By Spramani Elaun
Line Drawings
Oil pastels are a great medium for children to learn basic line drawing lessons. They are soft and easy to glide onto paper surfaces. They are perfect for drawing bright bold colorful artworks. Artists use this medium because of its rich vibrant color selection.
You use them like crayons, but they glide on paper surfaces oily. Made with non-drying oil, a wax binder and pigment. The finish is creamy and oily. Oil pastels can be very inexpensive, prices can range from $5.00 to $20.00, depending on colors and quantity count.
You can find these in most art stores in low to high grades. Note* Do not use professional artist grade, some colors have heavy metals. Use non-toxic student grades only with children under 12 years.
Blend Oil Pastels Without Making Messes
Oil pastels have a bad rap for being messy due to the loose curds that accumulate and spread. To prevent messes, demonstrate to students a few cleanup techniques. Illustrate to children how oil pastels function by highlighting the loose curds left on the surface post-coloring. Explain blending techniques using fingers or a Q-tip. Instruct children not to blow the curds away to avoid pigment spreading. Failure to wipe away the oil pastel curds can result in staining clothes or surfaces.
Tip:
Walk to a trash can with art in hand and tap loose oil pastel curds left on the surface into the trash. You can also blend the loose waxy curds by pressing and smearing down with fingers, Q-tip or a blender. If you don’t explain this to kids they will blow them away.
Art Project – Oil Pastel Rainforest Drawings
Art Supply List:
- Oil Pastels
- Black uncoated Paper, You will need black uncoated paper, or black poster board, or black tag board. Be sure paper is not glossy or coated with a finish.
- Practice paper
- Pencil
White Oil Pastels
A white oil pastel will be what I recommend to outline first. This will give your art a great color pop against the black paper.
Art Project Book Inspiration
Books are a great spring-board for teaching drawing lessons. I like using colorful illustrations in children’s books. Inspired by the book We’re Roaming in the Rainforest, by Laurie Krebs and Anne Wilson. This book has fun bright bold colorful pop illustrations easy for children to draw. The book’s story is about creatures of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest.
Step 1.
Draw the outline of the animal with a white oil pastel on black uncoated paper.
Teaching Tips
Decide which species your student wants to draw. Help children choose very basic outline shaped rainforest animals. Practice the outline shape on a different plain piece of paper with an oil pastel. Your student will come to understand how oil pastels are greasy and glide.
Most kids might think because they look like crayons they will behave like one. Oil pastels are greasy and take a few tries to understand how to use.
If your student want to draw their outline with a pencil first as a guide, that’s OK.
Tell kids to draw slowly, oil pastels can glide into the wrong direction. My oil pastel glided a few times in the wrong direction in my final snake example, but I covered up with un patterns and line marks.
Step 2.
Have your student choose bright colors that will stand out against black paper. Then paint inside the outline drawing with oil pastel colors.
Here’s some other fun rainforest animals to draw with oil pastels.
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