Oil Stick Still Life Workshop

Join us on Sunday, November 19th from 10 am-12 pm to paint a floral still life still at the Barn using Oil Sticks! In addition to your creation on a 1″ thick birch wood panel, you will get to bring home your own set of Oil Sticks! A little goes a long way so this take-home set will last you through many more creations! They will surely become your new favorite medium. If you are a seasoned oil painter, these are an exciting addition to your routine, and if you have never touched oil paints, this is a wonderful introduction to them, since you have the option to leave out all the hassle of excessive oil painting supplies by simply using the sticks on their own.

Oil sticks are essentially oil paint crayons with a luxurious, buttery consistency. These sticks are make by taking oil paint, that is made of pigment and an oil based binder, adding wax and shaping into sticks to fit comfortably in your hand. Drawing directly on the canvas, a variety of mark making is possible, light pressure looks like a crayon and a lot of pressure looks like a juicy brushstroke. After paint has been applied to the canvas, it can be manipulated just like regular oil paint, with brushes, palette knives, linseed oil, and turpentine. When not in use, a thin, hard outer shell forms on the oil sticks, keeping the material underneath soft and allows for easy storage.

Oil Sticks are an experience unlike any other medium! Combining the best aspects of oil painting with the hands-on nature of drawing, the act of creating with Oil Sticks is just as exciting as the finished product. Almost like painting with lipstick, the center of the oil stick is velvety and can be built up incredibly thick. Different from an oil pastel which contains a non-drying agent, oil sticks dry down just like regular oil paint, slowly, but eventually dry to the touch. Oil Sticks can be used alone or in combination with other oil based art materials.

Oil sticks were popularized in the 1980s, with mixed media artists like Basquiat, but came into existence earlier in the twentieth century. A version of oil pastels was created around 1930, but about 15 years later Pablo Picasso complained to a friend about the lack of a colored pastel with which he could paint on any surface, without having to prep or prime it.