Second Thursday Tutorial: Comparing chalk and oil pastels

This post was borne out of the fact I was looking for my Cray-Pas pastels.  I haven't seen them since the latest flood in my basement.  What shocked and surprised me was

how many other pastels I found, even though I didn't find my Cray-Pas, which are oil pastels made by Sakura.  Some of these I have purchased and some were given to me when I helped a friend back in 2002 clean his storage shed.  His mother had been an artist and he was going to throw many, many wonderful art supplies away.  I brought them home, never imagining I would turn into a mixed media artist.  I simply didn't want him throwing them in the dumpster he had rented to clear out the shed.

I believe all these were from his storage shed.  Both sets of oil pastels looked like they had never or barely been used.

The Prang chalk crayons were rather worse for wear, though.

The decorating chalks were given to me, and the small chalks I purchased on clearance.

The pan pastels were purchased over time, each with a 40% off coupon.  They were still very expensive.

I purchased the soft pastels at Tuesday Morning one year and had never opened them.   The other colored chalk I got at a garage sale for $0.50 (USD).

I found these in my stash a year or so ago and have no idea where I got them.  They are hard pastels.

These were sent to me at Christmas by my friend Cindy.  I decided not to compare them, since they were the only watercolor crayons I had and didn't really fit the pastel categories.

These also came from my friend's shed.

Let's begin with the chalks.

I began with the Prang Pastellos that were square shaped.  Right off the bat, I saw the blue left a trail of dust when I placed it on the paper.

On the other hand, the red was so hard, it chipped and flaked as I attempted to spread it.

The blue blended nicely with the white, 

but the red only flaked further.

These are the Prang round chalks I picked up at a garage sale.   They held together better than their sister square chalks. 

They even spread better, too.

They came with a couple of stumps.  I used one to blend the chalks together.   I liked them better than the square Prang chalks, but they didn't blend as well as I anticipated they would.

These decorative chalks didn't come in the colors I was trying to use, so I placed the red on a Q-tip

and tried to blend where the chalk crayon failed .

This was marginally better, but didn't blend too well with the white.

These hard decorating chalks (created, I suspect for the scrapbooking industry) didn't fit in the color scheme I was going for.  They break easily, and are very dusty.

Here is a recap of the chalks I used.

Next up are the Reeves soft pastels and the pan pastels, which I also consider soft.

The soft pastels had never been opened, and it took forever to get them this far.

They were already beginning to break and were quite dusty.

Even though I had the red, white, and blue color scheme in this set, I wanted the colors to be the same as those of the pan pastels.  Therefore, I chose a yellow and blue soft pastel.  It left lots of extra pigment and dust.  I went to my bath cabinet to find the appropriate way to blend the two.

They didn't blend too well, and I was once again surprised how much pigment was removed with the "blending tool."

Now it was time to use the pan pastels.   They claim to be creamy.  They also tout that you never have to blend them with your hands because they have specific tools that will do it for you.   Those tools are extremely expensive, though.  They retail for $36.50 (USD) for the 44 piece set, which look mostly like makeup and eye shadow brushes to me.  I could have gotten a makeup sponge, but chose to use my other "blending tool" instead.

Pigment wise, they are saturated with color, although they are quite dusty.

and when I accidentally brushed my hand over the page to push the excess powder away, the pastels smeared badly.   I also know from having used them in the past, they must be set with a fixative (an actual fixing product or cheap arousal hairspray).

Next up are the firm pastels.

First up is the Weber Costello, a brand I've never heard of.  Obviously they were expensive, at least when they were new.  You can see there was no dust when I laid them on the paper. 

I decided to add them to my other red, white, and blue experiments.

They laid out rather well

but for once, the red blended better than the blue.

Next up were the Nupastels by Prismacolor.  It may not look like it, but I've used a few of these colors in the past. 

They break really easily, though, even though they are firm and don't produce much dust.

I'm beginning to believe the paper I'm using is causing the lack of total coverage.

Again, the blue didn't cover as well as the red and white.

From upper left clockwise: Prang square chalk crayons and Decorating chalk added to red, Nupastel square firm chalks, Weber Costello square firm pastels, and Prang round chalk blended with stump.

The final category of pastels were the oils. 

Unlike the chalk pastels,

these are creamy and buttery.   They can be characterized as having a paper wrapping, too.

I was surprised to see that a Cray-Pas was added to the SMi metallics mix.  Certainly not my doing.

These were beautiful colors, but didn't blend well at all.  The metallics don't show up well on camera, though.

Reeves oil pastels are unique in that they are hexagonal,

but come to a rounded point at the top.  I'd never heard of the brand until I opened the soft pastels above.  In fact, they are so old, Reeves doesn't place them in plastic containers anymore, and none I found in an internet search were shaped like these.  So I must have genuine antique oil pastels.

I had trouble spreading and blending these, but I wonder if it didn't have as much to do with the paper as it did with my inability to spread and blend them properly.

My final oil pastels were from Pentel. 

These were a birthday gift one year from my friend who recently died of cancer.

Reeves oil pastels are on the left and Pentel on the right.

After several hours, this is what I learned:

1.  I have no idea how to use these, whether they are chalk (either soft or firm) or oil pastels.
2.  I need better paper.  I'm sure the paper I used contributed to my lack of good coverage.
3.  I'm sure each of these has its own specific use, but for my purposes, I'm not fond of soft pastels, although they appear to blend better.
4.  Although I liked the oil pastels better, I couldn't get them to blend.
5.  Regardless of brand or type, each must have a fixative applied once you are satisfied with the coverage.  Be sure to keep your hand (or arm) clear of the pastel until it has been fixed (and is dry).
6.  I welcome any advice or knowledge you might share on these products, regardless of brand.

Thank you for joining me today for this tutorial.  I hope this showed you the possibilities that are available to true artists (painters and sketchers).  Once this goes live, it will be on my tutorials page under "Comparing chalk and oil pastels."