Nick Schlee

Using Oil Pastels

Using oil pastels

Many of my large paintings are done from the drawings done on the spot. My aim is to try and make the much bigger picture as spontaneous as the sketch. So I stick close to the colours and marks that I made on the small scale on the principle that if they satisfied me then, in the heat of the moment, they should work well again on the enlarged version.

'I use my pocket size tin of about twenty four colours when out  sketching choosing much the same colours I mix on a palette when painting a large picture in the studio. 

I seem to choose what to paint primarily because the colour of the subject hits me forcefully and then I search for composition that gives a strong skeleton of line and silhouettes to hold the colour in place. 

But on a dull day I find it’s very difficult to be excited by what I see. So in the absence of sunlit colour I am forced to try and sort out the subtleties of warm and cool areas in the scene. I hope that, in the absence of strong colour, an alternative visual excitement can be  created with the play of gentler cool and warm passages instead of exploiting the energy created with the conscious use of colours which are opposite each other on the colour wheel. Turner was a master at this.

Before starting a drawing I ask myself what exactly excites me about the subject to make me want to paint it. What exactly needs to be included to  make sure the viewer can share my excitement. So I mentally write down on an imaginary index card what those essential elements are. 

For example: ‘Dark copse silhouetted on top of a steep hill, single cloud in mid blue sky fading to light mushroom on the horizon, lines of stubble rush the eye towards the copse, a clump of green and purple grass in the foreground acts as a firm spot for the eye to return after exploring  the picture.’

I then set about putting all that down and no more. I resist the temptation to add detail that I discover when I look harder at those few vital compositional elements listed on the invisible card. 

I begin with a faint outline in a pale pastel to establish the composition in much the same way as I work in oils at the easel.

Then, working at speed I put all the colour down quickly leaving no white spaces that will distract the eye and unbalance the colour. I try to draw with bold strokes as I know this will excite the viewers eye as much as the scene itself does mine. Often some colours have to be made quieter or brighter, warmer or cooler by adding deliberate strokes of the modifying colour on top leaving traces of the colour beneath. This again adds more interest for the eye.

So working in a hurry, using very slightly exaggerated colour and sweeping simplified lines I try to create a drawing that can give other people the same visual excitement I myself have experienced. I know that if I am not excited how can I give pleasure to other people.

Absolutely essential before I begin is to have all the oil pastels in the box showing at least 7 mm of bare colour. Nothing is worse than having to stop and clean off the paper wrapper when you are in full flow. And with clean pastels I can tickle in detail with their sharp edges where it is needed.'

Nick Schlee 2025