Home Forums Explore Media Oil Pastels Oil Pastel Library Oil Pastel Tools and Materials My own definitive Oil pastel recipe and method

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    I, and others, have been working to produce oil pastels that are comparable to artist quality commercial products. From the various experiments I have made, I can now produce pastels easily and in a relatively short time which don’t clump and give a smooth creamy result.

    Threads I’ve read before about homemade pastels seem to tail off with people getting disappointing results or becoming concerned about the expense and time taken. This method uses relatively cheap equipment and is not unduly time consuming. The biggest cost is good pigment but all artists find eventually that using cheap brushes, pencils, paint or pastels will give less than satisfactory results.

    I’m not saying this is the definitive method and I make no claim to the recipe itself. It is taken from a number of sources that are well established. The method I use will definitely produce a good quality pastel but others will probably adapt it to their own needs.

    Before you start making pastels, take sensible health and safety precautions. Open a window or make sure the room is well ventilated as the oil and wax can produce fumes. Wear a mask when mixing pigments. Some are poisonous and can be very easily inhaled. I have a stock of surgical gloves that I wear when mixing. Apart from keeping hands clean, it avoids any possible allergic reaction. Never leave the mix unattended while you are heating. If the temperature is too high the mix could ignite. Please don’t attempt to make pastels while children are around. Boiling water and hot wax can cause severe burns and scalds

    An oil pastel is made of three ingredients, pigment, oil and white beeswax.

    The most important ingredient is the pigment which has to be of a high quality. I’ve experimented with paint powder and various other ingredients but nothing works correctly unless it is designed for the purpose. Sennelier supply pigments which are identical to the pigments used in their own pastels but these can be expensive. I have bought a few of their colours but most of mine are earth pigments that can be sourced all over the web.

    The oil can be from a number of sources but I have decided on a mix of raw linseed oil and mineral oil in a ratio of 1:3. Mineral oil wont dry out but the addition of a small amount of linseed oil seems to give a slightly creamier result. Using a drying oil alone will produce a pastel which dries out over a relatively short time.

    Beeswax can be found easily on Ebay and I have found a source which is from the ends left from candle making. You can buy ready flaked or pellets but it’s very easy to grate solid wax with a cheese grater.

    My recipe is as follows:

    1 part pigment
    1 part oil (1 part linseed oil, 3 parts mineral oil)
    3 parts beeswax

    Method:

    Mix the pigment thoroughly with the oil in a metal container (I use washed and then dried coke tins) I have tried mulling the mix and also leaving the mix overnight so that the pigment is completely absorbed by the oil. This may produce a smoother pastel and is worth experimenting with. Some also say that the pigment should first be mixed with turps and then mixed with the oil but I’ve found little, if any, difference in results.

    Add the flaked beeswax and mix so that each flake is covered in the oily pigment, this only takes a few seconds.

    I have bought a small electric hotplate to heat the wax. I don’t recommend using a flame as it could ignite the wax but then again, we all use oil in our cooking and most of us have avoided a fat fire. Don’t be tempted to try using the microwave!

    Place the tin in a pan of hot water and bring to simmer. (This is basically a double boiler). Use common sense and treat the operation with same care as you would when cooking. Beeswax has a relatively low melting point range of 62 °C to 64 °C (144 °F to 147 °F) so you don’t need the water to boil but you need enough heat to transfer through the tin to the wax. A coke tin is very light so I’ve now taken to placing it in a heavier tin with a small amount of water inside. I use a metal spoon to stir the wax mix. Keep stirring until you can see the molten wax on the spoon and an even consistency throughout the mix.

    The mould:

    I have two mould methods. First, to produce large pastels, I use a silicon chocolate finger mould.

    My newest mould is a boba straw, which is roughly 1 centimetre in diameter. I insert a Blu Tac plug in one end and then pour a very small amount of mineral oil into the straw, swill it all round and then empty. This acts as a separator to ease the removal of the pastel when it has set. I have a rack to hold the straw upright whilst pouring.

    Pouring

    Pouring into the larger mould is easy, but for the boba straw I make a paper funnel with a wide top to prevent any spilling.

    I would suggest using an oven glove or similar to remove the tin from the water, but if you use an aluminium tin as I do it is cool enough to pick up without protection. Pick it up with caution though, it contains very hot wax.

    Pour slowly into the mould and for the boba straw leave it to set a little before topping up, you will find it sinks a little right in the middle as it sets. I’ve found it useful to squeeze the straw a little while the wax is still fluid, avoiding any air bubbles.

    For the larger mould leave till set and then place in the fridge or leave for a few hours before popping out the pastels.

    Do the same for the boba straw and then pull on the plug to ease out the long pastel. The Blu Tac grips onto the set wax and may slide out without any assistance but you may also need a small length of dowel to push the pastel through the open end.

    One straw will produce three pastels which can be cut into lengths similar to a Sennelier and then wrapped with foil.

    You will be able to draw with the pastel immediately but results get better as its left to harden fully.

    The whole process from mixing to pouring can be done in around 20 minutes. To produce enough to fill a boba straw you will need the following

    1 tablespoon pigment
    1 tablespoon oil
    3 slightly heaped tablespoons grated wax

    To produce tones and different shades you can mix pigments dry, but you may prefer to mix wet. I don’t think it makes a difference in quality but you will be able to see the final colour of the pastel and adjust to suit.

    You may find that some pigments need less or more than the recipe. So far, all mine have been one part.

    So that’s it. If you follow my recipe and method to the letter you will get very acceptable oil pastels, no doubt about it. But I expect you will want to experiment a little as I have.

    Some people have said making your own pastels is very labour intensive and messy but its not if you follow a sensible procedure. The way I do it produces very little mess, but it may disturb your partner if the kitchen has splashes of wax on the work surface. I’m lucky to have a kitchen area in my office and its only me who is likely to complain. All utensils you use to make pastels should never be used for cooking again. Clean any metal spoons soon after pouring. Most of the wax will remove easily with a paper towel and the spoon can then be held under a hot tap. Make sure you remove every trace of pigment or your next mix will be contaminated. Boba straws are very cheap so you can dispose of them. It’s just not worth trying to remove little areas of pigment left inside. Coke tins can be disposed of in the trash unless you have regulations that don’t allow you to throw away candle ends.

    Enjoy your results, and enjoy painting with a pastel you have created.

    Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art - Leonardo da Vinci
    More than happy to receive C&C on anything I post
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    #1259016
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        Dave

        Clear Simple Concise Accurate Easy

        Good Job!

        #1259015

        Thanks David!!

        Christel

        #1259022

        thanks both:)

        Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art - Leonardo da Vinci
        More than happy to receive C&C on anything I post
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        #1259017
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            David

            There is another thread where someone tested variations of Leslie’s recipe and posted the results over a time period of almost a year.

            The person states that oil pastels made with mineral oil and no linseed oil clumped and pulled after a few months. Some addition of linseed seemed to be required for long lasting smooth results.

            Your recipe is 1 part linseed to 2 part mineral oil and that seems to be a good mix.

            #1259023

            David

            There is another thread where someone tested variations of Leslie’s recipe and posted the results over a time period of almost a year.

            The person states that oil pastels made with mineral oil and no linseed oil clumped and pulled after a few months. Some addition of linseed seemed to be required for long lasting smooth results.

            Your recipe is 1 part linseed to 2 part mineral oil and that seems to be a good mix.

            I’m actually using 1 part linseed to 3 parts mineral oil Ratchet but I doubt 1:2 would make little difference, or would it;)

            Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art - Leonardo da Vinci
            More than happy to receive C&C on anything I post
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            #1259018
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                David, Thanks, I didn’t read it carefully but now I am copying it down for reference.

                I have 2 mineral to 1 part linseed
                I have Mineral Oil only (Some pigments are driers in linseed oil.)
                Now I will use your recipe of 3 mineral to 1 linseed.

                I don’t think that small amount, more or less, of linseed makes a difference but it might be a solution to the pigments that dry or granulate in linseed. That is why I am switching to your recipe, to see if I can forestall any potential problem by using the lower amount.

                #1259019
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                    After reading carefully, I followed your directions to the letter using my volume measurement, a tiny plastic spoon as I make 7 gram portions. I used the tiny balls of wax sold commercially.

                    The Stick with your recipe is beautiful. It is a bit harder than mine but I didn’t use Senns as a template, I used Portfolios. Not a whit of significant difference t’wixt our results. I make test cakes so I added 2 drops of oil to the final pour to get a slightly creamier texture that I like but I may make sticks that are as firm as the original from your recipe. It also might be the stand oil as the raw linseed you are using is much thinner, I believe. The stick I made with thin boiled linseed is very creamy so I might start using a thinner linseed oil.

                    I can’t see any difference yet between the straight mineral oil or the 1:3 or 1:2 mineral linseed mix. But that might happen in time.

                    I do see the difference between stand oil and boiled linseed from the hardware store. The boiled linseed is creamier and not drying at all. I don’t trust that result, even though it has been over a month. I will get raw linseed if I need a thinner linseed and try that.

                    #1259024

                    The level of softness is controlled by the amount of wax. With no wax you’d have oil paint and no oil at all would give you a crayon. This does, of course, beg the question, why don’t manufacturers of very cheap oil pastels just reduce the wax content, so I guess there’s a little more to it than that. They may be using a cheap alternative to beeswax. Glad your results work like mine Ratchet

                    Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art - Leonardo da Vinci
                    More than happy to receive C&C on anything I post
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                    #1259020
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                        David HH
                        I bought openstock Senns finally and tested them against my home mades. Senns are using a different oil, synthetic, weather adjusting and lighter weight. Sennelier probably has specially made oil for their pastels.

                        My Oil Pastel sticks work as well as the Senns and I am content with the oils we are using. But then I like to experiment.

                        So, I found a bottle of Valve Oil. It is for musical instruments, clocks and locks. It will not gum, dry and it adjusts to the temperature.

                        I finished my set and do not want to make any more. I did have 5 that I needed to redo either because too dry or too greasy. I added a few drops (1-3) of the valve oil to the ones that were too dry. They are like Senns.

                        I tried one experimental stick with valve oil only. I don’t care for it so I think a mix of linseed and valve oil might be ideal. I will try cutting the mineral oil in the next batch I make (years from now) and see how it works

                        #1259025

                        Fascinating, and you’ve got me thinking about WD-40 now;) I doubt that Senns use anything much different to mineral oil though. I guess we will never find out that mystical formula

                        Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art - Leonardo da Vinci
                        More than happy to receive C&C on anything I post
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                        #1259021
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                            WD-40? Why didn’t I think of that? Sewing Machine Oil, that might be worth a try, aye?

                            Meanwhile, on Dick Blick website, it states Holbein uses highly refined mineral oil while other oil pastels use vegetable oil.

                            Senns bleed which would not be noticeable except in a close comparison between the ones I made and the Senns. It is a faint shadowing of pigment where the oil spreads out which makes me believe it is a lighter oil but that could be the paper.

                            I am perfectly happy with the mix I am using although I think the lighter weight food grade linseed might be better than the stand oil. I am almost out of stand oil so I will buy the food grade next.

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