Shiva paintstiks and oil pastels

A while back I ordered some Shiva Painstiks. Don't really know why because I do not know how to use them! The are great for rubbings - done some of these. Great for applying on fabric - I have not tried because I am not working on fabric yet. The metallic ones are lovely and I used them on collages or textured surfaces to add a bit of oomph to the page. But I ordered some matte ones - and I even have the same color twice! I tried to use them on a portrait, but the result was disastrous. I tried blending them, but I was not too crazy about the reluts. I guess the colors I chose don't agree with each other. I'd love it if I could figure out how to use them correctly.

I then tried to paint a face in my altered book using the pastels diluted with linseed oil. This worked better, but the color was too transparent, almost the consistency of a glaze just oily. I do not have skin colors, so I used pink instead. Maybe next time add just enough oil to make a paste and not a glaze. One the first layer dried, I applied a bit of regular oil paints from the tube to add more color. The reason why I liked oil was the thickness of the paint and the fact that I could see the brush strokes and knife imprints. I suppose it could be an option to use my old paints in this manner, but not on paper of course, if I can patiently wait 24 hours before I can correct a mistake.

I also tried a quick oil pastles sketch of an older face using regular student grade pastels this time. Hmmm .....I guess that says it all. I am not crazy about the result. I guess I will stick to trying my hand at painting young faces for now.

Here is the spread from the book: