Chalk Pastels vs. Oil Pastels

By A Mystery Man Writer

Description

Pastels are a great medium to explore. A look at the differences between chalk pastels and oil pastels and tips for using each to its best advantage.
<p>Pastels are a great medium to explore—all you need to get started are the pastels themselves and a piece of paper. You can make beautiful scenes with pastels alone or use them to add color and detail to mixed media work. If you’ve never used pastels before, it may be hard to decide which to try first. Traditional soft pastels are dry and chalky; oil pastels are a much newer medium and act similar to oil paints.</p> <p>In this post, we will look at the history and physical differences between the two pastels and highlight tips for using each type of pastel to its best advantage. Pastel artwork can be interchangeably referred to as “pastel painting” or pastel drawing. The pastel landscape pictured above is "Folly Farm" by Carolyn Wilkinson. It was made using Rembrandt Pastels on sanded pastel paper—a great example of landscape painting using soft pastels.</p>