Art Café Amsterdam - Oil Pastels Sennelier

By chance, I happened to pass Amstel 1 today and the Art Café located there. I’d expected something different, namely, a café where you could admire art.
When I saw the menu, it all became clear. This is more of a place where visitors get creative with art. You can choose from painting (including soft pastels and oil pastels), linoprinting and charcoal.

I opted for oil pastels, even though I have them at home too, but to be honest, I didn’t know what else to do. Most people were doing linoprinting as I entered.
When I asked what I should create, the staff told me I could scan the QR code for ideas. I said It don’t have a QR code reader on my phone. The staff looked at me strangely and left. I decided to go for a toad and a painting by John George Brown - The Tomboy.

Both my paintings are created on small sheets of paper, on which I tried out a few techniques I didn't use before.

As there were no other tools available apart from cotton buds, I simply used the handle of a teaspoon (instead of a palletknife) to form small bundles and to scratch into the oil pastel. Incidentally, I’d never used cotton buds for oil pastels before. I thought it was going to be quite a mess.

As you can see in the photos above, there’s always an ugly stage, and there are some incorrect lines sketched in, but all of this can be smoothed out with oil pastels. There are quite a few layers, but it doesn’t actually look any thicker. It’s also difficult to add details that really stand out. This is because you can’t apply a light colour over a dark one without the white (or another light colour) blending into the dark colour underneath.

On parts of the frog, I applied oil pastel using the tip of a teaspoon handle. I simply prised the pastel out from the back of the oil pastel stick using the spoon handle.

The Art Café sprayed my painting with fixative before I left, as oil pastels never really dry out. I noticed that the thicker layers became more flat, although this may also have been due to the higher outside temperature. I must say that the fixative has made everything a touch darker and the whole piece has a bit more sheen.

Art Café Amsterdam

_{15-7-2026
Materials: oilpastels and fixative (Sennelier), paper (?)
A reservation is not required. You stay as long as you like. It is possible to drink something. Toilet are available in Amstel 1.}