Oil pastels are starting to get popular again. I remember when I was a kid, oil pastels were really a popular art supply, but then they sort of fell out of favor. Lately, they are enjoying a resurgence, but there are not a lot of high grade brands anymore. Nowadays there are only 4 or 5 really good artist grade brands. One of the top artist grade brands is Sennelier. I decided to purchase some and try them out.
If you want to try some of these supplies for yourself, I have included my Amazon and Blick Art affiliate links down below. This means I earn a small commission at no extra cost to the buyer.
Hey ya Cutie Boots! Wanna check out the oil pastels? "Nah," he says, "I am cleaning my foot. Don't bother me now!"
He has given up on art supplies. Instead, he likes playing with plushies nowadays. That's his current hobby. Cutie Boots loves his dragon!
I wanted to try out the top rated oil pastel brand, which is Sennelier. These pastels are expensive so it sort of requires one to be serious about oil pastels and be willing to make a big investment. I purchased the 72 color set which was around $110. Here is what the box of 72 looks like.
The back has some information about how to use oil pastels.
On the side, the 72 colors are shown along with their number.
Inside the box there was a foldout pamphlet with information on the oil pastels and a complete list of all the 120 colors available and their lightfast ratings. These pastels are available in a 120 set or open stock. They run around $3.61 a piece on Blick Art Materials. I am thinking I should have gotten the 120 set when it was $225 because it would have been cheaper than buying them open stock. Oh, well, live and learn!
When I opened the box this is what they looked like! I like the fact that these oil pastels are pointed on the end instead of flat. There was a nice selection of colors including several shades of grey.
Even though there are color swatches, I made my own swatch card to get a feel for these oil pastels. They are the smoothest and softest pastels that I have ever used. They blend very smoothly as well.
There was a nice selection of landscape colors and greys.
'Cliff Dwelling'
by Ellie Taylor
I did a quick sketch of a Native American Cliff dwelling. I used a lot of light peach colors, umber, and ochre colors. I think I could probably make a larger more detailed cliff dwelling painting with these oil pastels.
'Old Tree Silhouette'
by Ellie Taylor
I decided to test out the blending by painting a sunset sky. The colors blend very well when you smooth them together. I used a kleenex to blend, but a q-tip or pastel tool will work well, too. I tested the layering ability by adding the old tree silhouettes over the sky. The oil pastels worked great and didn't have any trouble drawing over the mountains or sky and the bottom layer was fairly thick.
In conclusion, I think these are the best oil pastels that I've used. They are very smooth and soft which makes them blend very well. Most of the colors are very lightfast which makes them very good for professional art.
So are they worth the price? Yes, if you buy them in sets. They are the most economical in sets. They are lightfast and that is worth paying for if you are a professional artist.
These pastels are available in sets of six, twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight, fifty, seventy-two, and one hundred twenty. Prices on these sets range from $13 to $281 depending on the size and packaging. The wooden box sets cost more.