Pigment Sticks, Oil Pastels, and Other Drawing Materials

I've been experimenting with pigment sticks (like oil paint sticks), oil pastels, water soluble crayons, and colored pencils, on paper with several different grounds. I am using these with a couple of oil paint mediums: alkyd resin gel and odorless mineral spirits. This is not a tutorial, as I am pretty much a novice with the oil media, though I've experimented with it over the years.

I hope you enjoy this video of my explorations:


If you are interested in the materials I'm using, check out the links below. I have just ordered a few more mediums, and will also try cold wax with the pigment sticks and oil pastels. I am interested in finding new ways of painting, seeing what happens to the imagery when using different materials.

R&F  Pigment Sticks
Arches Oil Paper
Gamsol
Alkyd Resin
Prismacolor colored pencils
Caran d'Ache NeoPastel oil pastels
Holbein oil pastels
Sennelier oil pastels
Sandable Hard Gesso
Absorbent Ground
Caran d'Ache water soluble crayons

I also like to use 300# smooth (hot press) watercolor paper.

Crayons!

Lorraine Bell's new book, The Art of the Crayon, has just been released, an my art is on the cover!  I'm so excited about this.  I don't have my copy yet (should be here any day), but I am quite looking forward to seeing what other artists do with crayons.  You can check out Lorraine's blog post about it, and see who else contributed to the book.  Looks like I am in good company.

You can see previous posts I have done, including video, on using crayons and oil pastels here and here.  I am teaching a one-day workshop at Art and Soul called Beyond Crayons: Mark-Making at its Finest" in April, 2017.  It is full, but you can get on the wait list, or just show up and beg Glenny, the Queen, for a spot in the class, if you like.  Or just take out your crayons, get Lorraine's book, and GO!

My favorite crayons are Caran d'Ache Neocolor II.  They are pigment-rich, and are a little more friendly with acrylic paints than oil pastels are.  If working in oil media, no acrylic, I love using Sennelier oil pastels for their buttery quality, and Holbein's for a stiffer consistency but with the same pigment density.  The Caran d'Ache Neopastels are great too.  I think the Cray Pas and other very inexpensive oil pastels are like the Crayola of the oil pastel world.  The professional quality oil pastels and crayons are well worth the money.  Just my opinion.

I am, as of recently, exploring R&F Paints' Pigment Sticks, which are like oil paint in stick form.  I want to make crayon-like marks, but on a larger scale, and investigating ways to do that.  These pigment sticks are GORGEOUS!!!  Unlike oil pastels, pigment sticks DO dry, over time, so they can be used like oil paint, and combined with oil paint mediums like cold wax and "Galkyd" or other alkyd resins.

Hope you enjoy a visit to Lorraine's blog, and to the web sites of the other contributors to her new book.  Thanks for the visit here!

Lisa Pressman Workshop at R&F Paint

I just got back from a workshop with Lisa Pressman at R&F Paints, called "Exploring Visual Language: Conversations on Color".  How cool is THAT?  We were working with pigment sticks, which are very rich oil paint in stick form.  Lisa is awesome, the studio is awesome, and the other students were awesome.  Could not have been a more inspiring workshop. Here are a few pix:

Lisa demonstrating on multiple pieces with multiple materials

One of my 10"x10" panels, still wet, still in progress

Ditto the above

And another one....

one of my studies on paper, 7"x7"

Another study on paper, using neutrals this time

The R&F Pigment Sticks are absolutely LUSCIOUS!

10"x10" panel, study using printmaking techniques - masking and brayering

This is most of the class - a couple people left early.  That's me in the magenta sweatshirt.  Lisa is second from the right.  Richard Frumess, the founder of R&F, is on the far left.  Well, he's the only guy, so I guess that's obvious.

Another study on paper

Ditto the above...

The Wall of Paint: pigment sticks on the left, encaustic paints on the right.