, and Mungyo) don’t allow me to layer, no matter how hard I press down. They just aren’t soft or creamy enough to do what I need them to do. 

I’m all about texture, and building layers using impasto technique. Also, if I don’t like a color I’ve put down, I like being able to change it quickly – like I do with paint. Take her red hair, for example. I decided it would look better pink because of her skin tones. And it was a quick easy change with this brand. 

So far, competing for first place are these HIMI oil pastels, Paul Reuben pastels, and Mungyo water soluble oil pastels. All three of these brands give me the results I’m looking for in my drawings. If I ever settle on one favorite brand, I’ll let you know (pretty sure it will be Paul Reuben, but I need more time to decide).

Reading:

Why your favourite colour is probably blue – I like blue, but it’s never been my favorite color. It’s more like a necessary color, like for painting sky. If blue is your favorite color you might want to check out these affordable oil landscape paintings I’m listing on eBay. These are from a plein air series I painted a few years ago before I figured out I’m not into painting outside. It was fun, but definitely not my thing. I doubt there will be more of these, so get ’em while you can. 🙂 

8 World-Famous Artists Who Were Drawn to Working in Pastel

26 Oil Pastel Techniques & Tips – especially useful if you’re just learning how pastels work best for you, like I am. 

I hope you have a lovely creative day. If you like this blog post, please share it using the buttons below.

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My artwork can be purchased here on my site, Etsy, and in my eBay store. I’m accepting orders for custom paintings, and drawings. As always, if you want to say hello or have any questions you can write me here. I love getting email, and hearing from you. 

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