Oil Pastel Techniques

I challenge myself to explore a new technique every year for my Retreat workshop. It all begins by locking myself in the craft room for a play day. Typically, most of my experimentation ends up in the "circular file," but I'm okay with that. My art medium of choice for 2012 was oil pastels. I used colors from Faber-Castell's Creative Studio's 12-pack for the class, and we had some fun!

We explored four different techniques and made ten cards during our two-hour workshop. Once we finished trying each concept once or twice, everyone had a little extra time for play. (My favorite part!)

These were the supplies for the class:
Faber-Castell Creative Studio Oil Pastels, 12-pack
Mineral Oil
Heavy Duty Shop Towels
Water Brush
Watercolor Crayons (or Gelatos)
CS® India Black Inkpad
CS® Unmounted Leaf Stamps (designed just for the workshop)
Cards, Panels and Envelopes
CS® Grid Ruler
Permanent Fine Tipped Marker

One advantage to teaching the workshop four times is that I'm able to make a whole bunch of samples for demonstration. Now I've got a huge pile 'o cards for Christmas gifts. And it's only October. Check.

If you own some oil pastels, dust 'em off and book in some playtime. Watch for the class kit to become available later this week. It will include a video of my workshop so that you can learn the techniques we used at Retreat. It's the next best thing to being there!

Creatively Yours,
Tricia