Testing R&F Drawing Oils: Layering, Drying Time, and Mixed Media Experiments
I've been testing the new R&F Drawing Oils, and I wanted to share all the experiments and thoughts I gathered over several paintings, swatches, and mixed media tests. This post will give you a full breakdown of how these drawing oils perform on watercolor paper, sketchbooks, and mixed media surfaces.
🎨 The Artworks I Tested With
I created multiple studies and paintings, including:
A watercolor and Drawing Oils portrait on Baohong 4x4 inch watercolor paper
Three smaller studies testing them on mixed media paper, black sketchbook paper, and Yupo
Various swatches blending colors, layering over watercolor and gouache, and using them alone
I'll be sharing all of these images in this post, starting with a swatch test where I blended the Drawing Oils directly on paper. Here's what that first test looked like:
✨ What I Noticed in My Final Painting
In my final study—a watercolor painting of an eye—I wanted to use more of the Drawing Oils than I did in my previous 3 studies. I still used watercolor first because my current color range in Drawing Oils is limited (I only had two blues, one white, one gray, and one red), and I was missing yellows and greens to build skin tones.
Working with more Drawing Oils was really fun. I could layer colors on top of each other, and even when I made mistakes, I could smudge or layer over them easily. The only challenge was fine detail—it’s still difficult to get precise lines with these sticks.
🔍 Bonus note: If you love painting eyes, I actually teach a simple watercolor Lover’s Eye class on Skillshare. You can find the link to that below!
https://skl.sh/3CDeD8O
👉 Testing Pencils & Other Mediums on Top
I did a deep dive on how well different materials layer on top of Drawing Oils and vice versa:
Best results came from layering Drawing Oils first, then pencil.
Graphite pencils: worked really well—the pencil cuts through the oils and leaves a mark.
Polychromos colored pencils: layered smoothly, better than most other pencils.
Luminance colored pencils: worked okay but slightly less crisp than Polychromos.
Pastel pencils: struggled to show up on top, especially in light colors.
White pencils: didn’t show up well on top of wet Drawing Oils.
Acrylic paint: layered beautifully over Drawing Oils.
I also tested layering in the opposite order (pencil first, Drawing Oils second). This was less effective—the oils covered the pencil too much.
🤯 Comparing with Oil Pastels & Neo Pastels
I compared Drawing Oils with Caran d’Ache Neo Pastel oil pastels and Sennelier oil pastels:
Neo Pastel: slightly softer than Drawing Oils in gray, but Drawing Oils felt creamier in some colors like Cerulean.
Sennelier oil pastels: much creamier and softer overall.
Layering Drawing Oils over oil pastels worked better than the other way around, though I wouldn’t really recommend mixing them.
⏳ Drying Time Results
After about 2 days of drying:
Neutral Grey Medium: fully dry to the touch, no transfer.
Unbleached Titanium: almost dry.
Cerulean Extra Pale: still transferred slightly when touched.
Overall, the drying times lined up with what R&F listed on their color chart, which was reassuring.
Here’s the full color chart for your reference:
If you're using these in a sketchbook, I'd recommend placing a sheet of glassine paper over your page until it's fully dry to protect the opposite page.
🎁 R&F Drawing Oils Sets Available (as of July 2025)
Here’s a look at all the colors that exist today:
Currently, you can find these Drawing Oils in:
R&F Drawing Oils, Landscape Set: https://amzn.to/3TY4ys0
R&F Drawing Oils, Introductory Set: https://amzn.to/4nugn77
R&F Drawing Oils, Modern Set: https://amzn.to/4eC2tLV
🔧 Final Thoughts
R&F Drawing Oils are a really fun medium to play with—especially if you're a watercolor or mixed media artist wanting to explore oil textures on paper without the mess of traditional oil sticks. They're firmer and waxier, making them easier to control in a sketchbook, but you're limited by the available colors. For now, I'd love to add yellows and greens to my palette to be able to paint a full portrait in Drawing Oils alone.
If you're curious about how they perform in motion, you can watch my full review and timelapse tests on YouTube here
