We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that's designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections.
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Oil pastels, known for their bright colors and ease of use, have been a popular medium among artists for decades. Because no additional tools like brushes are needed to use them, they’re well-suited for sketching on the go.
Artists of all experience levels can enjoy success with oil pastels. Their texture is soft and blendable, and it’s simple to correct mistakes by scraping the pastel from the paper. The small, crayon-like size makes them easy for both children and adults to hold.
Oil pastels are one of the more affordable art media available, but sets and individual sticks can vary in price depending on quality and quantity. Our shopping guide and recommendations can help you choose the best oil pastels for your experience level and painting style. Our favorite is the Mungyo Gallery Artists' Soft Oil Pastels.
Editors’ Favorite
Number of Colors: 48 | Line Size: 2 mm | Blendable: Yes | Hardness: Soft
Packed with 48 beautiful colors, the pro-level Mungyo Gallery Artists’ Soft Oil Pastel Set earned our top spot for their impressive features and quality. In addition to numerous artist-approved colors with quality pigments, the pastels in this set create a 2-millimeter line, which is perfect for producing many types of artwork.
Being blendable is a top feature of quality oil pastels. With a creamy texture that artists love, these colors are easy to use and blend. This makes it possible to focus on creating art and not hassling with hard-to-blend pastels.
We appreciate that these pastels come in a tray and are organized by color family. This keeps them organized and makes it simple for artists to find the shade they need. Despite these features, this premium set is affordable, making it both a top choice and an exceptional value.
Great Value
Number of Colors: 50 | Line Size: 0.5 mm | Blendable: Yes | Hardness: Soft
The Pentel Oil Pastels Set contains quality oil pastels with a buttery texture and an impressive selection of colors, making it the top value on our list of favorites. It comes with 50 shades with a 0.5-millimeter line. The colors are easy to blend, so they can be used to create a wide variety of artwork.
These oil pastels come well-organized in a tray to keep them neatly in place and ready to use. They are vibrant and great for mixing. Additionally, they are made without acid, which makes them last in various conditions, such as high humidity.
Although more affordable than many competitors, these pastels offer similar features and reliable quality that both novice and experienced artists can appreciate. Customers love how vivid the colors are and that they go on smoothly.
Best All-In-One Set for Gifting
Number of Colors: 48 | Line Size: 10 mm | Blendable: Yes | Hardness: Soft
Youngsters, students and artists will love the bright colors in the comprehensive Artecho Oil Pastels Set. It features a storage tray of 48 colors that are made of high-quality pigments. The wide range of colors make it possible to create artwork with subjects such as landscapes, still lifes, people and more.
These pastels can produce a 10-millimeter line and are easy to blend and mix. This makes them ideal for anyone learning to use oil pastels for the first time.
If you need a set of oil pastels for a gift, this is a good choice. In addition to the nice variety of colors, the pastels come in an attractive box that’s perfect for gifting. It’s also available at a reasonable price.
Buying art supplies, including oil pastels, can be a somewhat intimidating and confusing process. Understanding your skill level and knowing your budget will help you to find the best set for you.
Before you start comparing sets, decide whether oil pastels are the right medium for the type of art you want to create.
Oil pastels are oil-based and have a soft texture. They’re known for their bold and bright colors, as well as their ability to blend easily. They make heavy, opaque marks and don’t require many passes to cover the surface. Additionally, oil pastels work on a wide variety of surfaces from paper to canvas to glass. (Oil pastels are often called “crayons,” referring to the form of the medium.)
Pastel sticks are like pencils with a slightly powdery texture and a finer tip than oil pastels. They can be easily sharpened to make precise marks. The resulting finish isn’t as glossy as that of oil pastels.
Crayons are wax-based, making them much drier than oil pastels. They have a harder consistency and require a bit more pressure and more passes to leave solid marks. Crayons can’t be blended easily, and they don’t work on as wide a variety of surfaces. However, they are the most affordable of the three and come in a wider range of colors.
If you’re just starting out, student-grade oil pastels might seem like the obvious choice due to their lower cost. However, these sticks are almost always of lower quality and won’t match the softness or vibrancy of artist-grade options. As a result, you might be underwhelmed or frustrated with how your first few pieces turn out.
There’s nothing about artist-grade, or professional-grade, pastels that make them more difficult to use. In fact, the opposite is true. When possible, always opt for the highest-quality oil pastels you can afford.
Most oil pastel makers indicate the consistency of the crayons, ranging from soft to hard. Soft pastels are easier to blend and may make heavier marks, while harder pastels offer more control and are suitable for fine details.
Once you know the quality and consistency you want in your oil pastels, consider additional features like quantity and colors.
One reason to buy individual oil pastels is to combine them with other media like watercolors and oil paints.
If you already have a set of oil pastels, purchasing individual crayons is a good way to fill gaps in your collection of colors or replace crayons that have been used up. However, individual pastels are almost always more expensive per crayon than pastels in a set. Try to buy the same brand you’re already using, if possible, to ensure similar consistency and colors.
If you’re just getting started or looking to replace used-up sticks, you might want to consider a set. These sets contain anywhere from 10 to 50 crayons, typically in a range of colors. In many cases, large sets are cheaper when you consider the cost per crayon. While larger sets include a bigger range of colors, remember that you can blend colors to get more options out of a smaller set.
If you opt for a set, note the colors included and consider what you plan to draw. Plein air artworks, for example, require a range of greens, yellows, and blues, so a basic set could be quite limiting. In general, the larger the set, the wider the range of colors included.
Though oil pastels are an affordable medium, they still range greatly in price depending on the quantity and quality of the crayons.
You can find individual crayons and small sets for $3 to $10. While it isn’t terribly expensive to buy individual crayons, creating a whole set this way would get very pricey very quickly. Sets in this range are intended for beginners and children and include as many as 50 crayons, making them a great bang for your buck and a good choice for anyone just getting started with oil pastels. These sets are almost always student grade.
You can find student- and artist-grade sets with a wide range of colors for $10 to $50. The quality can vary significantly in this price range, but purchasing a well-known brand is usually a safe choice.
Artist-grade sets that include as many as 120 crayons cost $50 to $300. In many cases, these sets come in a wooden carrying case, but this means that the case adds significantly to the cost of the set.
A. There is no expiration date on oil pastels because they’re oil-based, with no water to evaporate. With a high-quality set, you should find them just as pliable and vibrant in several years as they were on the day you opened them.
A. Yes, and you’ll need to if you want to make precise marks. You can sharpen oil pastels with a clean knife, but you should make sure the pastel is relatively cool. Always remove as little material as possible to avoid using up your crayons quickly.
A. Oil pastels work well on paper of various weights and textures, canvas, glass, wood, and many other materials. However, they behave differently on each surface, and the colors vary in vibrancy, so you might need to experiment to get the effect you want.
A. You can, but you might find that the pastels don’t stick to the paper as easily and might be difficult to blend. Additionally, it’s difficult to erase marks on printer paper because it absorbs the oil. For best results, use heavy drawing or painting paper or a nonporous surface like glass.
When we analyzed oil pastels, we started with 38 sets to find the best. Because it’s important that oil pastels are easy to use, simple to blend and have quality pigments, we eliminated those that didn’t fit this criteria. We compared and contrasted oils, pastel sticks and crayons to help artists determine which is best for them. The line size that oil pastels create determines the type of artwork they can be used for, so we considered that too. We also wanted to know if oil pastels were soft or hard, as softer options are easier to mix and blend. We factored in prices and checked out customer feedback. The result is a curated list of our favorite oil pastels with options for students, novices and experienced artists.
