I find that it is good to swap mediums once in a while. The painting below is done in oils and is a work in progress. What are the differences between working in oil vs pastel?

1) With oil I need to mix the colors I want vs pulling pastel right from the box with the color, value and intensity work already done. Mixing the colors reinforces the basics of color theory.

2) I need to adjust mark making to create textures and do so from a brush at the end of the stick vs holding the pastel with my fingers.

3) I need to understand how wet medium reacts to the canvas vs dry pastel on papers.

4) The downside of oil painting is waiting for the paint to dry

5) There is also prep and clean up time I need to build in 30-45min.

As you can see the skills are transferable, it takes patience and practice.