Create a Vibrant Flower Vase with Oil Pastels: Easy Step-by-Step Guide

Looking for a fun and colorful art project using oil pastels? This flower vase tutorial is perfect for beginners, kids, and anyone who loves expressive, hands-on creativity. Oil pastels are a fantastic medium for experimenting with color and texture, and this project makes it easy to dive in with just a few simple materials.

In this post, you’ll learn step-by-step how to sketch and fill in a beautiful flower arrangement in a vase using oil pastels. Whether you’re teaching in a Canadian classroom, planning a weekend activity, or exploring your artistic side, this guide is here to help you make something vibrant and joyful.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

• Black construction paper or thick black paper
• Oil pastels in various colors
• Pencil for sketching
• Tissue (optional for blending)
• Fixative spray (optional)

Step 2: Sketching the Flower Vase

At the bottom center of the paper, draw a simple vase shape. Use light pencil lines—you will go over it again with pastels. Draw rounded shapes above the vase for your flowers.

Step 3: Drawing a Statement Background

Drawing the wall with deep blue and turquoise and the table with purple. Create a layered stroke to enrich the surface. Draw the table for use of horizontal lines and use vertical lines for the wall for contrast.

Step 4: Drawing the Background and Flowers

Create layered flower shapes by using red, orange, yellow, pink, and white. Use small strokes with lots of energy that resemble petals. Keep in mind, your flowers don’t need to be perfect. The texture will bring your work to life!

Step 5: Drawing the Vase with Texture

Use white or gray pastels to fill in the vase. Consider using darker tones to create vertical lines or light curves to reflect depth in the vase. Leave some areas open so that the light can reflect.

Step 6: Drawing Stems and Leaves

Use a green pastel to draw stems connecting flowers to the vase and draw a few simple leaf shapes, but don’t crowd too much in the vase. Just enough to balance the space.

Step 7: Finishing Touches

Blend slightly with your finger or tissue if desired. Outline the edges in black or dark colors to make them pop. Then, use white to highlight.

This oil pastel flower vase project is a fantastic way to explore texture, color, and creativity in a stress-free way. Whether you’re an art teacher in Canada, a parent looking for screen-free fun, or just an art lover, this easy-to-follow tutorial makes pastel painting accessible and joyful.

Remember, it’s all about enjoying the process—not aiming for perfection. Don’t forget to sign your artwork and display it proudly!

Are you excited to make even more oil pastel magic?

You can sign up for an oil pastel art class at Happy Hands Pottery and Art Studio! We can take your creativity to the next level! If you’re new or want to try new techniques, this class is for you.

Click here to sign up for a class and begin creating textured, bright works of art with us today!