A Beginner's Guide to Using Oil Pastels

Oil pastels sit in a wonderful middle ground between crayons and paint — they're as easy to pick up as a crayon, but they blend, layer, and glow with color the way paint does. For a beginner artist looking for a bold, forgiving medium, oil pastels are hard to beat.

What Are Oil Pastels?

Oil pastels are sticks of pigment bound together with wax and oil, which gives them a soft, creamy texture that's different from both crayons (harder, waxier) and chalk pastels (drier, dustier). Because they never fully dry, oil pastels stay blendable on the page indefinitely, which means you can rework an area even after you've moved on to other parts of a drawing. Their bold pigment also makes colors look vivid and saturated straight out of the box, with very little effort.

Why It's Worth Learning

Oil pastels are forgiving in a way few other mediums are — because they stay soft, mistakes can often be blended away or covered rather than becoming permanent. That makes them an excellent low-pressure way for beginners to experiment with color mixing, layering, and texture without the fear of "ruining" a piece. They also introduce artists to techniques like sgraffito, where you scratch through a top layer of color to reveal the color underneath, which is a fun, tactile way to create detail.

A Simple Oil Pastel Activity

Choose two colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel, like yellow and orange.
Draw a simple shape, such as a sun or a flower petal, and fill half with yellow and half with orange, pressing firmly.
Where the two colors meet, layer a little of each color over the other.
Use your finger, a paper towel, or a cotton swab to gently blend the overlapping area in small circles.
Once dry-blended, try scratching a simple line or pattern into the color with a toothpick to reveal the white paper underneath — this is sgraffito.
Compare the smooth blended area to the scratched texture to see two very different effects from the same sticks of color.

Tips for Beginners

Press firmly and don't be shy — oil pastels need a fair amount of pressure to lay down rich, even color.
Use sturdy paper, like cardstock or dedicated pastel paper, since thin paper can tear under the pressure and oil.
Blend with a finger or paper towel while the color is fresh; oil pastel blends less easily once it's had time to sit.
Avoid over-blending more than two or three colors at once, or the mix can turn muddy and gray.
Keep a damp cloth nearby to wipe fingers between colors so you don't accidentally smear one color into the next.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are oil pastels messy to use?

They can be a little messier than colored pencils since the pigment stays soft and can transfer to fingers, but a damp cloth handles cleanup easily, and the tactile, hands-on feel is part of what makes them fun for beginners.

Can oil pastels be mixed with other art supplies?

Yes. Many artists combine oil pastels with watercolor for resist effects, since the oil repels water-based paint, or use them alongside crayons for extra texture and layering.

What paper works best for oil pastels?

Thicker paper, such as cardstock, mixed-media paper, or dedicated pastel paper, holds up best to the pressure and oil content. Regular printer paper can work for quick sketches but may tear or wrinkle with heavy layering.

Conclusion

Oil pastels give beginners bold color and forgiving blending in one simple stick, making them one of the most satisfying mediums to experiment with. Start with basic blending, then try scratching in details once you're comfortable. If you enjoyed the layering aspect here, take a look at layering techniques next to build even more depth into your next piece.