Oil pastel review – Katie Jeanne Wood

Cray-Pas Expressionist oil pastels

The first time I used these oil pastels, I thought the colors were too basic, so I used other pastels to fill in the colors absent from this set. There isn’t a dark blue, purple or green which I often use for shadows. The red is more of a burnt orange, and not as vibrant as others I use.

This time around I decided to only use the colors in this set, so I could test out how well the pastels work with each other. I also wanted to figure out if this set is the right choice for me, given the limited colors to choose from.

Turns out, I really like these Cray-Pas Expressionist oil pastels. They are similar to other brands I use, like Arrtx. I didn’t find the limited palette all that difficult to use once I set my mind to using less colors.

These Cray-Pas Expressionist oil pastels have a nice creamy texture, and layer quite well. I was able to use white for highlights, and blend it in smoothly with my tortillon. Some brands I’ve tried don’t layer or blend well.

These oil pastels left very little crumbs on my paper. It was easy to blend in the tiny pieces with my tortillon as I was working. The paper I was using is 65 lb toned drawing paper. I’m not sure what the brand is or where I bought it.

I’m pretty sure I used every color in this set on this painting, and they all were consistent in texture. This is important to me because other brands I’ve tried haven’t been consistent – some colors were dry & crumbly, and others were too soft & slippery. See links below for my review of Paul Ruben oil pastels.

If you’re someone who likes to work with a limited palette, you’ll most likely love this set. If you need more color options, you should check out the Arrtx brand.

Other brands of oil pastels I have reviewed so far – Arrtx, Paul Rueben: part one and part two, and Cray-Pas Expressionist.

Reading:

Recreating The Colour Palette Of Helen Frankenthaler – So beautiful! I have often thought of buying a wooden palette to use for a month or so, and then hang it on the wall as a display piece. Also, I couldn’t help notice how Helen looked so much like my mother when she was her age.

7 tips for the self-taught artist

Decaffeinated – Blogpost I read last month, and have reread several times since then – “Sometimes you just have to remind yourself that you’re lucky you get to do this in the first place. If it’s something you get to make any kind of living at, you’re lucky. If you’re someone with the ability or luxury to carve out actual time in your day to be creative, you’re lucky. If you live in a place where freedom of speech is a given, you’re lucky. If your brain is still healthy and working, then you’re goddamn lucky.”

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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.

Other places to find me online.

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I want to start this blog post by saying what I’m writing today is my first impression, and experience using these Paul Rubens oil pastels. I’ve used these pastels for a total of roughly 10 hours at this point. I’m going to be a neutral as possible, and give my honest opinion about these oil pastels.

I started out drawing directly on corrugated cardboard, which I often do with my other oil pastels. I immediately noted these oil pastels act differently than other brands, and not in good ways.

Right from the start, I noticed quite a vast inconsistency between the colors. Some were slick, and too smudgy. Other colors were dry and crumbly. Some colors slid around on the cardboard, and were extremely easy to smudge. Notice I said smudge and not “blend”..there is a huge difference. Blending takes a little effort with either a tortillon or your finger. That’s not the case with these. I was concerned the whole time I was drawing that I was going to create a huge smear across my work while reaching for a different pastel.

When I did try to blend colors, I quickly discovered how easy it was to make mud with some of these pastels. The first drawing took me forever to draw because I kept trying to layer them thickly like I do other pastels. These pastels weren’t holding layers well. They were smudging together more than layering, and the colors underneath were rubbing off on to the pastel. I saw the bare cardboard beneath at times because the layer underneath wasn’t staying put, and was smearing.

The yellow went down drier, and more crumbly. Unfortunately the yellows didn’t blend out as I would have liked with a tortillon.

I had to be super careful after I was finished with the drawings. I didn’t want to smear them before I had a chance to take them outside to spray the fixative. I have since sprayed them all, and they are fine..holding in place on the cardboard, as my other oil pastels do.

I realize some might say I was creating my own problems because I was using cardboard as my substrate. If that’s what you’re thinking, fair enough. I’ve thought the same myself. However, the cardboard I used wasn’t slick or shiny, as you can see in the photos. I use cardboard a lot, so I’m fairly used to how oil pastels work on it with other brands of oil pastels. Using cardboard also doesn’t explain why some pastels were slick, and others dry and crumbly.

I wanted to give these pastels the benefit of doubt, tho. So, I tried them out using the same toned drawing paper as I did with the Arrtx brand. I will post about that experience on Friday. Stay tuned for my final thoughts.

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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See my artwork in a new movie – The Whale starring Brendan Fraser, which will be released December 9th, 2022.

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