Tbh, I wasn’t expecting a lot from these water soluble oil pastels because they only cost $10 for 24 sticks, but I figured I’d try them out anyway. It’s always fun to play around with cheap art supplies because it’s impossible to make mistakes, so how can you go wrong? <– I actually feel this way about any art supply, no matter the cost, but using cheap supplies makes me feel freer, for sure. 

My solution, no matter the cost of materials is this..if I’m working on paper, and make something I don’t like, I can always rip it into strips, and use it as collage paper for another painting down the road. If I’m working on canvas, it just becomes another layer, and I keep painting until I like it..or until I get sick of it and abandon it for a while. 

I just got these in the mail last week, and have spent less than an hour testing them out so far, but I must say, I’m quite impressed. First off, I liked the sturdy packaging it came in. Since these are water soluble and my other oil pastels aren’t, I’m going to keep these in the original tray and box. I don’t want to mix them in with the others, and have to go searching when I want one that’s water soluble or vice versa.  

As I’ve said many times before, I’m no expert on oil pastels by any means. I only use them for mark making in my abstract paintings, and since these are water soluble, I’m thinking of trying some outlining and shading in my portraits. My opinion about these pastels will probably be different from an artist who uses oil pastels exclusively or for more serious/realistic artwork. I just look at these as fun toys to play with, and I don’t care about the outcome. 

These are “extra soft pastels”, which I assume most artists prefer over hard & waxy like crayons. These seem to be perfect, and exactly what I need. 

So far, I’ve quite enjoyed these pastels. I’m able to use them in the same way I use watercolor pencils – make marks or shapes on paper, and then use a wet brush to blend or spread the colors out on the page. The difference being that these colors are much bolder, and pack more of a punch than watercolor pencils. 

The colors are pretty; the pigment rich and deep. There is no odor like with some oil pastels. I don’t find them too waxy or too soft. I think they cover my paper nicely, and respond fairly well to a wet brush. I say “fairly well” because I noticed that some of my marks washed away quite quickly, and other areas I had to scrub hard with my brush to get the pastels to react to the water. This could be troublesome if I use them for portraits, and I can’t get a line I make to blend out. I still need to experiment more with this to know for sure. 

Final thoughts: for what I’m going to use them for, I’d give them a solid 10 out of 10. 👍 👌 That might change as I use the pastels more, but right now, I’m super happy with them. I’m going to keep experimenting, and will probably write a follow up post soon.