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Oil paint in stick form
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Message
Posted
One of our local (NZ) art supply stores is currently promoting R&F pigment sticks. They are on special at present with a good discount. I could be interested as in the past I loved oil paint but found it rather messy to take to the class I used to go to and the group I still sometimes go to. I would appreciate information/advice, pros and cons, from anyone who uses them or who has tried them out. I've had a look at some of the demos on the internet, and like some of the results.
Posted
i once had a couple of oil bars thinking they would be good to use, I am assuming they are the same as sticks , just done a Google search and I think they are the same. If memory serves me correctly I didn't like them at all , I found them too big and clumsy.
Oil pastels I have used and enjoyed but only in mixed media, so not the same .
Possibly subject matter and your style of painting. Big swathes of colour as you possibly use in your abstracts Sandra...
Edited
by Sylvia Evans
Posted
I have some sennelier oil sticks which are very similar to the R&F. I bought them to use with encaustic. They are waxed based like a giant soft crayon. I am not impressed with them, like Sylvia I found them big and clumsy. They take three or four days to dry so I can't see the advantage to you over oil paint as regards transportation but they do dry completely unlike oil pastels which seem to stay sticky forever. Having said that I love trying new mediums and often buy a small sample of something new just to have a go with it, you might like them, you won't know unless you try.
Posted
I’ve never used oil sticks, but I do use oil pastels. They’re probably different to the sticks. I use them mainly to add to a painting if I want to emphasise mark making. I always use an oil pastel fixative to seal them. My oil pastels and fixative are both Sennelier. I also use Woodies, chunky (waxy type) crayons for mark making.
I hope this is is useful for you, Sandra.
Posted
Oil sticks are not like oil pastels. I see them for big mark making. I had some and didn’t like them - if I’d had space to wield them and totally feel free then I can see the benefit, in reality we are constricted to our space, mine’s small. I sent them to Fiona ( Phipps) who, I believe, was not enchanted either.
Posted
Yes Marjorie, you did send me your oil sticks and I still use them but not as they are meant to be. I use them to do oil based monoprints, you can regulate, to a point, the density but they can be “clumsy” to use. They can’t really be used for intricate work, they are more cut out for using on large paintings and in a heavy impasto manner.
I do use them occasionally for adding touches of highlights/spots of colour.
Sandra I bought a few of the R&F oil sticks and they are a lovely creamy consistency with some really nice colours, you may like the freedom of using them in your abstract style, impasto large works.
I sometimes use a little turps and a knife to thin them down to use in knife painting……but you can do that with ordinary oil.
The worse thing I found is they are messy, they are in a plastic sleeve and as you use them, which doesn’t take long if your heavy handed with them, you need to keep cutting the plastic sleeve to expose the stick……and it’s gooey.
Hope this helps but it’s only my experience, there are a few YouTube videos you could take a look at and see if you like the way they are used before you buy.
Posted
Thank-you all very much for your replies, which are very helpful. I had looked at some youtube videos, and they did look lovely and creamy as Fiona found, and a bit different from oil pastels and oilbars. However it does look as if the disadvantages outweigh their good points. I might be tempted to get one of the small sets of 3 (don't like the colours though) while they are on special, to try them out. Perhaps they might be of use for adding highlights, as suggested.