SENNELIER OIL PASTELS
" The Sennelier oil pastels possess an extraordinarily high pigment content, thus providing them with a high colouring and covering potential, excellent brightness and a high degree of light stability "
Sennelier oil pastel - A soft and creamy crayon
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The Sennelier (pronounced Sen-el-EE-A) oil pastel is creamy, with an extraordinarily high pigment content, providing vivid colour and excellent covering potential and brilliance, with a high degree of light stability.
Oil pastels are comprised of pigment in a non-drying binder of oil and wax, which is formed into a compact stick. Like soft (dry) pastels, alternative brands offer diverse combinations of binder, oil and wax, which make them soft or hard. The Sennelier Oil Pastels use the same high quality pigments and high pigment loads as their other lines, combined with a pure, synthetic binding medium and mineral wax. Artists who became customers of the Sennelier oil pastel include names like Cézanne, Gauguin and Picasso. In this article, we explore the possibilities of this compelling brand and the rich history of the company. We discuss best practices, delve into lightfast properties and provide recommendations on effective accessories. Finally, we share the feedback of other users and our own thoughts on this product. Even if you have never used oil pastels before, this article may inspire you to give them a go. We also provide free tutorials for oil pastel artists too. Feel free to share this article. Let's dive in! |
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FURTHER INFORMATION
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CHARACTERISTICS
Base: oil & WaxVertical Divider
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Hard or soft: SoftVertical Divider
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Lightfast rating: ASTM D-6901Vertical Divider
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Costs: RRP £2.45 (ave)Vertical Divider
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No. of colours: 120 |
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ADVANTAGES
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DISADVANTAGES
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Hints and tips for working with oil pastels
- Apply colours directly or mix colours on support. Blend with a rag or even your fingers.
- Applying colour over colour can produce a blend of its own without the need for tools.
- Dilute colours with mineral spirits or turpentine, and blend with a brush
- If needed, first seal paper with gesso
- Mixed media application over watercolour, oil or acrylic paint
- Colours can be sculpted with a pre-heated palette knife. After heating, adhere and inlay pigments, sand, sawdust, wood, paper, glass or metal into moist colour.
- *If working on a metal surface, please note that metal is prone to oxidation and should be sealed with a primer or clear acrylic gesso before applying any oil pastels. This primer will provide a surface that the oil pastels can adhere to.
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WHAT CAN THESE PASTELS ACHIEVE?
The 'Sycamore Gap' in Northumberland, UK - Oil pastels on Fisher400
Oil pastels are solid sticks of pigment and binding material, which produce bold and vibrant applications. Oil pastels can accomplish painterly looking works of art in less time than some other mediums. They can be also be easily manipulated with tools, allowing you to create highly detailed work too.
During the creation of this 'Sycamore Gap' painting, colours were applied rather haphazardly by laying colour on colour. When using a highly abrasive paper like this, it is always better to build the layers before you try to blend. Trying to push the pigment around a gritty surface like the Fisher400, can be rather challenging. You can use your fingers to blend, but a paper stump is the better option.
During the creation of this 'Sycamore Gap' painting, colours were applied rather haphazardly by laying colour on colour. When using a highly abrasive paper like this, it is always better to build the layers before you try to blend. Trying to push the pigment around a gritty surface like the Fisher400, can be rather challenging. You can use your fingers to blend, but a paper stump is the better option.
The Sycamore Gap in Northumberland, UK
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The texture from the tooth of your paper can add extra character
Sennelier oil pastel produce thick layers
Many pigments are opaque and application is quick and easy
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For this Pink Flamingo subject, student grade pastels were used in the initial layers, then followed up with the Sennelier pastels. The vast majority of Sennelier colours are opaque, allowing for superb saturation with little effort. This also makes them easier to manipulate with blending tools, and create the fine detail using an embossing tool. You can also use a craft knife, details of which cane be seen in the photos below. This was the very first oil pastel drawing we produced, purely to test the oil pastels that we had recently purchased, and introducing certain accessories allowed us to test how easy it is to manipulate the medium, especially for those artists who like the challenge of creating detailed art like us.
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Blending with a paper blending stump.
Inscribing fine detail using a craft knife.
Sennelier oil pastels mix easily with other oil pastel brands.
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BLENDIBILITYThese pastels are extremely soft. Firm enough not to disintegrate wherever you apply pressure, whilst being soft enough to spread smoothly over most surfaces, even those with a highly abrasive tooth, like the one seen in this photo.
The paper used here is the Fisher400 brand. If you have never heard of it, it is very similar to the UArt sanded papers. It's coarse surface is not suited to finger blending, as it can snag skin. We mention this, as the oil pastels glide on so well, that it blends wonderfully into the surface of the paper, and leaves behind a exceptionally smooth finish, as magnified in our photo. Firmer oil pastels can leave behind rough edges, so transitions do not appear as smooth. That said, the Sennelier oil pastels are not suited to achieving fine detail, due to their softness, so it is always recommended that you have other oil pastel brands in your collection. |
Other articles that may be of interest
This article breaks the performance of the Mungyo Gallery Oil Pastels
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Try our Wildflower Meadow tutorial using Sennelier oil pastels
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LIGHTFAST INFORMATION AND COLOUR PALETTE
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The Oil Pastel range includes 110 classic colours and 10 iridescent colours. These pastels are available in 3 sizes: standard, large and giant. Large size pastels, used for working on large areas, are also available in classic and iridescent shades. Standard Oil pastel (Ø = 3/8 length = 2 1/2")
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The Sennelier oil pastels possess an extraordinarily high pigment content, thus providing them with a high colouring and covering potential, excellent brightness and a high degree of light stability (with the exception of metallic and fluorescent shades).
OPACITY: The Sennelier oil pastel comes in three levels of opacity: Transparent(T), Semi-opaque(SO) and Opaque(O). The transparency or opacity of oil pastels is contingent upon the kind of pigment utilised. Transparent pigments lend a brighter and more vivid appearance, while opaque pigments appear less transparent. The pigment brand and the paint application's thicknessare additional factors impacting transparency or opacity. This information has been provided to assist you in acquiring the necessary knowledge for achieving an optimal level of pigment application, thereby enhancing coverage and ensuring the longevity of your art.
- Wipe excess colour off the tip before, during or after use. This avoids contamination.
- If using exposed oil pastels, ensure you clean your hands between colour changes to avoid transferring pigment to another colour stick.
- Keep them in a cool place. Sennelier oil pastels are soft and heat will soften them further, including the periods you hold them in your hands.
- An oil pastel is greasy and the protective cover may slip off during use. There are small tears along the length of this cover which allows you to tear off a piece, exposing a longer point, which may eliminate the cover getting in the way during use.
- Oil pastel paintings never dry and your art should always be protected with a sheet of glassine paper to avoid accidental smudges.
A mistake made with oil pastels is that you buy a cheap box, to trial the medium. The pigments are translucent, they don't mix or blend particularly well and you end up pushing the box to the back of the cupboard, never to be seen again. The medium in question is a no-no and oil pastels are looked upon as something you only really use in school. The mistake, as with most mediums, is that you buy a cheap product and conclude that this medium is not worth the time exploring further. Buy a few colours from this pastel range, try them on a paper like Pastelmat, relax, have fun. Why not try one of our oil pastel tutorials here.
