Hi, Art Rabbit!

Absolutely, use your mid-grade OP’s to get the first layers down, or your underpainting. I do it all the time, and so do many of us here. Senns are our regal lady of OP’s, but they are costly, and we’re all in the same boat as far as that goes.

I have a set of Cray-Pas Expressionists – student/mid-grade, I think – and they get their best use as underpaintings or filled out OP sketches. They’re very inexpensive but fair quality for the price. I then move on and do more layers with Mungyo Gallery Soft Artist Grade, filling out the bulk of my paintings with those. My precious Senns are reserved for top layers, flourishes of white, or just certain special Senns colors that no one else can replicate.

There’s no harm in trying to get them to last. They feel beautiful when they glide over the other OP’s. So just enjoy them, and have fun – we’d love to see you post your work in the Studio, too! :thumbsup:

You’re very welcome!

I can even practice with some of the cheapie sets to get warmed up and loose.

That’s probably a good idea, if you’ve been away from them for awhile. Play with different brands, even paper if you have some. Sounds like you’re set up and ready to go.

Have fun! Hope to see some of your work in the Studio!

Hi Art Rabbit!

You are not alone – lots of artists are afraid to even touch Senneliers as they will go fast…
But there are some artists here who use Senns almost exclusively – fishfan and Sarah. Then I think Becky uses two most expensive brands of OPs – Holbeins (they last longer than Senns but they are thin sticks) and Senneliers.
But I have to say all of them have been working with OPs for a long time so they know what they are spending the Senns on and what result they can get.

So your suggestion and Terri’s suggestion sound most sensible: underpainting with cheaper harder OPs and Senns on top. You’ll get the feel of them and eventually you will find out how much Senns you actually want in a painting Some paintings only require final touches with Senns while other paintings need lots of Senns
I haven’t had much experience with Senns but here is what I did once: I took a small piece of paper (smaller than A4) and did a painting using only Senneliers. I wanted to get a feel of them and understand why other artists admire this brand so much. It was a completely different thing than just using Senns for final touch-ups and highlights. I enjoyed it a lot. Though I don’t dare to do full paintings with just Senns (nor do I have or can afford that many).

So yeah, give it a go! Looking forward to hearing about your experience

PS: did you mean “Sennelier Oil Pastel Card” by mentioning special OP paper? As far as I know, some of our artists were disappointed with it. And it’s pricey… There are better options, both expensive and not. An awesome (but costly) choice is Clairefontaine Pastelmat. Otherwise any thicker paper with slightly textured surface will do. Regular pastel paper like Canson Mi-Teints works too. Thick craft paper is another option.

Yep. I think Neopastels cost more than Senneliers, though. The sticks are more expensive, smaller, and you have to paint them on a lot more thickly to get a smooth, even coverage. Getting Neopastels to spread is a pain in the bum.

Yes, Neos are more expensive. I used to think they should last longer than Sennelier (even being smaller) but what you say about spreading them… I didn’t know that! I don’t have many Neopastel sticks and don’t use them much (and can’t say I like them that much either).

So Senneliers do have some unique properties that other oil pastels simply don’t.

Yes, absolutely!!!

Sennelier Oil Pastel Card is the Worst. Thing. Ever.

haha, I think your review of the Sennelier OP Card was the first one that came to my mind

Looking forward to seeing how OPs work for you, Art Rabbit!