Safety note: Do note not blow on pastel paintings. Tap pastel dust into paper bag.

Soft Pastels are the purest form of artist color, formed almost exclusively from pure pigment with only enough binder to allow them to be formed into useable sticks. They vary from hard (Nu pastels) to very soft (Schmincke) with many variations in between. The extensive color lines like Sennelier allow artists a choice of many subtle color variations.

We are going to use a twenty color set by Sennelier. The sticks we’re using are ¼ sticks, just right for expressive strokes. If you run out of a color ask me for a replacement.

Sennelier extra-fine soft pastels are the Rolls Royce of pastels. Their intensity of pigment and exceptional softness have been appreciated by pastelists since the turn of the century.

Their world famous beauty made them the preferred pastels of Degas. They are produced the same way today: by hand. Sennelier’s are so highly concentrated and velvety that the most gentle strokes deliver a solid, powerful line of brilliant color. Fine variations of shading and the mellowest of tones are possible because of their high quality composition, complimenting every surface.

Over the years the original 700 color range narrowed down to the present 552 colors, presently the widest range available in the market.

Ours is a very limited palate. If you want to explore pastels in the future, consider buying at least an 80 stick ½ size set, for about 50 dollars online. By far best deal available in soft pastel line.