Introduction to Oil Pastels and Oil Paint
Oil pastels are a type of pastel where oil-based binding elements like mashed paraffin wax, stearic acid, and coconut oil are used. This creates a painting with a velvety texture and a lot of richness. The word "pastel" originates from the Medieval Latin pastellum, meaning "woad paste," and the Late Latin pastellus, meaning "paste." The word pastel first appeared in French in 1662 and originated in northern Italy in the 16th century, used by artists like Jacopo Bassano and Federico Barocci. Pastels gained popularity in the 18th century when artists like Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Odilon Redon made pastels their primary medium.
On the other hand, oil paint is a slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil painting is the most preferred painting style practiced by artists worldwide. Oil paints were first used in Asia as early as the 7th century AD. The oldest known oil paintings are Buddhist murals created around 650 AD using walnut and poppy seed oils. These paintings are located in cave-like rooms carved from the cliffs of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan. Famous artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, and Pablo Picasso later used oil paints in their works.
Composition of Oil Pastels and Oil Paint
Oil pastels are a mixture of mashed paraffin wax, stearic acid, and coconut oil as a binder, along with various color pigments. Oil pastels come in different forms, including winter pastels and summer pastels. Winter pastels contain more oil, making them softer than summer pastels.
Oil paint is made by mixing color pigments with drying oils like poppy seed oil, walnut oil, linseed oil, and safflower oil. The viscosity of the paint can be modified by adding a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varnish can be added to increase the glossiness of the dried oil paint film.
Specific Properties of Oil Pastels and Oil Paint
Oil pastel painting creates a luscious, velvety texture with a deep, rich glow using minimal tools, often just the pastel itself. Pastels are easily blendable and can be mixed using fingers, a blending stump, or a cloth. The final color effect of pastel colors is more similar to natural dry pigments than any other painting technique.
Oil paint allows artists to achieve a broad range of opacity and intensity in their work. It enables layering multiple colors and blending them to produce stunning artwork. The slow-drying quality of oil paint allows artists to develop a painting gradually and make changes or corrections easily.
Key Features of Oil Pastels and Oil Paint
The pigment in oil pastels can be painted using a brush soaked in white spirit, turpentine, linseed oil, or another type of vegetable oil or solvent after being applied to a surface in dry form. Alternatively, oil can be applied to the drawing surface beforehand or directly onto the pastel. Pastel paintings can be damaged over time due to issues with oil drying, brittleness from stearic acid, and discolored top layers. Beeswax can be applied over the finished painting to protect it from these problems.
Oil paint is typically blended with linseed oil, artist-grade mineral spirits, or other solvents to make it thinner, faster or slower drying. The principle of "fat over lean" states that each new layer of paint must contain more oil than the layer beneath to allow for proper drying. Other media, such as cold wax, resins, and varnishes, can be combined with oil to modify its translucency, shine, density, and brushstroke capacity.
Suitable Surfaces for Oil Pastels and Oil Paint
The surface for pastel painting should have some degree of abrasion to hold the pastel particles. Suitable surfaces include Laid Paper like Ingres, Canson Mi Teintes, abrasive surfaces like pumice, marble dust, or rotten stone, and velour paper.
Oil paint can bond to many different surfaces, and mediums can modify their binding characteristics. Oil paints can be used on canvas, tempera, wood, glass, and various other materials.
Other Specialties of Oil Pastels and Oil Paint
Pastel painting can be challenging because the medium is mixed and blended directly on the working surface. There is no way to check the colors on a palette before applying them. Pastel errors cannot be covered in the same manner as paint errors. Pastels are not firmly adhered to the paper's surface and must be handled with caution. They can become dirty unless protected by glass or fixatives made of glue or gum solution.
Oil paint dries slowly, allowing for easy modification or correction of errors. Oil paints mix readily, allowing for subtle color changes and creating light and shadow elements. Oil paintings can be thinned using turpentine or other thinning chemicals, enabling painters to layer their work. Professional oil colors are designed to resist chemical reactions from exposure to water, ultraviolet light, and oxidation.
Toxicity and Vegan-Friendly Considerations
Most fixatives used to make pastel paintings more durable are toxic. Some fixatives, such as beeswax, are used on pastel paintings to extend their lifetime, making them not vegan-friendly.
Some oil paints are non-toxic, but it is not advisable to apply them directly to the skin because some pigments may be poisonous. Oil paint could irritate the skin if it comes into contact. Most oil-based binders are extracted from animal fats, so some oil paints are not considered vegan-friendly.
Conclusion
Both oil pastels and oil paint offer unique artistic possibilities and benefits. Oil pastels provide vibrant, blendable colors with a velvety texture, while oil paint allows for a broad range of opacity and intensity with gradual development and modification. Each medium has specific properties, surfaces, and techniques that artists must consider to achieve their desired results. The choice between oil pastels and oil paint depends on the artist's preferences and the effects they wish to achieve.
Additionally, GranNino offers a free art hosting platform where artists can upload unlimited artworks, including oil pastels and oil paintings. This platform provides a supportive community for artists to showcase their work, receive feedback, and connect with other creatives. For more information and to start uploading your artworks, visit GranNino .
Happy creating! 🎨
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