Oil Pastel Resist Watercolor Painting

Oil pastels (not regular crayons — oil pastels are waxier and more pigmented)

Watercolor paper or thick paper (thin paper buckles under wet paint)

Watercolor paint — tray sets or liquid watercolor

Wide paintbrush

Cup of water for the brush

Paper towels for blotting

Give your child oil pastels and a piece of watercolor paper. Oil pastels feel different from crayons — they are softer and more buttery.

Have your child draw a bold design. Flowers, animals, a landscape, abstract patterns, their name — anything works.

Encourage pressing hard with the pastels. The thicker the wax layer, the more dramatic the resist effect will be. Leave some areas of bare paper.

Set out watercolor paint and a wide brush. Wet the brush and load it with color.

Paint a watercolor wash over the entire drawing. The water-based paint soaks into the bare paper but slides right off the waxy pastel lines.

The resist effect is immediate and dramatic. Bright pastel lines glow against soft, transparent watercolor backgrounds.

Let the painting dry completely. The contrast between thick pastel marks and delicate watercolor washes is beautiful.

Oil pastels are different from crayons. They are waxier, more pigmented, and give a much stronger resist effect. They are worth having in your art supply collection.

Use contrasting colors — dark watercolor wash over bright pastel drawings, or light wash over dark pastels.

The bare paper areas absorb the paint and become the background. The pastel areas repel the paint and stay vivid. This contrast is what makes the technique so effective.

This resist technique is used by professional watercolor artists. Your child is learning a real art method.

Try a themed resist painting — draw stars and moon with white or yellow pastel, then wash dark blue paint over everything for a night sky.