R&F Pigment Sticks

Handmade oil paints in a convenient drawing stick form!

R&F Pigment Sticks are oil paints manufactured with enough wax for the paint to be molded into stick form. Pigment Sticks allow the artist to draw or paint directly onto a surface without brushes, palettes, paint tubes or solvents. Blending only traditional materials: finely milled pigments, natural wax (beeswax & plant wax), and alkali refine linseed oil, R&F Pigment Sticks have none of the additives, extenders, and substitutes that traditional tube oils contain. While the use of these adulterations can save a lot of work and reduce the cost of materials, they lower the quality of the paint. Consequently the formulas are complex and manufacturing is labor intensive, and thus handmade in small batches where they are carefully milled and molded. The result is a professional quality oil Pigment Stick with a buttery, lipstick-like soft consistency that glides onto the painting surface.

Paint Sticks can be thinned with traditional solvents, mixed with or used under or over traditional oils, or worked with a palette knife to a softer consistency to allow brushing or knifing onto a surface. Curing to a durable film like standard oils, Pigment Sticks can also be used with Encaustic paints for a variety of effects. Blending sticks are offered in two types, and are colorless sticks that can be worked into a Pigment Stick color to increase transparency, or blend colors together on the painting. Like with traditional oils, R&F Pigment Sticks should be used on primed surfaces that are oil or acrylic gesso primed, to protect the surface from the natural acid in linseed oil.

What is the difference between R&F Pigment Sticks and Oil Pastels? Although both are made with pigments, waxes, and oils, they are completely different! Oil pastels typically contain a much higher wax content than an oil stick or bar, and are manufactured with a non-drying oil such as mineral oil or castor oil. Works done in Pigment Stick will oxidize (dry) over time like traditional oil paints, whereas oil pastels will always remain tacky and never dry, thus needing the protection of glass to protect the finished work.

Explore the versatility and loosely gestural qualities this medium has to offer, with professional quality Pigment Sticks from R&F!