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Sparking Creativity | Kids with Oil Pastels | Art Tutorial
This style is intentionally imperfect but the defining features of the bright oil pastels, with heavy black outlines, created by expressive markings on black paper is like an elevated version of the crayon scribbles we all know and love. It is amazing how this small change from crayons to oil pastels, white to black paper, and some intentional black outlines will create stunningly eye-catching artwork from the same little hands that brought you that lovely chicken-dog blob that has been hanging on the fridge since it came home from school on Father’s Day.
Sparking Creativity
Kids with Oil Pastels- Fun Winter Owl Art Tutorial
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I have been familiar with oil pastels for years, but I really found a new appreciation for their potential during the creation of my children’s book, Little Birder: A Field Guide to Birds of the Alphabet. It was a mound of work to illustrate a bird painting for each letter of the alphabet, a task which I often did with my infant daughter tucked under an arm on my lap. The situation called for a medium and style that suited a one-handed illustrator, strapped to a wiggly baby making continual attempts to eat the art materials. That exciting scenario is where I first began to appreciate the forced imperfection of the stubby little crayon-like colors with a mind of their own.
Fast forward a few years and I still love the signature style of the illustrations in my book, plus I now have an artistic four year old. One day it struck me, this is a PERFECT art project for small hands and developing motor skills. The style is intentionally imperfect but the defining features of the bright oil pastels, with heavy black outlines, created by expressive markings on black paper is like an elevated version of the crayon scribbles we all know and love. It is amazing how this small change from crayons to oil pastels, white to black paper, and some intentional black outlines will create stunningly eye-catching artwork from the same little hands that brought you that lovely chicken-dog blob that has been hanging on the fridge since it came home from school on Father’s Day.
WANT TO READ AHEAD?
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MATERIALS
The material needs are few for this project. The good news is that once you’ve purchased the parts, your child can continue to enjoy the surprising and satisfying outcomes of putting the bright pastels on black paper. Even without following a drawing or tutorial, those everyday scribbles can have a very modern artist-like feel.
Pencil and Eraser
Optional:
Washi Tape or Painter’s Tape for creating a clean border around the artwork
Kids' Apron to protect clothing
Brown paper roll, or something to protect table or working surface
Please note: Oil Pastels are made with… you guessed it, oil. Unlike the art materials made for children, these are not made to be washed out. If this is a concern for you, you can always opt for a water-soluble set like this and will be more likely to get it out of fabrics.
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Let’s begin!
Step One: Pencil Sketch
Follow the steps below to sketch your owl drawing onto the black paper. You don’t have to be too cautious because the oil pastel will mostly cover any pencil marks.
Step Two: Add Oil Pastel - Painting the owl
After you have your pencil sketch ready to guide you, you’re ready to add color with oil pastels. If you would like to use the same colors as the example find a selection of these colors: white, various browns, orange, yellow, purple, various greens and a black. Feel free to get creative with your background or details.
Optional: I really like to tape the edges of the paper so that the child can freely paint right up to the border, but when the tape is removed you’re left with a very satisfying sharp edge to the lovely work of art. If you decide to do this, make sure you “unsticky” the tape a bit by sticking it to your clothing a few times before putting it onto the paper. Washi tape is less likely to damage the paper as you remove it, but you make the judgement call. When removing the tape, pull down slowly at a slight angle outward rather than straight down.
Start adding color by taking the white oil pastel and tracing a border around each of the markings on the face. Trace around the eyes and beak, leaving the V shaped marking in the middle of the face. Trace right up next to the outline of the head and inside the body, leaving the wing black. This includes the two triangular leg shapes which will also be solid white.
After creating this border to guide your painting, freely add white oil pastel in scribbling motions into the areas that will be white. Be sure to let some of the black paper show through and don’t paint over any of the features of the face or other parts of the body. It is better to stop far away and come back later than to accidentally go too far.
Next, take a yellow or a pink oil pastel and paint the almond shaped beak, trying to stay within the line.
For the eyes, you can either leave the black of the paper showing and add white oil pastel right up to the outline of the eye to define a black circle, or you can fill in the eye with the black oil pastel. The black oil pastel will cover all other colors of oil pastel, so it is great for cleaning up that black eye circle if you happened to accidentally go too far with the white. To finish the eye, add a white spot on either side of the eye for the reflection, keeping it to the same side of each eye.
Take a brown oil pastel and draw the two lines that run from the inside of the eye down to the beak that create a sort of V-shape. Then add a curved line a small distance from the bottom of the beak to separate the shape of the white face from the white body.
With a lighter brown, gold, or even a light orange color, trace the shape of the wing, defining it from the white of the body with a black outline. Add a light layer of this color inside the wing and then add the darker brown to the upper and lower portions of the wing on top of the first color. Add a few strokes of white in a few spots in the middle portion of the wing.
Take the same two colors and add a “headband” of color to the top of the owl’s head. You can overlap with the white a little to blend the colors.
Choose a color for the feet. I liked the pop of purple against the other colors and the green background, but you can select something true to real life if you prefer it. Draw over the sketch of the feet with your oil pastel however thick or thin you find appealing.
Step Three:Add Oil Pastel- The Background
Remember that the crux of our style is the heavy black outlines that separate large elements from one another in the painting. This can be hard for younger children, as it is a bit like having to stay inside the lines and requires somewhat matured motor skills. You can assist by tracing their owl with the background color and leaving a black outline that is a safe distance away from their work, this allows them to go wild up to that line without as much risk of overlap. Then take the green colors (or bright blue could be nice too) and start filling in the background to look like the spiky needles of a pine or evergreen. To mimic the original style, try to leave some black showing through the marks rather than covering the background surface in oil pastel.
Again, the black oil pastel will cover the other pastels, so you could alternatively let your child try to leave the border and fill the background on their own and then help them redefine the black border anywhere that it has disappeared or needs to be made bolder. You can also clean up the black outlines within the owl in areas like around the wing, and around the beak if you choose to.
AND DONE!
Add some initials or signature, peel the tape and you’re done! Like oil paint, oil pastels take a long time to fully cure so your art will stay somewhat sticky and smear-able. If you would like to spray your art to seal it, try a couple of layers of a matte fixative like this one. (Follow the directions! Adults only.)
Click the image to sign your child up for an oil pastel lesson with me on Outschool.com!
Free Art Class for Kids | How to Draw Realistic Birds on Outschool - Part Two: Guided Drawing Video
Do you have a child that wants to be an artist or learn to draw? This is the guided-drawing video of a Black-capped Chickadee. A free video lesson from my class How to Draw Realistic Birds (and Think Like an Artist) on Outschool.com
If you haven’t watched the part-one learning video, find it here.
want a FREE DRAWING LESSON? Find the video below.
Do you have a child that wants to be an artist or learn to draw? This is the guided-drawing video of a Black-capped Chickadee. A free video lesson from my class How to Draw Realistic Birds (and Think Like an Artist) on Outschool.com
If you haven’t watched the part-one learning video, find it here.
Free Art Class for Kids | How to Draw Realistic Birds on Outschool - Part One
Do you have a child that wants to be an artist or learn to draw? In this post I share the first video from week one of my How to Draw Realistic Birds (and Think Like an Artist) class on Outschool.com
Keep reading to learn more about learning on Outschool and find the free learning video.
want a FREE DRAWING LESSON? Find the video below.
Do you have a child that wants to be an artist or learn to draw? In this post I share the first video from week one of my How to Draw Realistic Birds (and Think Like an Artist) class on Outschool.com
Keep reading to learn more about learning on Outschool and find the free learning video.
Not everything that changed in the pandemic era is for the worse. (I mean, a lot of it was pretty awful, let’s not let that go too easily.) However, one of the most interesting, if not most important, changes that we have seen is the shift toward online distance-learning. The world that was already at our fingertips through the internet, is now the world of knowledge to be learned from the comfort of our own home and the convenience of our own time-zone… and it is pretty awesome.
THE SILVER LINING
There are significant downsides to children attending kindergarten from a screen at home, and yet there is also a silver-lining in the situation. That is, we’ve realized that if our kids can learn how to multiply from their local math teachers from the living room couch, then why can’t they learn to draw, code websites, bake, dance, speak a new language, make origami, or whatever their little hearts desire to know too? That is where platforms like Outschool come in. Outschool boasts of 140,000 classes to choose from for ages 3-18. Outschool has multiple formats for classes in core subjects like math, science and history, but it also has offerings of art, hobbies and just about any subject you can dream up. Outschool focuses on small-group, interactive experiences that take place live, but there are also opportunities to learn without a live meeting.
Let’s learn a little more about Outschool before moving on to the FREE part-one video lesson from the first week of my class How to Draw Realistic Birds (and Think like an Artist)
What is Outschool?
Outschool is an education platform that offers online classes for kids ages 3-18. Unlike traditional classes, Outschool classes let kids explore their interests with live Zoom classes taught by experienced, independent educators.
What kind of classes are on Outschool?
Live classes- Live classes meet over video chat in the classroom for the schedule timed. This format is just like any online class scenario that we have come to know.
FLEX Classes - While the vast majority of Outschool classes feature scheduled, live meetings using the video classroom, it also offers the option of flexible schedule (“flex”) classes, which don’t rely on live meetings. In a Flex Class format, teachers conduct the class by posting videos in the Outschool classroom and engaging with learners asynchronously. Flex classes run for a minimum of four weeks.
What are the options for class length on Outschool?
One-time Classes- These are classes that meet only once. They can be a great option for filling in a school holiday, or a last minute Saturday activity. (Yes, there are tons of classes that happen on the weekends.)
Multi-Day Classes- These are classes that meet more than once. This can range from two meetings all the way up to a semester class. Multi-day classes that meet more than once in a week are considered camps.
Ongoing Classes- Ongoing classes meet weekly and do not have a set start or end date. Sign up for ongoing classes similar to a subscription. Any time you need to miss a week you can stop your subscription and re-enroll when you are ready to return. I like to call my ongoing art classes “clubs”, because students often stay together for long periods of time, allowing for familiarity between the students.
What size are the classes on Outschool?
Group Classes - Group classes on Outschool vary depending on the age range, but all group classes are capped at 18 learners.
1:1 Classes - 1:1 classes are private classes with the teacher and topic of your choosing. It is a great opportunity for affordable tutoring or 1:1 learning time that is tailored to your student. Interested in 1:1 art lessons? Find my classes here. (Available for ages 6-18)
Semi- Private - Many teachers offer semi-private lessons that provide the opportunity for lower cost classes that have the same personal interaction with your student as a private lesson.