Oil pastel

Oil pastel is a painting and drawing medium with characteristics similar to pastels and wax crayons. Unlike "soft" or "French" pastel sticks, which are made with a gum or methyl cellulose binder, oil pastels consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder. The surface of an oil pastel painting is therefore less powdery, but more difficult to protect with a fixative.

Oil pastels have a short history compared to other art forms becuase they were invented in 1924 by the Japanese teachers Rinzo Satake and Shuku Sasaki to give pupils greater freedom to express themselves by means of a cheap, colorful and easily appliable medium. Satake and Sasaki are the founders of the Sakura Cray-Pas Company. Oil pastels were first put into production in 1925 by Sakura Cray-Pas. The Panda Pastels brand of oil pastels were started in 1930. These were not proffesional quailty versions of the oil pastel like which are made today, but were made for children and were not considered a serious medium for some time after their invention.

In 1949 Henri Sennelier designed a proffessional version of the oil pastel. Another brand Caran D'Ache introduced Neopastels into the market in 1965. The Holbien brand of oil pastel started in the mid 1980s with a student and proffesional grade of oil pastels being produced.

Oil pastels can be used directly in dry form; when done lightly effects are similar to pastel chalks, or heavy build-ups can create an almost impasto effect. Once applied to a surface the oil pastel pigment can be manipulated with a brush moistened in turpentine, linseed oil, another type of vegetable oil, or another solvent. Alternately, the drawing surface can be oiled before drawing or the pastel itself can be dipped in oil. Since oil pastels are a relatively new invention, the effects of dust and light on oil pastel works is not yet known. Inability to age gracefully would limit their value in galleries, so many are translated into a print form by lithography or its variant glicées.

Oil pastels are considered a fast medium becuase they are easy to paint with and not cumbersome to carry around. Oil pastels are often used for sketching but also can be used for sustained works.