I mainly paint in Oil Pastels. These are like regular chalk pastels, but have a crayon type texture and feel. Artist Oil pastels are pretty new, although they date back to the ancient Egyptians according to some experts. Oil pastel colors are bright, they are nontoxic, no odor, no dust and the mess is small compared to other media. Oil pastels come in a variety of brands. Some are too lip-sticky for me and others don’t blend well. My favorite, after trying them all is Caran D’Ache brand Neopastel. Oil pastels are best done on a hard board, or pastel paper. Sometimes I use watercolor paper covered with gesso. Black is a good color for that. The darker the surface the better. The color pops when the surface is dark. The texture of the paper will change the painting. Some of my oil pastels are finished with Wingel. This is multipurpose oil and alkyd painting medium, very smelly and can take awhile to dry. This can smear the pastels and allows me to paint with the pastels. The finish is shiney and gives the feeling of an oil painting. Other then the smell prior to drying this is a lot of fun to work with.

I am just starting to work more with Soft pastels and am still learning all about them, before I break the rules. Soft pastels are chalky and messy, there is dust and they can be toxic. Soft pastels are much more expensive than Oil pastels. I do like the soft feel a picture can have and the mystery that can be created by these pastels. The blending, which I do is different and the end results can be surprising. Too much blending can wipe out the pastels so nothing much is left, that’s when you start all over again.