I am frustrated. I bought a product thinking I was doing something good for the environment, helping to save the planet in little ways, baby steps so to speak. I bought some oil pastels from a local craft store, one of the biggies, made by Loew Cornell. They say the labels and packaging is recycled. Okay that is good. The the actual pastels are non toxic an organic. They then go on to talk about there blending capabilities. I am sold. They are the same price as the other cheapy oil pastels I love. Even though there are only 20 and the ones I usually use come in a package of 24, these are small and the others are big and fat, I am doing right for the environment. Right.
I tried them last night and they are DRY. Did I say DRY. So dry they actually ripped the paper I was working on. Unbelievable. Blendable - no way. They were horrible. I have had better luck with crayons. I know the oil in them is what makes oil pastels work so well and also so environmentally unfriendly. But...for goodness sake they need to work.
I have decided to treat this as a butter versus margarine issue. The Loew Cornell oil pastels are like margarine and my favorite cheap ones, Portfolio's are the butter. So, I am off to spread some butter on a new project.
OK, I know nothing about oil pastels, but could they just be old - so old that the oil has dried up? I would return them to the store where I bought them if I were you!
ReplyDeleteSometimes there is a very thin film on the outside of the crayons and if you scrap it off sometimes it is more creamy. I have had success dipping a brush in oderless turpentine and it acts like a solvent and you can spread it with a stiff brush to blend. I have not tried these. Soft pastels are very easy to blend! Don't give up!
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