3 Oil Pastel Paintings Painted on Pastelmat + Average Paper

Yesterday I decided to take the plunge and try out oil pastels on Pastelmat (more than 3 euros per sheet measuring 24 × 32 cm). At first, I thought I’d do a painting using different brands of oil pastels and soft pastels so I could see the difference.
I abandoned this idea when I decided to work on a small piece first. So, using the paper cutter, I cut off a strip and split it in two.

The Van Gogh oil pastels feel greasy to the touch and leave a residue on your fingers; they stayed on the Pastelmat well, but I didn’t feel I could blend them, and on this paper (similar to fine sandpaper) the oil pastels also felt less greasy. To be honest, I find that a drawback. It actually takes away the sheen. The end result looks much more like soft pastels.

To be able to blend them anyway, I decided to apply thicker layers of chalk, whilst telling myself that this is an inherent characteristic of the material.
The frustration is greater when I can’t conjure up an image from the distant chalk. Once again, I ran into the problem that light colours blend with the darker colours underneath. So the white on the cat’s lap soon looked grubby, and because the paper is small and the stick is actually too thick for fine details, I struggled to bring an image to life.

Incidentally, I’ve forgotten how many layers I applied, but it was more than was necessary.
The colour of the paper shows through here and there.
Personally, I don’t think oil pastels are suitable for working in great detail, unless you work on a larger scale and preferably on canvas using a palette knife or a brush with white spirit or turpentine, in which case the painting will bear more resemblance to an oil painting.

After feeling a bit disappointed, I took a break, finished the cat and drew a portrait on the other piece of Pastelmat. Here, too, I ran into the same problem. You can’t work in the same way with oil pastels as you can with soft pastels, where it’s much easier to bring out the desired design from the pastel. Here, I used Derwent Coloursoft coloured pencils to sketch, and those lines can’t be erased, which I also find a major drawback.

Incidentally, oil pastels can be removed with a kneaded eraser if the layer is very thick. This can at least correct some of the smudging of the light colour on top of the dark one.

I’ve decided to leave it as it is for now because it’s important for me to see what goes wrong, what works differently from what I thought or intended, and what the final result will be.

As for oil pastels on Pastelmat, I don’t think you need a fixative here. The final result feels dry and looks matt.

I can’t help it, but I just don’t see that amazing result with Pastelmat. As a result, I did a third painting, this time on plain white paper – without any texture, but slightly thicker than standard printer paper. To be honest, I think this paper really brings out the best in the oil pastels. Here too, I used several layers; I was able to remove layers with the kneading eraser, and the blending worked better once I’d applied thicker layers. Incidentally, I did the blending with an iliepastel stick, which I could easily clean by rubbing it against the kneaded eraser. Because the sheet of paper is larger, it’s also easier to work in detail with a stick, although I still think this way of working isn’t intended for fine details and that you should view it from a distance.

As you can see, there are a few small dots of oil pastel on it. These are easy to tap off or pick up without damaging the painting.

Do you work with oil pastels too? If so, I’d love to hear about your experiences.

_{Materials: Pastelmat (260 gr - dark green - Clair Fontaine), oil pastels (Van Gogh), kneading eraser, white paper (200 gr - A4), Derwent softcolour colour pencils
24-7-2026}