Newbie Oil Pastel Question

[Tobyn Pollman]

I have a very "newbie" question... I have painted with watercolors for
years...but my husband recently bought me a "deluxe" art studio kit for my
birthday, and it contains 24 oil pastels (sticks).

I've never used these before...and embarrassingly don't know where to begin...
I'd like to try -- I just want to do it "right".

So do I smudge the stick on a palette and blend from there? Work directly
from the tips of the pastel sticks? Are there special cleaning instructions
for the brushes. I've tried and tried to find some sort of FAQ online with no
luck. So if someone could either post or e-mail me tips and/or URLs, they
would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance --

Robyn
http://come.to/tobyn
to...@tampabay.rr.com

We learned our lesson...please
remove "donotspamus." to reply

[icefury]

greetings. what a nice birthday gift. wish my family would catch on to art
supplies. i'm no expert. but i'll tell you how i like to use my pastel set.
i apply the sharpened sticks directly to the paper(i like h20 color paper,
but you'll have to experiment to find your groove). then i use anything
from my fingers, art stylus, toothpicks, qtips, brushes, etc to blend.
pastels are producing alot of beautiful work lately. i would also recommend
your local book store. i've seen a ton of instructional books devoted solely
to pastel methods lately. good luck.
IceFury
p.s. i also love to use my pastels in mixed media pieces. they look great
with charcoal, paint, and colored pencil highlights.

Tobyn Pollman wrote in message ...

[Tobyn Pollman]

"icefury" <j...@zoomnet.net> wrote:
i'm no expert. but i'll tell you how i like to use my pastel set.

Thank you very much for your suggestions/help! They are *greatly*
appreciated! Off to "play" now... :-)