Oil sticks or oil bars are an art medium. Oil sticks are oil paint in a stick form similar to that of a crayon or pastel. Oil sticks are made by blending the oil and pigment with wax and pouring it into molds to form an oil stick. [1] It is distinguished from oil pastels in that a drying oil such as linseed oil is used as the main binder whereas oil pastels use a non-drying oil as the primary binder. [2] Oil sticks can be used interchangeably with traditional oil paints to produce drawings, paintings, and sketches. Popularized in the 1980s by such artists as Jean-Michel Basquiat, oil sticks have become much more common in contemporary oil painting in recent years.
