How to draw with oil pastels for beginners step by step. Several ways to draw with oil pastels

Pastel - it is almost pure pigment. It allows you to create bright and rich images. It is used to create sketches and drawings. The advantage of pastels is that you don’t need a lot of supplies to draw. Enough paper and the pastel itself.

Dry pastel

1. It is very important to buy quality paper. Savings are inappropriate here. Otherwise, the beginner runs the risk of not making progress in learning. The pastel painting technique requires the use of special grained paper, whose surface is similar to suede and is capable of holding dye particles.

Pastel paper comes in a variety of colors. Choose the one you like, but keep in mind that the color should contrast with the depicted object. The shade should not be too dark or very light so that light and dark tones look good on paper.

Do not choose white paper, because the work on colored paper will look more impressive. A colorless sheet will require light spots to be completely filled.

2. A wide line is drawn with the end of the pastel, and a thin line with the edge. You can adjust the thickness of the stroke using the pressure and angle of the pencil. If you need to paint over a large surface, place the crayon on its side and cover and paint over the paper.

3. Pastel sets may include up to six dozen colors. But not all artists use a huge number of shades. Many people only use a few. Choose the way you like.

4. The sheet can be placed horizontally or on an easel. The vertical position allows crumbs to fall and not remain in the design.

5. Pastel allows for great variety application of techniques. There is no universal recipe and you can develop your own ways of working with it.

6. Start with a sketch using charcoal or a faint crayon that stands out against the tone of the paper. A simple pencil is not suitable because the pastel does not stick well to it.

7. On light paper, it is good to mark out the tones with gray or black pastels. To correctly determine tonal relationships, determine what should be the darkest and what should be the lightest. From basic forms, move on to refinement and work with volumes. Use strokes, lines and dots. Rub the pastel where you need to summarize the image. If you rub everything, then subsequent layers will not adhere well to the paper.

8. Secure the finished drawing with a special solution. It can be bought in a specialized store in the form of a spray. Apply the sealer carefully. A thick layer will affect the color of the design. Universal fixatives and hairspray are not very suitable. Dry pastel, due to the chalk content, is not very saturated, and after fixing it becomes more contrasting. This needs to be taken into account.

9. Finished works, especially loose ones, must be stored carefully. It is advisable to place it under glass and use a mat. If the drawings will be stored in a folder, then line them with smooth paper.

Oil pastel

1. Oil pastel It does not shade and rubs worse than dry. Therefore, it should be diluted with pinene.

2. Perform the preliminary drawing with oil pastels. If you prefer charcoal, remove almost all of it before using the pastel to avoid staining the pastel.

3. After applying the base tones, wash them out with pinene.

4. Refine the drawing and, if necessary, blur it. But don’t get carried away, because work that is too blurry will look washed out. The drawn areas, the most important in the artist’s opinion, should remain.

5. Over the course of several months, the oil pastels will dry out and darken slightly. Take this effect into account as you work.

6. There is no need to fix the work done with such pastels. But you still need to store it carefully. The paint layer may stick to the surface in contact with the design. It is best to store the work under glass, but it should not touch the drawing.

How to draw with pastels? - video

1. The versatility of drawing with pastels.

Pastels can be used in a variety of ways, any of the ones listed here. Each of these methods can be used independently, or combined with others to obtain new and interesting results.

There is no absolutely right or wrong way.

As with so many things in painting, painting with pastels comes down to what you love and want to do with it.

Remember to try different techniques with different pastels - hard, semi-soft and soft - as each will produce different results, as will different brands of pastels.

2. Drawing with the tip of a pastel.

The easiest way to use a pastel is to draw with the end, holding the crayon like a pencil or pen. The resulting line conveys the gesture you made.

Change the thickness of the line by varying the pressure on the chalk. The harder you press, the more pastel will remain on the sheet. For finer lines, press more softly or use the edge of a pestle.

Use your whole hand when drawing, not just your wrist, then the drawing will be freer.

3. Using the edges of pastels.

If you want to work quickly to create large blocks of color, use the crayon side. For optimal results, break the pastel (yes, I said break) in the middle and draw, remember - even a small piece of pastel is still usable.
Changing the pressure will create a different texture on the pastel paper. When the side of the pastel has worn away, leaving two sharp edges, use it to create lovely fine lines.

This method is best used with semi-soft or soft pastels.

4. Hatching and intersecting hatching.

If you've done any drawing before then this technique will be familiar to you - in fact it works best with pastel pencils or hard pastel sticks. Hatching is simply a series of parallel lines, preferably regular lines (hence pencil), drawn close together. Cross hatching is the next step, drawing a second row of lines at an angle (most often at right angles to the first row).

This method allows you to experiment freely with color and tone.
Use this technique to create a sense of shape and volume by varying the direction of your shading.

5. Mixing pastels (shading).

Unlike other drawing media, pastels cannot be mixed before being placed on paper. There are two ways to create color and tonal smooth transitions - optical mixing, which is achieved by having colors in close proximity (see shading), and blending, where the pastel is mixed already on paper.

You can use a wide variety of blending tools, but the traditional one is your finger (you can do this with gloves to protect your hands or just use your finger to blend). Also available tool: hand side - useful for blending large areas, but not suitable for precise results; They also use cotton wool, pieces of paper, an eraser, etc.

1. Using your finger (or hand), be sure to clean it regularly to avoid contaminating your work with other colors. I always keep a box of wet wipes.

2. Tortillons can be washed for further use by removing the dirty layer at the end with a sharpener.

6. paint coating.

One of the big advantages of pastels over other mediums is the variation of color. Perhaps the best method for getting this is paint coating. Once the pastel layer has been applied, lightly brush a layer of paint over the top. This will create a coating of new color.

The result is visually stimulating, careful choice of colors will produce amazing results.

This method works best with the softest pastels.

7. Decoration with pastels.

Decoration is a finely tuned form of shading using short strokes. The result is more like scumbling - it can give a vibration to the painting. Decoration will also work for optical color mixing (as with pointillist paintings), where the eye mixes colors together instead of mixing them on paper.

Tip: This method is especially good for giving the appearance of iridescence to fabric, feathers, and scales, or for creating atmospheric effects with light.

8. Sprinkling with pastels.

Using pastels, colorful and vibrant paintings are created. In this article we will learn how to draw with pastels, why you need auxiliary tools and where to best use pastel pencils.

Benefits of pastels

Pastel is a pigment pressed from powder with the addition of a binder. The use of pastels is possible both at home and outdoors. It does not get dirty, does not crumble, dries quickly and does not require special equipment. Only canvas and pastel. Moreover, the color range is amazing, ranging from very light tones to bright and rich shades. Before you draw with pastels for beginners, you need to understand what it is. It's best to start with

what it is not:

It is often confused with chalk. This is a very serious mistake. Colored crayons, made from lime and dye, are very hard and faded.
The second most common mistake is oil pastels. The technique of its use differs from dry. You can learn how to draw with oil pastels from our other articles.

Variety of pastels

It is available in several forms: in paper packaging (round and square), in pencils. Each one is great for art. To create a sketch, it is best to use pastel pencils or charcoal. Pastel does not adhere very well to a regular graphite pencil.

So, portioned pastel in paper packaging

It comes in square and round shapes. There is no universal advice on which drawing form is best. Artists use both forms when working; they create different types of strokes.

An example of using round and square crayons (using square corners to create the effect of tangled fur).

Pastel pencils

Using pastel pencils you can draw very fine details. Their composition is no different from the pastel itself, only the appearance is like that of an ordinary pencil. Although they can be a stand-alone fine art tool, they work best when paired with regular crayons. These pencils are great for shading.

Using pastels as an example, we draw step by step for beginners the eyes of a cheetah. First we draw the base with crayons, then the eyes and fur with pencils.

Their disadvantages include fragility. You need to sharpen it very carefully. You can use a sharp sharpener or a small knife.

Pastel selection

There is a huge variety of both shades and manufacturers. Professionals advise, especially for beginners, to choose the following manufacturers:

Inscribe. Low price, large selection of colors and convenient packaging. But, these crayons are not suitable for drawing fine lines.
Sennelier. Excellent, professional crayons. The price is steep, but they are worth it. With their help you can create excellent paintings. Moreover, they are packaged by color (for example, for painting landscapes, sets of rainbow or metallic colors).

Whatever company you choose, you should avoid sets with a predominance of very bright colors. Oddly enough, but such a number of colors really ties the artist’s hands.

It is best to choose pastel pencils from the following companies:

Derwent.
Faber Castell Pitt.
Stabilo.

Choose sets of 24 colors. Although, for starters, take pencils individually. This way you can assess their need for work.

If you use pencils actively, the original packaging will quickly become damaged. The best option is to put them in a special pencil case (as in the photo above). It will help save them from destruction. You can use a regular school pencil case, but searching for the right shade can take a lot of time.

Auxiliary materials

Basically, a set of crayons and a canvas are enough for drawing. But, there are several auxiliary tools. Some may find them very useful, and they need to be considered in more detail:
Fixative. A special product for fixing flowers in a painting. The special product is very expensive. Regular hairspray does the job perfectly. But, do not forget that varnish and fixative make the colors of the work darker.
Maulstick. It consists of suede fabric and a stick and protects the design from smudging while working. And he needs to lean on his working hand.
Shading sticks. Replace fingers during operation. Very useful when depicting grass, fur or other small details.
Sandpaper. Replaces the eraser when drawing with pastels.
Stencil. It is used very rarely, but it is still worth having in your arsenal.

Canvas for drawing

The canvas for drawing should be textured; pastels will not lie correctly and beautifully on smooth paper. The result depends very much not only on the texture, but also on the color of the canvas.

Sometimes it shows through a layer of paint and can set the main atmosphere.

Now let's look at several options for canvases that are ideal for work:

Pastel paper. Sold in sets and one sheet at a time. Comes in different colors and sizes.
Pastelmat. This canvas looks like a cork. Great for small jobs. When using it, hairspray or fixative is not needed.
Canvas. Ideal for working with pastels: hard, textured, comes in many sizes and colors.
Cardboard, craft and note paper. A large selection of colors (there is even a shiny one), excellent texture and size chart.
Sandpaper. It is easy and interesting to work with, but it is better to choose paper with a small grain size.

The best paper suppliers are:

Winsor
Derwent;
Clairefontaine.

You need to be careful when ordering paper online. Be sure to check the colors.

Supports

We have already learned the main points and instructions on how to draw with dry pastels. All that remains is to decide how you will draw. Some prefer to sit, some prefer to stand. It’s up to you to decide, but now we’ll tell you the main points of supports for the canvas

in any position:

Table. You can draw on the table. Before working, be sure to cover the table surface. Crumbs can stain it.
Easel. Ideal for standing work. The main thing is to firmly attach the canvas to the base.

Wall. It is also convenient to draw on the wall while standing, but you need to lay something down. It is better to attach the canvas to the wall with masking tape, at the very edges, so as not to spoil it. The downside is that no matter how carefully you paint, the wall still ends up dirty.

Transportation and storage

If you painted outside the home, for example, in nature, the question arises of how to properly bring the painting home. For this we need thick sliding paper. You can store them at home in the same way, simply transferring the work with this paper.

The most beautiful drawings deserve to be kept in a frame. This storage method has its own characteristics. Even after a painting is completed, dust may fall off over time.

Before applying glass, limit the picture to frames, leaving a small distance from the picture itself.

In this simple way you will protect the painting and maintain its neat appearance.

Let's sum it up

Drawing with pastels is a pleasant, exciting and interesting activity. After finishing the work, there is no need to wait for it to dry. She is immediately ready for exhibition. By following simple rules, you can preserve the painting in its original form for a long time.

Use all possible types of pastels for creativity, experiment with canvases, and you will get very bright and beautiful paintings.

Pastel is a favorite art material for many artists, but beginners encounter certain difficulties when first using pastels. Therefore, further we will try to clearly explain what kind of pastel there is for drawing, how to work with it, and present a simple master class with photographs, where you will see an example of how to draw a beautiful still life with pastel. However, we still recommend that before you start getting acquainted with pastel techniques, you gain confidence in the basics - drawing with ordinary pencils.

Pastels are sold both in the form of bare rods, similar to crayons, and pencils. It is distinguished from other artistic materials by its softness and velvety structure, which is achieved due to its composition - a binder and coloring substance, that is, pigment. These qualities determine another feature of using pastel: it does not stick well to paper and can crumble when pushed or other physical impact on a sheet of paper.

Today in artists' shops you can find four types of art pastels: dry, oil, wax and watercolor.

Dry pastel

The most popular type of pastel, used by both beginners and professional artists. Depending on the content of the binder, it is divided into hard and soft - the less of it, the softer the rod.

You won't be able to achieve the same vibrant colors with hard pastels as you can with soft pastels. But it is easier to draw small and delicate details with it, especially if you draw with pastels in the form of pencils. It crumbles less and doesn't stain your hands as much.

With soft pastels, you can create sweeping strokes that lie smoothly on the paper and are easy to shade, but for beginners such a pliable material will not be easy to control.

Oil pastel

Oil pastels contain a mineral oil substance, which allows them to adhere well to paper and not crumble, and also not to stain your hands. True, you won’t get the same matte effect as a dry pastel, and you won’t be able to shade it as easily - you’ll have to resort to using a brush and water, or a special solvent. But it won’t be easy to smear it accidentally.

Wax pastel

Reminiscent of oil pastels in color rendition, brightness, smoothness of application and intensity of strokes. It contains a different binder: not oil, but wax. Because of this, it is more difficult to achieve color mixing, and if the crayons are cheap, where paraffin is used instead of wax, then it will not be possible to draw color transitions at all. Professional artists almost never start drawing with wax crayons.

Watercolor pastel

And this type of pastel has a more unique wet structure - all due to the content of water-soluble components in it. In its normal form it is applied to paper as a hard pastel chalk with a wet effect, and when water is added it takes on watercolor properties. It is often used to replace watercolor pencils, since such pastels can be used to draw both solid strokes and achieve translucent shades.

Additional tools

What paper is best to draw on? Since dry pastels crumble very easily, you will have to abandon ordinary, smooth A4 office paper and switch to another work surface that has a pronounced rough texture. This can be postal paper, sandpaper or pastel paper, canvas or special cardboard.

You can learn to draw with pastels even if you have nothing but pastels and paper. But with the help of additional materials and tools, the process of creating a drawing becomes much easier, faster and more convenient. This:

Shading or brushes - there are silicone and paper. They are very convenient for shading small details of a drawing, for which shading with fingers is not enough.

A kneaded eraser - you can use it to lighten a drawing with pastels, or gently erase excess without harming the paper.

A mashtable is a special device in the form of a long stick with a soft fabric or suede ball at the end, which serves as a support for the artist’s leading hand and allows him to draw without touching the drawing, so as not to smear it. With the other hand, the artist supports the stick, and uses the ball to rest on the canvas or move it beyond the boundaries of the drawing.

Fixative is a varnish designed to fix pastels, both during the work process and upon completion of the entire drawing. It is often replaced with regular hairspray, but it makes the image darker and can take away its matte finish. Therefore, many people refuse varnish fixation and place a pastel drawing in a frame under glass, so that it does not touch the paper.

Features of drawing with dry pastels

For beginners, it is better to first learn how to learn how to draw with dry pastels, as they are easier to handle compared to other types. It should be said that drawing with pastels does not imply any clear rules - the artist is free to experiment with techniques. However, there are certain nuances:

The preliminary sketch and outline of the future drawing should be done using a piece of pastel of a not too noticeable color - it is better to match it to the tone of the paper. For white paper, use gray chalk or charcoal, which you can then simply shake off; for colored paper, use chalk of the corresponding or similar shade.

Do not make a sketch with an ordinary graphite pencil, otherwise the pastel will fit very poorly on it.

You need to draw with chalk “flat”, first applying the background and all the primary colors, painting over the area of the paper. It is better to first apply and shade black and white colors, if present, and then move on to other shades. If the type of pastel allows it, then don’t forget about mixing - with its help you can achieve interesting gradients and colors that you don’t have in your palette.

Having decided on a color scheme, you can finally begin to detail the drawing: the appearance of volume, clarification of silhouettes, shapes. At this stage, you can draw using shading, applying dots, individual strokes, lines, etc. - depending on what task is assigned to you and in what style the pastel drawing will be done. Don’t be afraid to leave the main details unshaded so that the drawing doesn’t look “soapy”.

How to draw with pastels: master class for beginners

Let's move on from theory to practice and learn how to draw a still life from life with pastels. Of course, you can try to draw it simply from a photograph. We will need:

pastel paper;
dry pastel;
pastel pencils;
plywood sheet;
soft cloth.

If you have an easel, the task is easier, but its semblance can be built from a chair and a plywood sheet, resting it on the back and laying paper so that the pastel falls there, and not directly on the seat. Place the flower arrangement (or photo) nearby so that it is in front of your eyes and is easy to draw. Prepare your hands - wash them so they are free of grease and dry them.

Progress

So we learned how to draw still life with pastels! The drawing looks complete even at this stage. If you want to go further, then work on the background, details and adding shades.

The following video master class on drawing fruits will help you learn how to convey highlights, light, shadows, penumbra and reflex using dry pastels:

Pastel is a wonderful “tool” of fine art, allowing you to create surprisingly sincere and lively paintings. There are a great variety of techniques for working with pastels, each of them can be safely used either separately or in combination with others. By combining different drawing techniques, it is possible to achieve new artistic methods - expressive and extraordinary.

When choosing a technique for working with pastels, you should not think that there are any canons of drawing - “this is the right way to draw, but this is not the right way.” Painting is a free, creative thing, it loves flights of fancy and requires inspiration. The main thing in drawing with pastels is to do what you like. And do it with pleasure.

1. Drawing with a pastel tip. Please note that when trying different techniques for working with pastels, you need to work with bars of different softness. Each pastel - hard, soft, semi-soft - gives a different result. The same applies to different brands of this visual material. Drawing with the tip of a pastel crayon is the easiest way to create a design. The block is held in the hands like a pencil. The created line exactly repeats every gesture of the artist. By changing the pressure on the chalk, you can change the thickness of the lines created. If you press harder, more pastel remains on the paper. To keep the line thin, try to soften the pressure as much as possible. When drawing, use your whole hand rather than just your wrist - the drawing will be freer.

2. Drawing with the edge of a pastel. This pastel technique is good for quick work when you need to paint over large areas. To make it easier to work, break the block in the middle. But be thrifty, remember - the smallest chalk is useful for drawing. By adjusting the pressure, it is possible to create areas of different structures. Pastel with worn sides can be used for drawing fine lines - its sharp edges are just right for applying fine shading. This technique is recommended when working with soft and semi-soft pastels.

3. Hatching: simple and intersecting. If you have ever drawn with regular pencils, you are already familiar with this technique. Working with pastels comes down to creating closely spaced, parallel lines. This drawing method is more suitable for hard pastel sticks and pastel pencils. By drawing a second layer of lines - usually applied at an angle of 90 degrees relative to the previous one - you get intersecting hatching. Using shading, you can experiment as much as you want with the color and tone of your drawings. By changing the direction of the lines, it is possible to achieve a sense of volume of the depicted objects.

4. Shading (blending). Pastels cannot be mixed in advance - before applying to paper. To mix colors, shading is used. The pastel technique, which involves creating smooth transitions from color to color, can be implemented in two ways. You can simply place colors in close proximity, or you can mix pastels directly on the paper. Shading can be done using any available tools or simply with your finger. You may want to wear a glove to protect your hands from the paint. Large areas can be shaded with the side of your palm, small areas - with cotton wool, a piece of paper, an eraser and other suitable objects. In order not to harm the drawing when shading the pastel, try to adhere to the following rules:
. When using your finger or your entire hand to mix colors, be sure to clean it from time to time. Otherwise, you will inadvertently contaminate the work. The easiest and most convenient option is to have a pack of wet wipes on hand.
. Pastel bars can be washed after use, and the contaminated layer at the end can be removed using a sharpener.

5. Sgraffito (from the Italian sgraffito - to scratch). This technique involves scratching one color to reveal the bottom color underneath the top color. It is somewhat reminiscent of scratching through a layer of ink, but you can only draw white lines on a black background, while oil pastels make it possible to achieve more varied color effects.

This technique is one of many that have been borrowed from oil painting. Rembrandt himself often scratched a wet layer of oil paint with the base of his brush to convey the texture of the details of the lace located on the collar, or the hairs on the face.

Although the technique can also be used for other visual media, especially colored pencils. It is almost ideal for use with oil pastels because it can be applied in a relatively thick layer that will remain damp enough to be easily removed with a sharp tool.

Drawings made using the sgraffito technique must be thought out in advance. This method is not combined with improvisation - it is necessary to constantly keep the final image of the drawing in memory, carefully planning the sequence of layering, each step.

The first stage is covering the paper with a fairly dense layer of color, pressing it firmly into the canvas (if desired, you can use watercolors, acrylic paints or ink for the first layer).

The second layer lays down more freely, so that it can be easily removed with some sharp tool, for example, a craft knife. To draw thicker lines you can try a brush pen.

Helpful advice: scratching will be more successful if you work dark on light, since oil pastels have limited coverage, which means the pale color on top will “sink” into the darker color of the base. You can achieve variety by applying several colors to one of the layers of the picture.

Scratching is an excellent method, as it is impossible to achieve such fine lines with oil pastels.

6. Decoration. This pastel technique is essentially a type of shading done through short, pointed strokes. The result is a kind of picturesque vibration, similar to scumbling (glazing, coating with translucent paints). Thanks to this decoration, the colors are mixed optically - with the eyes, and not on paper. The tip technique is often used to convey the iridescence of fabrics, feathers, and atmospheric effects using the play of light.