Soft Pastel Brands Reviewed - my way.

[@1DaTJo]

One brand I don’t hear much about is Kohinoor. I bought some and they’re quite beautiful. Very often the colour I’m looking for turns out to be one of my Kohinoors. The colour range is amazing. They’re similar hardness to Rembrandt but a bit softer. They’re very affordable too.

[@marytesta3003]

I'm new to pastels and not a good artist but enjoy art. I went with sets of half sticks of Rembrandt, Sennelier and a set of Nupastels. I'm interested in the Japanese Gondola brand too.

[@joshel6059]

Some great advice! Thank you.

[@flyfisherman3649]

Thank you for an honest comment on Rembrandt pastels! Personally Rembrandt and LuxArchival paper is a great combination for success.

[@doreenlorenzo2501]

I, agree.I use Rembrandt pastels.They are affordable, also

[@bradharper5397]

Hi Sophie. This was very useful for me. Especially the information on hardness across pastels. I will try some Rembrandt pastels based on this....

[@1DaTJo]

“ Pastels are addictive. You’ll just end up wanting more and more and more.” That’s true! I’ve got quite a few top brands but now I need Diane Townsend, Blue Earth, Great American, Jack Richeson, and Gireult pastels. You don’t mix colours in pastel art, so you have to own every colour. That’s my excuse anyway :)

[@SophiePloeg]

Ah but you do mix colours in pastel! You mix on the paper…… that still does not deter me from buying more though 😜 but I know I don’t really need to…..

[@1DaTJo]

@@SophiePloeg you’re right, you do mix colours on the paper. Yes, you should have some more pastels. So should I ;)

[@SophiePloeg]

@@1DaTJo he he, any excuse.... ;)

[@1DaTJo]

@@SophiePloeg yes, any! Haha

[@starlsdd6278]

I want the best and I need the color fast please. I haven't done Pastel for many many many years but I don't want to practice on low grade because it would discourage me. Thank you so much for your territorial

[@squirrel8161]

I use Sennelier and absolutely love them, but I’ve thought about expanding my 120 set with portrait shades from Unison: Unison are so much more expensive! Are Unison significantly better than Sennelier? I use pencils quite often too for detail, I’ve got the faber castells but actually don’t get along well with them - very hard and don’t work so well with Sennelier pastels. Always used Carbothellos but just invested in Caran d’Ache full set, so doing a bit of an upgrade! Great video

[@SophiePloeg]

I would not say Unison is better than Sennelier - just different and a little harder. Most pastel pencils are harder than soft pastel sticks and you run the risk of scraping the soft pastel off with your pencils. It comes down to trial and error I'm afraid! Hope this helps. Thanks for liking my video. :)

[@squirrel8161]

@@SophiePloeg thank you for your response! Well I see this gives me the excuse to buy the Unison pastels then 😅 your work is beautiful!

[@SophiePloeg]

@@squirrel8161 Thanks!

[@jamess125]

The Sennelier pastels are lovely but crumble easier than the Unison. Both are vibrant, soft, smooth.

[@squirrel8161]

@@jamess125 yes! For me, I think that Sennelier were that ‘first love’ and I keep returning to them! I don’t have anywhere near Ploeg’s talent and pastels still feel kinda new really.

[@josephineherrera8508]

I use Blue Earth, which are extremely soft and creamy. Less expensive than Ludwigs, which I also have.

[@nirmaniranchagoda1]

Do you prefer ludwigs or blue earth? Why?

[@1DaTJo]

Great collection of blues and greens in Blue Earth.

[@juststartingover2735]

Thank you…you have given the best description of the soft to medium range💖

[@egon2012]

Too bad the Polychromos have been discontinued.

[@juststartingover2735]

Can you comment on where (in the soft to medium range) the Richeson hand rolled soft pastels would rank? Thank you!

[@SophiePloeg]

I can't say I've ever used them, but what I have heard is that they are very soft, somewhere between Unison and Terry Ludwig. Hope that helps!

[@alexloweh1]

I use rems and unison.2 great pastels great video and channel👍

[@oilonpaper]

Thanks so much for this video! I like "your way" of describing pastels. I've recently started working with pastel, first some panpastel, then pastel pencils, now I'm getting curious about pastel sticks... It's a lovely world to get acquainted with. 😊

[@SophiePloeg]

Welcome to the ‘dusty side’! :)

[@oilonpaper]

@@SophiePloeg :D Thank you!

[@jcepri]

Very helpful. It would have been helpful to list the brands you discussed in the description.

[@uwphotod4739]

What I am looking to do is just a pastel as a thin base layer under colored pencil, applied with a make brush or even an old tee shirt. What would be your recommendation? Hard or soft on a budget.

[@billwesterman4583]

Great explanation of pastels. I'm not a newcomer, almost 80 years of using pastels, but I find your perspective on pastels very interesting and I will pass your comments on to students.

[@SophiePloeg]

Thanks Bill, great to hear.

[@doryrice4906]

Thanks for the video! Very helpful. Do you recommend any artist quality hard pastel that is available individually, not just in sets?

[@SophiePloeg]

There are so many brands out there, it is hard to recommend them. I like Polychromos, heard good things about Nupastel. Cretacolor is nice. Not sure about lightfastness of many of these brands though and not many come in individual sticks!

[@MsMounen]

Hello, royal talens make sets of hard pastels in the Rembrandt line. They only come in traditional colours and you can't buy them individually, but I would expect them to be as lightfast as their soft pastels. They are harder than other hard pastels, and come in a square shaped stick. They're called ' carre' .

[@davidmolloy126]

Hiya Sophie, Thanks very much for a really interesting and refreshingly honest evaluation. Take care and stay safe. x

[@ruthparmiter1272]

Thank you for this video, Sophie. I have already learnt to differentiate from your comments and know I now need some softer pastels!

[@indigodande4345]

I bought the new arteza pastels and the color block set from amazon. I will def be returning the arteza... i just kept fighting with it. the color block i think would be good as a large range of hard pastels. im currently eyeballing the great american pastels. thank you for that overview of rembrandt. I looked closer at the more muted colors and I am quite pleased with that. I think it will be good :)

[@stormyg1945]

Thanks for your video. Can you tell me where Unison pastels can be purchased? I live in California, USA.

[@SophiePloeg]

At Jackson’s of course! They ship all over the world. See here: www.jacksonsart.com/colour/pastel/soft-pastel/brand/unison?___store=jacksonsart_en&acc=6ea9ab1baa0efb9e19094440c317e21b.

[@doryrice4906]

Unison pastels can be purchased at Dick Blick's, Cheap Joes, the Fine Art Store and Dakota Pastels in the US. They all do mail order.

[@evaalt-revie1656]

Thanks, that was really helpful for my furture in pastels. Eva 😉

[@kathryndohring5481]

Excellent video! Thank you so much!

[@karenlavigne1108]

Thank you

[@BelalKamel]

Great Video, Thanks Sophie

[@carolinemorgan-grenville6115]

What a useful review, thank you so much. Have you got a view on Conte (both the hard square 'crayon' ones like your cretacolor and the soft Conte pastels) where do the soft pastels fall in the 'hardness' scale and would you consider both hard and soft ones to be professional grade. I have inherited a box of them and just starting out with pastels so interested to know where they fall.

[@SophiePloeg]

Conte is an excellent brand! Have fun with your set!

[@fotoalive]

Very Nice useful détail info Thank you so MUCH Blessing 🙏

[@robertlittle9167]

Very informative....!!! Thank you very much.... Keep up the good work....

[@barbhuber848]

Thank you Sophie. I always enjoy seeing your latest paintings and hearing your tips for better choices to make in my own painting.Hoping you're staying safe and healthy as well!

[@SophiePloeg]

Thanks Barb!

[@יחחלחל]

Thank's a lot for sharing the great explanation for pastels🌹

[@alexandrasanches2473]

Very good and very usefull review! Thankyou so much!

[@Lalscell90]

Best video i watched so far, not trying to sell promotions

[@nicoletrasmanasllosis622]

thank you! this is a big help for us beginners

[@anniedarkhorse6791]

Good video. Just the information I was looking for.

[@Rich-pj9wv]

Novice here. I have a set of faber castell pastel pencils and am wondering if they could be used in place of hard pastel sticks. Thanks.

[@1DaTJo]

You can really do anything you want. I think yes you could use the pencils in place of harder pastels - it might be hard to get the coverage you want, but definitely give it a try. Or you could buy some Rembrandts or Prismacolor Nupastels. Beautiful!

[@sitabudhyarto2516]

Thank you Sophie 🙏👍

[@CarlosCastillo-cr6jy]

Thank you