Workshop: Oil Pastels. Drawing & Illustration Techniques

Workshop: Oil Pastels. Drawing & Illustration Techniques

A 50-minute workshop for illustrators, sketchbook lovers, and anyone curious about this strange, colourful, stubborn medium.

Oil pastels have a reputation for being unruly. Many people avoid them entirely—too oily, too sticky, too smudgy, too thick to control. They smear across the page, they refuse to fix properly, they’re awkward to scan, and they seem to fight back the moment you try to use them for detailed illustration.

This workshop turns all of that on its head.

I’ll walk you through a set of techniques that make oil pastels surprisingly practical—light, controlled, blendable, and beautifully expressive. You’ll see how this medium can enrich your visual vocabulary, open new stylistic paths, and bring texture, depth, and movement into your drawing practice. These methods don’t require any fixing, they scan cleanly, and they’re simple enough for beginners and even children to try. After this session, oil pastels will feel like an accessible, versatile tool rather than a material to avoid.

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What you’ll discover inside:

A focused 50-minute workshop where you’ll learn:
🌟 How oil pastels actually behave—and how to make them work for you, not against you
🌟 How to create thin, delicate layers without the usual heavy waxy build-up
🌟 Blending methods that don’t require turpentine or specialised fixatives
🌟 How to combine pastels with pencils, graphite, pens, and other dry media
🌟 How to achieve controlled lines, soft transitions, and translucent colour
🌟 Techniques that produce clean artwork suitable for scanning and digital use
🌟 Small, practical exercises you can use immediately in your sketchbook or illustration work

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Why join?

✔️ You’ll finally understand how to use oil pastels without frustration
✔️ You’ll gain a compact set of reliable techniques you can return to again and again
✔️ You’ll learn a medium that adds richness and individuality to your style
✔️ You’ll discover a fast, intuitive approach that suits both sketchbook play and professional illustration
✔️ You’ll walk away with a toolkit that expands your expressive range using very few materials

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This course is for you if…

🐝 You’ve always been curious about oil pastels but never knew where to start
🐝 You tried them once, hated the mess, and don’t want to repeat that experience
🐝 You want a fresh, textured, vibrant element in your illustration work
🐝 You enjoy experimenting with materials but prefer simple, practical techniques
🐝 You work in sketchbooks and want a medium that brings immediacy and joy
🐝 You want something accessible enough to use with children or with absolute beginners

Materials You’ll Need

✨ A small selection of oil pastels (any brand works; I’ll explain my favourites)
✨ A couple of coloured pencils
✨ Graphite pencil
✨ Cotton buds / cotton disks
✨ A tiny amount of odourless mineral spirit or linseed oil
✨ Sketchbook or mixed-media paper