Between Pastel and Paint – Testing R&F Drawing Oils - Jackson's Artwork Weblog

R&F Drawing Oils had been launched earlier this 12 months, changing into the third handmade strong paint from the New York-based paintmakers, alongside their Encaustic and Pigment Stick colors. The vary at the moment contains 40 colors and occupies an intriguing house between an oil stick and an oil pastel. Drawing Oils can be utilized on paper like an oil pastel, however their formulation of pigment, pure wax, and linseed oil permits them to oxidise, forming a everlasting paint movie, which customary oil pastels don’t. This makes them appropriate for completed, archival art work with out the necessity for fixative, varnish, or glazing. For this evaluate, I examined the Introductory Set of 12ml R&F Drawing Oils, in addition to Historic Gold, on Jackson’s Watercolour Paper Block, Jackson’s Pastel Paper Pad and Jackson’s Canvas Board. I explored how they are often utilized and regarded their use as a stand-alone materials, inside oil portray, and in blended media.

Between Pastel and Paint – Testing R&F Drawing Oils

How R&F Drawing Oils Examine With Oil Pastels And Paint Sticks

I started by evaluating the R&F Drawing Oils (Mars Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Mild, and Uncooked Umber) with the R&F Pigment Sticks (Mars Crimson and Mars Yellow Mild) and Sennelier (Mild English Crimson) and Caran d’Ache (Gold Ochre) oil pastels to see how they utilized to the Jackson’s Canvas Board, how they blended, and the way properly they layered.

The Pigment Stick was shiny and utilized with minimal strain, forming a constant paint movie; it blended simply and produced a strong line. The Drawing Oil required extra strain for full protection however produced a uniform satin end and a extra managed line. Oil pastel wanted essentially the most strain, produced a matt end, and utilized to the canvas texture with noticeable drag.

R&F Drawing Oils appear to land in a Goldilocks zone many artists might be enthusiastic about – combining the immediacy of oil pastel portray with the permanence of oil paint. R&F Drawing Oils are waxier, firmer, and smaller than an oil stick and oilier, softer, and bigger than an oil pastel.

Utilizing R&F Drawing Oils on Completely different Surfaces

R&F recommends that Drawing Oils can be utilized on paper for observe and sketchbook work, however completed work needs to be made on a correctly ready floor, appropriate for oil. Their wax content material helps the paint stay versatile sufficient for paper, however the linseed oil will ultimately migrate into calmly sized paper, inflicting deterioration.

They carried out very properly on canvas board, in massed color, floor mixing, and in high quality drawn strains. I additionally tried them on Jackson’s Pastel Paper Pad and Jackson’s Chilly Pressed Watercolour Paper.

A mid-toned paper from the Jackson’s Pastel Paper pad showcased each gentle and darkish colors properly. With a light-weight contact, the paper’s texture and color stay seen, and utility may be very clean. Excessive protection will be achieved with out creating extreme texture. I used a dry brush on the backside of every swatch to realize a lighter, even layer that also reveals the floor texture. I did discover indicators of oil absorption on the again of the paper, supporting the recommendation to make use of ready surfaces for completed work. There was no halo on the floor – a translucent stain that may seem round oil color on an unprimed, absorbent floor – so the looks was unaffected.

On the Jackson’s Watercolour Pad, the R&F Drawing Oils deposited color simply on the chilly pressed paper texture. Mild utility leaves crayon-like marks; urgent down or repeated passes create a dense layer. Color mixing on the floor was efficient and fashioned a light-weight texture reasonably than pilling, as oil pastel typically does. It was straightforward to clean undesirable texture with one other move of the stick or with a medium or software. I used Jackson’s Pencil Mixing Medium and a mixing stump right here. I noticed no oil bleed-through on this heavier paper.

The Opacity and Drying Time Of R&F Drawing Oils

The R&F Drawing Oil color chart signifies every color’s opacity, so I in contrast these scores with opacity assessments on watercolour paper, working over HB pencil strains.

Some colors listed as opaque could possibly be higher described as semi-transparent. Titanium-Zinc White, Cadmium Yellow Mild, and Cobalt Blue didn’t absolutely cowl the pencil even when thickly utilized. These felt extra oily than the opposite ‘opaque’ colors, and I puzzled if they could be higher suited to mixing reasonably than overpainting. However, Uncooked Umber lined greater than anticipated.

On the darkest pastel paper, Cobalt Blue popped when blended with a bit white. Titanium-Zinc White and Cadmium Yellow Mild stood out rather more clearly on this floor. Semi-transparent Historic Gold appeared extra opaque (and regarded implausible) on black paper.

R&F additionally supplies drying charges, which range by color. My studio was unusually chilly and humid whereas I used to be testing these, and plenty of swatches dried rather more slowly than anticipated, with some thicker functions nonetheless cheesy after every week. In a closed sketchbook, oil will lack airflow and dry slowly, so I’d advocate utilizing glassine to cut back smudging and oil switch on contemporary drawings.

Mixing And Layering The R&F Drawing Oils

Pastel portray usually invitations speedy, intuitive color adjustments, and dealing with R&F Drawing Oils is not any exception. I like to recommend having a rag and scrap paper handy; I discovered myself cleansing color from the ends of my Drawing Oils continuously. Like oil bars, R&F Drawing Oils type a pores and skin when dry, and I often discovered flakes of dried paint movie in my work the place I hadn’t been so cautious to wipe the sides clear.

On pastel paper, I examined numerous mixing methods. I like to recommend experimenting with all of those to see what works properly. I notably favored the even mix achieved with the Pencil Mixing Medium and the polish and mark-making of the mixing stump. R&F suggests a agency eraser can be utilized for reductive drawing; though outcomes could range, it may create smooth, smeared results that some artists could discover helpful of their textural vocabulary.

Exploring Blended Media Strategies With R&F Drawing Oils

Drawing Oils combine naturally into an oil portray system and can be utilized alongside tube oils or utilized over dry oil or acrylic work. (Acrylic shouldn’t be utilized over the oils, as this causes structural and drying issues.)

Combining Drawing Oils with colored pencils, with a light-weight wash over a sketch or etching into an oil paint movie, can be an fascinating means so as to add texture and element to a sketch.

They mix fairly superbly with smooth pastel. On this take a look at, I used Unison Comfortable Pastels and tried layering over and beneath the Drawing Oil. Sketching over the smooth pastel was clean and efficient; there was rather more resistance utilizing the smooth pastel over oil. The contrasting texture of oil towards the dry, matt color is placing.

The Portability Of R&F Drawing Oils

I arrange close to my studio and made a panorama research on watercolour paper, mixing with a dry brush and Pencil Mixing Medium. Alternating drawing and mixing achieved variations in opacity, areas of fused color and a steady floor for sharper strains. The Drawing Oils felt comparable to grease pastel, however extra refined; I didn’t attain a degree of product overload, which I’ve skilled with layering oil pastel, though I got here shut in some areas.

Translating this right into a completed portray on canvas board, I discovered the portray expertise fairly completely different. Whereas the watercolour paper held on to color, permitting color constructing and mixing, the canvas board had extra resistance. Underpainting was a delight, with color readily shifting and lifting with manipulation. Drawing into the floor labored properly to a degree; nevertheless, I discovered that some colors (Cobalt Blue and Cadmium Yellow Mild) would minimize proper again to the floor reasonably than readily mixing with the color already there. I used drawing on the floor quite a bit to put color and construct deliberate marks and texture, however I additionally reached extra continuously for a spread of brushes and launched some oil portray medium and solvent.

The flexibility to transition between drawn strains and painterly marks makes R&F Drawing Oils well-suited to capturing a scene within the second. That they’ve the capability to treatment, making them appropriate for a extra developed portray, means they are going to little question be an elevating addition to the toolkit of many artists who paint en plein air or who prefer to journey with color.

R&F Drawing Oils include a number of issues – primarily drying time and floor alternative. Nonetheless, these are typical of most media, particularly oil-based supplies. Their benefits far outweigh their limitations. They really bridge a spot; a transportable, hand-held paint with the immediacy and management of a pastel and the permanence of conventional oil paint.

Artists with a variety of kinds and practices will take pleasure in their versatility. Whether or not you wish to paint in your travels, incorporate drawn marks into your work, introduce oil extra simply into blended media work, or just take pleasure in a direct, tactile means of making use of color, R&F Drawing Oils could possibly be a really inspiring materials to discover.