Pastels are a versatile and vibrant medium cherished by artists for their rich pigmentation and tactile application. From soft pastels that blend effortlessly to create dreamy, velvety textures, to the bold and precise strokes of oil pastels, each form offers unique qualities that inspire creativity.
Whether you're a seasoned artist or a curious beginner, understanding the distinct characteristics of soft, hard, oil, and pastel pencils opens a world of expressive possibilities. So join us as we explore the diverse forms of pastels, their unique properties, and how they can elevate your artistic practice.
Hard Pastels
Characterised by their firmer texture, Hard Pastels are often the preferred choice when working on detailed, intricate or technical work.
Unlike Soft Pastels, they're formulated with lower levels of pigment, instead opting to use high concentrations of binder for a more consistent, durable texture that offers greater control & precision in your work.
Conté à Paris produce a wide range of high-quality Hard Pastels in sets separated into distinct varieties including Sketching & Colouring, offering an easy introduction to the medium.
- Firm, durable consistency
- Less pigmented, more binders
- Sharp, more controlled strokes
- Ideal for detailed, intricate work
Conté à Paris
Carres Sketching Matchbox Set
Featuring 4 tones suited to traditional sketching techniques (Black, White, Sanguine & Bistre), this convenient pocket-sized set is ideal for the artist-on-the-go.
Conté à Paris
Carres Sketching Set
A more extensive collection of 12 assorted Hard Pastels in a clear plastic storage & carry case, this set is ideal for a myriad of traditional drawing techniques.
Conté à Paris
Carres Colour Crayon Sets
Complete with robust, lightweight storage & carry cases, these sets of vibrant, versatile Hard Pastels are ideal for street art, landscapes, portraits and more!
Soft Pastels
Available in a frankly astounding range of options, soft pastels are a versatile, expressive medium known for their velvety smooth applications & bright, intense colours.
Ideal for exploring a wide range of techniques, soft pastels are made using pigments, chalk and (minimal) binders for a powdery texture that offers rich, broad strokes in your work that can be easily layered or blended for gradients, nuanced shades.
For more of our Soft Pastels, click here to discover our full range from well-known brands like Royal & Langnickel, Inscribe and more!
- Soft, smooth consistency
- Intense & highly pigmented
- Bold, expressive strokes
- Ideal for rich, experimental work
Sennelier
À L'écu Soft Pastels
First developed at the request of Edgar Degas in 1900, these artist-quality soft pastels from Sennelier are available in over 70 water-soluble, lightfast & highly pigmented colours.
Unison Colour
Half-Stick Mini Sets
Handmade in the UK, these Mini Sets from Unison Colour feature 8 half-stick (2.5cm) pastels specially curated for particular techniques, tones or atmospheres.
Winsor & Newton
Soft Pastel Tin
This set of 15 versatile, artist-quality soft pastels from Winsor & Newton is complete with an attractive embossed gift tin, offering a limitless colour palette & undeniable style.
Oil Pastels
Best known for their creamy consistency & intense colours, oil pastels offer smooth applications on a variety of surfaces.
Able to be applied with the precision of a pencil or used for vibrant, expressive strokes, oil pastels are made using a blend of non-drying oil, wax & pigments for a medium that can be mixed directly on the surface for bold, dynamic compositions.
For more on oil pastels, click here to check out our full range from well-known art brands including Sennelier, Pentel, Royal & Langnickel, Staedtler and Giotto!
- Creamy smooth texture
- Soft, buttery application
- Combine & mix on your surface
- Maintain their flexibility over time
Sennelier
Oil Pastels
Famously developed for Pablo Picasso in 1949, these versatile artist-quality oil pastels from Sennelier are available in over 25 lightfast, non-toxic & acid-free colours.
Staedtler
Jumbo 243 Oil Pastels
An ideal introductory range of jumbo-sized pastels for young artists, the 243 Oil Pastel range from Staedtler is designed for smaller hands, with each break-resistant pastel measuring 11mm in diameter.
Pentel
Oil Pastel Sets
Brilliant, creamy & slow-drying, Pentel's oil pastel range is available in several sets, offering an affordable, accessible means of discovering pastel art!
Formulated using a special binder that activates when wet, water-soluble pastels seamlessly blend traditional pastel art with watercolour.
Able to be used wet or dry, water-soluble pastels are highly pigmented for a range of techniques including washes, translucent layers or bold, expressive strokes. Renowned for their adaptability, they offer an almost limitless variety of creative opportunities ripe for experimentation & exploration.
The Neocolor II range from Caran d’Ache is an excellent example of these materials, offering highly pigmented colours in a series of convenient tins.
- Specially formulated water-soluble pastels
- Available in curated sets of assorted colours
- Highly pigmented, made with a water-soluble binder
- A versatile range, able to be used both wet & dry for various techniques
Caran d'Ache
Neocolor II Sets
Featuring a variety of assorted complementary colours, these sets from Caran d'Ache offer a versatile, intermixable palette of high-quality, water-soluble wax pastels.
Pastel pencils are specialised drawing tools that combine the expressive vibrancy of pastels with the control, precision & reliability of a pencil.
The PITT range from Faber-Castell offers an excellent example of this medium, with over 30 individual colours featuring highly pigmented, tightly compressed & oil-free pastel cores.
Ergonomically designed for comfort, their lightweight wooden barrels are made using sustainably sourced, FSC-certified wood and coated with a protective water-based varnish.
- Bold, reliable & expressive
- Available individually & in curated sets
- Lightweight sustainably sourced wooden barrels
- Ergonomically designed for comfort whilst in use
Faber-Castell
PITT Pastel Pencils
Featuring oil-free compressed pastel cores, PITT Pastel Pencils from Faber-Castell are available in a range of 30 colours with a particular emphasis on natural colours, muted shades & earth tones.
Faber-Castell
PITT Pastel Sets
Complete with protective metal tins, these stylish sets of PITT Pastel Pencils include specially curated complementary colours ideal for a range of techniques and applications.
Enjoy greater spontaneity & true expressive freedom in your work with the Oil Stick range from Sennelier!
Available in 60 individual colours across 2 sizes, they're made using safflower oil, neutral mineral wax & high concentrations of pure, artist-quality pigments (chosen for their low degree of yellowing) for bold, vibrant & lightfast colours with a thick, buttery consistency.
Touch dry in 2-4 days (dependent on thickness), these versatile materials can be used on a variety of surfaces including canvas, boards or oil painting paper, can be varnished once fully dry & can even be paired with solvents for a plethora of unique, interesting effects.
- Artist-quality oil sticks
- Intuitive, easy-to-use design
- 60 opaque & transparent colours
- Wide range of sets ideal for artists of any age
Sennelier
Oil Sticks
Available in 2 sizes, our range of Oil Sticks from Sennelier stretches across 60 bold, vibrant colours with a variety of both opaque & transparent shades throughout.
Sennelier
Medium Oil Stick
Basic Set
A fantastic introductory set with 6 Medium Oil Sticks in a range of complementary colours (4 primary & 2 neutral) for a versatile, near limitless colour palette.
Sennelier
Medium Oil Stick
Wooden Gift Set
An impressive set of 12 Medium Oil Sticks paired with a high-quality Sennelier 1020 Painting Knife, cleaning cloth & willow charcoal sticks complete with an attractive wooden gift box.
Sennelier
Mini Oil Stick Sets
Available in 5 options, these special introductory sets each feature 6 Mini Oil Sticks (12ml) in specially selected colours suited to particular applications or techniques.
Apple Still Life · Dark Portrait · Light Portrait · Landscape · Seascape
An indispensable step of the pastel art process, Fixative is a finishing layer that both protects and preserves your work once complete.
By forming a protective barrier that prevents unwanted blending or deterioration of your colours, Fixative ensures the longevity of your work and allows for safer handling or framing, making it a crucial final touch for students, hobbyists and professionals alike.
Much like watercolour, when working with pastels, it’s important to use the right paper.
Designed to enhance the adherence, vibrancy & blending of pastels, the unique surface of pastel paper has a specialised texture that enhances the vibrancy & blending of these amazing mediums, securely gripping pastel particulates for better layering & intricacy.
With an extensive variety of sizes, colours and weights available from Clairefontaine, Fabriano and Winsor & Newton (amongst others) in our collection of Paper & Pads, we’ve opted instead to provide some of our favourites below to get you started.
Fabriano
A4 Tiziano Pastel Paper
Available in 40 colours ranging from muted tones to vibrant hues, these archival-quality A4 sheets from Fabriano offer an acid-free, lightfast surface with two distinct textures (textured & smooth). Exclusively sold in packs, this versatile range can even be used for gouache work, light watercolour washes, airbrushing and more!
Winsor & Newton
Pastel Pads
Made to an exceptional quality, these pastel pads from Winsor & Newton each include 24 double-sided sheets in a variety of natural, attractive tones. Gummed for removal of individual pieces, each sheet is acid-free, lightfast and archival-quality, ensuring your work stands the test of time.
Clairefontaine
Pastelmat Pads
Acid-free, pH neutral and available in several options, enjoy soft, buttery marks & greater control with the luxurious, 100% natural Pastelmat range from Clairefontaine!
Able to "tame" pastels, the soft velour surface not only keeps pastel dust to a minimum, but consumes pigment 30-40% slower than standard papers & has powerful pigment absorption properties for vibrant colours that remain stable without fixatives.
Each pad includes 24 sheets in a range of attractive colours able to support repeated layering for building tonal values & light washes of water or denatured alcohol for underpainting.
Colours
No.1: Maize - Buttercup - Dark Grey - Light Grey
No.2: White - Sienna - Brown - Anthracite
No.3: White
