- Faber-Castell Oil Pastels
Something I loved about Faber-Castell Oil Pastels, is how vibrant the colors are. The package comes with 24 different colors and it costs about $17.99 at Michaels. These pastel colors have a very creamy consistency which allows for a nice and easy blend. These oil pastels allow for each color to be mixed together properly and you can even work over it with oil.
These Oil Pastels definitely require a bit of experience when using them. In order to create a glossy and smooth finished on your piece, it is better to work with oil over it. For instance, look at the image bellow and see how much better the blending looks once applying the oil with a brush. Note that for this experiment I used linseed oil, but you can use baby oil as well!
It is recommended that you draw with oil pastels over an oil pastel pad. There are different brands that can work well and give your drawing a beautiful finish. However, For this experiment I drew over a regular sheet of white paper and the colors were still very easy to work with. As I mentioned on the introduction page of this blog, I created a narwhal whale drawing to color in with the different materials we are experimenting with. See how the colors blend on this drawing and how vibrant they are.
Safety Concerns:
These Oil Pastels are acid free. However, they are recommended for children ages 12+
- Crayola Oil Pastels
If I had to choose a winner, I would say the Crayola Oil Pastels won my heart over. First of all, the packaging comes with 28 different colors including 2 beautiful metallic silver and gold. In addition to this, it only costs $6.99 at Michaels and the box comes with color mixing and tints & shades chart which makes it a lot easier for younger children to use. The Crayola oil pastels blends much better than the Faber-Castel oil pastels, which allows your piece to have a more aesthetically pleasing look.
Remember the little experiment with oil we did above? If you see the image below, you will barely see a difference in quality. These oil pastels blend beautifully so no need to work over it with oil. Take a look at our finished narwhal whale drawing!
Safety Concerns:
These oil pastels are recommended for children ages 4+, they are safe and non-toxic.
Now, lets compare our Narwhal Whale drawing!
Though at first glance they look fairly similar, if we observe carefully, we will see a difference in how these mediums blend. Can you see how much more vibrant the pigments are on the left drawing? Can you also see the smoothness between all the different colors? Oil Pastels can definitely be challenging to use, especially with little to no experience. This is why I recommend going with the Crayola if you are a beginner, or if you are trying to find new mediums for your kids to learn!
Do you wanna try and color the narwhal whale? Click here and download this image for free!
Angelica Botero 