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R&F Drawing Oils: 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Buying

Miwa Gardner

9,182 views

After 3 portraits and 2 detailed eye studies using only R&F Drawing Oils… I think I’ve finally found the medium I was missing. They’re not replacing my watercolor practice — but they’ve become the perfect companion: tactile, layerable, and they actually dry.

If you’ve ever struggled with oil pastels or oil sticks — whether it’s smudging, lack of detail, or slow drying — this video is for you. I’m sharing everything I wish I’d known before trying Drawing Oils, especially if you’re coming from Sennelier, Neopastels, or pigment sticks.

🧠 What you'll learn in this video
• How R&F Drawing Oils compare to oil pastels and oil sticks
• Whether they actually dry — and what affects drying time
• The difference between primed and unprimed surfaces
• Which pencils layer well (Polychromos, Luminance, Pastel Pencils)
• How to get FINE detail — no solvents, just technique

✨ Special thanks to @vishneva2000 and @HelenCryer for their insights on drying times and pigment comparisons!

🛍️ Helpful links
• R&F Drawing Oils Color Chart (PDF): https://www.rfpaints.com/rf-drawing-oils
• Buy Drawing Oils on Amazon:
→ Landscape Set: https://amzn.to/3TY4ys0
→ Introductory Set: https://amzn.to/4nugn77
→ Modern Set: https://amzn.to/4eC2tLV
• Blending tool I use: https://amzn.to/40rna7y
• My Blick favorites: https://tinyurl.com/esmppz56
• Product page at Blick: https://www.dickblick.com/products/rf...
(*Some links are affiliate — I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!)

✨Blog on R&F Drawing Oils: https://www.miwagardner.com/blog/test...

🎨📚Want to try Drawing Oils?
I created a beginner-friendly Skillshare class where we turn these experiments into an expressive eye study:
https://skl.sh/3SgJXlc
🎥 Related videos
→ Helen Cryer’s Drying Time Test: How Long are R&F's New Drawing Oils Taking...
→ My first Drawing Oils video: The Best Oil Sticks for Paper? R&F Drawing...

#rfpigmentsticks #drawingoils #oilpastels #rfdrawingoils #artmaterials #miwagardner

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🫧Join me on this journey!✨
✨ Website: https://www.MiwaGardner.com
🎙️Listen to the podcast: https://pod.link/1764257886
🎙️Want the full experience (art + stories)? Visit: https://www.miwagardner.com/podcast
📺 YT: @miwagardner
📸INSTAGRAM: Instagram: miwagardner_art
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🫧 Chapters
0:00 Intro
00:44 Drying time?
02:56 Need to know 1
04:37 Need to know 2
05:55 Need to know 3
07:40 Need to know 4
09:05 Need to know 5 with 5 Tips How
11:18 Outro

Music: Nights Off (Instrumental Version)By Mimmi Bangoura

5 Things You Have to Know About Drawing Oils

19 Comments

@MiwaGardner Creator 10 months ago (edited) Pinned

A quick summary if you’re wondering “but can I use these on paper?”
• R&F Drawing Oils are waxier/drier than typical oil sticks
• I treat them as mixed-media / sketchbook tools
• For maximum longevity, a sized or primed surface is the safest choice
My whole approach here is informed experimentation: knowing the risks, then choosing how “archival” you personally need a piece to be. If you’ve tried them, what surface did you like best—and how are you actually using them (studies, finished work, sketchbooks)?

@bluewren65 1 year ago

I'm really loving this series on the drawing oils. You give all the info and seem to answer my questions directly as they come up as I'm watching the video! I'm so over videos that seem to leave out the one bit of info that is glaringly crucial. It's so frustrating.

@vishneva2000 1 year ago

Yes! More R&F Drawing Oils content. Thank you for the tips; And the shoutout! I recommended your video to Nathalie Weekend on her video on the Drawing Oils. On surfaces, I bought canvas pads to experiment on. The Strathmore is "triple primed" and other brands I have do say they're primed and suitable for oil paint. On drying, the swatches I put down 3-4 weeks ago are completely dry except the Egyptian Violet and Midnight Blue are ever-so slightly tacky. I got the blender with drying oil and that actually did speed up the time a little bit. Drying time also depends on thickness of application. I think people shouldn't expect miracles but think of them in terms of oil paint and how long that dries. Both eyes are very well-done.

@amazingpainter-j3b 2 months ago

Thank you

@kr2112 10 months ago

Hi! Thank you for sharing your experience and tips. I really appreciate it. I do, however, want to let you know that you cannot use acrylic on top of oil, ever. It will flake off and is not archival. It’s a bummer, because it would be awesome to go back and forth. But we can’t. We can layer oil on top of waterbased or oil based, just not waterbased over oil. Thank you, again, for your helpful video.

@janmcintosh327 5 months ago

love your videos. I learn so much

@helencryer 1 year ago

Another nice video! Thanks for the shout out!

@tarafisher5125 3 weeks ago

Thanks for the video. What kind of paper did you use? It’s very interesting how much darker the primed version looks. I also want to compliment your work. Very beautiful!!

@suneetakulkarni7616 10 months ago

I like the unprimed eye......good review

@jadetruth37 10 months ago

Its interesting how much darker the primed one looks hmmm…

@andreaschlickbernd4481 11 months ago

Love the video but have to question your recommendation on putting acrylic on top of oils. Since oils dry more slowly and cure over many years, I've ALWAYS been told that you should not put acrylics under oils but not the other way around to prevent cracking, especially if you are selling your art and want it to be long lasting/archival.

@derwood206 1 year ago

So helpful. Thank you for these tips as i am new to using oil pastels and of course with Drawing Oils too. What are the essential tools to use for blending other than fingers?

@Ymh1426 8 months ago

Where did you get that oil stick’s stands?

@pennycandyys 3 months ago

The thing that I'm wondering after watching one of Helen's reviews of the R & F oil sticks is if they only stay really smooth, or if you can build up a bit of texture with them? It doesn't have to be scads, just some so that your painting isn't perfectly smooth.

Also don't oil sticks sort of burn the paper substrate over time?

@justry50 11 months ago

First time watching your video and I found it confusing. I'll watch more of your content and see if other videos make more sense. Im always looking to learn more about materials.

@I_Am_An_Ostrich 9 months ago

Thank you for the informative video. I am considering trying these out but have a very specific technique I want to try. Have you tried their pigment sticks? I am wondering about the differences between the two.

@martinanelsonartandpsychol6478 1 year ago

Thank you, so interesting. I haven’t bought them yet, because here in Europe, they not easy to find yet and always sold out. Please share your experience with clear Gesso over watercolor. I tried it - with a brush - and the parts where the watercolor was rather thick, it did smear. I did it only once and I do not know, if with a bit of more experience, I can avoid that. So if you have any insight, I’d be happy to hear about it. Thank you again.

@UJB123 7 months ago (edited)

They're oil paint. They are not oil pastels. Two different mediums. They dry like oil paint dries because they are oil paints.😊

@annette00 7 months ago

Really interesting but why did you put this music in the background , I really can t go easily to the end because I can t concentrate , and I know we are a lot very sensitive to that editing problem wanting to teach and wanting to learn are not a shameful thing in this world of entertaining you know…