The best part of the review is knowing your daughter’s spirit is healing and your family is moving through the difficulties. As always, you and your family are in my thoughts and 🙏
Because some of these pencils cost quite a bit plus if you are working on a piece it's frustrating to have lead breaking, I keep a clutch pencil and use the broken bit it that. Saves on stress and money. I just put a broken lead piece in the jaws and put any other useable pieces in a pot. The jaws of a clutch pencil opens wider than the usual lead size used in the pencil and it grips the broken bits snug enough to work, it's just you can't store the bigger lead bits in the body.
I'm so glad your daughter is doing better. I had a horrible time in middle school and the start of high school too and was bullied a lot too. I became really depressed too because I felt like I could not fit in. My parents were very worried about me, I was almost sent to a mental hospital even but eventually, things got better. What helped was having my parents to love me and support me no matter what and it sounds like she has that too! If you ever want any advice from someone who was recently a teenage girl who was also battling depression, just message me. I was there, I climbed through it and I made it to the other side!
Thank you for your nice review on the Conte pastel pencils! I’ve been using them in the past, but switched to another brand, because I also had some pencils that kept breaking. I couldn’t sharpen them with a sharpener to begin with, so used a sharp knife instead. Just like you did on the video! Also a few colors had very hard bits in them, which made making details hard. So I switched to Stabilo carbothello and some Derwent pastels. I’m very happy with those!
I am so happy to hear that your daughter is starting to heal. Best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful holiday and continued progress for your daughter. Thank you for another great review.
Hi Harry, so glad your daughter is doing much better. I have the 48 set and also was disappointed that there wasn't a bigger set. As far as sharpening them, I have tried every method and as you said in your review they break and break. I have totally been put off with and don't use them anymore, too bad really because it did like them and they have some interesting colours. Hope this helps !!
Thank you for your useful and interesting reviews! I just heard about you recently. I have a few of these pastel pencils that I've kept and treasured for ages (decades really). I appreciate your review of pencil sharpeners, I've never been successful with the small manual kind and ended up sharpening all my pencils with utility knives. Not a method that encourages frequent pencil use.😄 I'm plan to try out some pastel work this month and look forward to including my stash of Conte pastel pencils! Thanks again for this talk and demo, I've picked up several useful tips. Best wishes!!!
I've recently got a 48 set of them and had a problem sharpening one of the pencils. Hand crank sharpener (Kohinoor, the one shaped like a camera) finally managed, but I needed to be very gentle and leave the pencil rather blunt. I thought it was handled roughly in the shipping, but maybe it's some problem with the brand. Maybe some problem with the binder in the leads? Maybe they should be sharpened with sandpaper? I don't know. Fortunately I found one shop that sells them individually, so I'll be able to replace the bad pencil.
Hi Harry, happy to hear you guys are doing well. I haven’t used them but I wanted to purchase at some point, while ago. They were quite expensive here in Australia. I did a bit of research and I got the same feeling regarding to sharpening them. So I gave up totally.
Thanks for this video!!!! I'll watch it as soon as the Impeachment Hearings are done for the day.I'll need a terrific video to watch after that! Love from Vermont
Thanks so much for the review. My 11 year old has started to has a lot of anxiety. Since you have gone through this, is there anything you recommend to do to help control this in the beginning?
Great review, Harry. I’ll stick with the blocks with the mess that causes (tried urban sketching and pleased with the sketch but the mess I got myself in!). Your honest reviews are invaluable.
Jan you are too kind, thank you so much for your wonderful comment. I have no problem with the mess either, I absolutely love my Unison Pastels and could use them all day. Again Jan thank you so very much for your comment
This company is the oldest there is. Especially well known by there pastel pencils, Born in 1755, Nicolas Conté claimed the title of painter, chemist, physicist, hot air balloonist and inventor during the fifty years of his life. His historical achievement is undeniable. In 1794, he developed the modern graphite lead from a mixture of clay and graphite, thus making it finally possible to create different hardness grades for pencils. The pencil factory he set up in 1795, enabled France to produce its own calligraphy and drawing materials. This is a very bright pastel pencil and soft. These pencils are strong and stable. No problems with breakages.
Oh Wow I hope you love using them and so will definitely take a look at them and try to get hold of a set to review. Check out this gorgeous item to help store your pastel pencils if you don’t like the storage packaging they came in www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087ZFQBBF/?tag=tecpla30-21
Oh I was confused sorry. The Conté’s largest size is 48. I was confusing myself with the Carbothello pastel pencils made by Stabillo. But yes I am enjoying the 48 set. I also have the 24 set, that has one pencil that keeps breaking. Sometimes I just hold the lead in my fingers and work from there. I hate to see good money go to waste.
I have the peeler review all done and dusted and I am ready to just release it, but I think I will wait until Sunday. I don't want to upload reviews too close together, so I think I will post it tomorrow, which is Sunday. It is a fantastic little product but I am still on the fence about it I think. Anyway thank you so much for your support and comment and I hope you enjoy the review of the Caran d'Ache Pencil Peeler when it goes up.
Any idea how I can get a pencil extender for these pencils? When it comes to sharpening, what works for me is to cut small and grind the wood to expose the core but I can’t get a sharp point just yet. Thanks for a great review, I hope your little girl is doing well!
Hi Pauline, I have tried the Derwent Pastel sharpener and the one that comes with the Stabilo Carbothello pastel pencils and to be honest I didn't have much success with those either, especially the Stabilo one. When I see that I was really excited as it looked really fit for pastel purpose, but it hacked the wood to bits, it was like trying to sharpen with a hatchet. I haven't tried the Conte wooden one, but someone else has told me about that sharpener, so I will have to give it a go. To be honest, in this video when I demonstrated the sharpening, it was less about the sharpener and more about the core of the pencils just crumbling away. The other pencils in the set sharpened fine, it was just these 5. Thank you so much Pauline for your comment and I will definitely check out the Conté sharpener.
@@TheArtGearGuide Sorry you have had this problem as art supplies aren't cheap; especially when you think you are paying out for quality :-(. I hope there will be a suitable sharpener that you come across.
I've had around 4 of these and they all broke quite easily. I found my Swordfish hand-crank sharpener could sharpen them without breakage as long as I stopped while it was relatively blunt. Then the sharpened to a blunt point with sand paper. However they are nice to use and I think that's a lot to do with them having a softer core than my Pitt and Koh-i-Nor pastel pencils. I saw a bad review of these and have been hesitant to buy more. But this review makes me think that it might be worth it, even if they are a pain to sharpen. Thank you.
My partner has just reminded me that there was another thing that I said when I first used these. I am sorry it's another negative but I had forgotten so it wasn't too bad: one of the cores had gritty bits within it. They caused scratching on my Pastelmat which really annoyed me. It was coverable and the pencil was still good but I thought I should mention it. It was a brown, so it might not be in the 24 set.
Conté á Paris has a small wooden sharpenener for their pastel pencils. It makes a short pointed tip, and that sharpener works very well for me. I have the 48 set. Some nreak every once in a while, but since they came via mail order I am quite sure the cores broke during shipping. I have not seen them in any art store here in Berlin, so had to order from amazon. I think these pencils are not really made for mail ordering. But do gove the little wooden sharpener a try, it is pnly €6. It is the only one for me that does not break the core over and over again.
Hi Harry, i'm so Glad to hear Amelia is doing better, i know how you could feel about Amelia's medical issue but you are both great Parents Harry i'm shure she will go better then better.For sharpener Conte Paris have a sharpener for these pastels pencils, i have it and it's worked perfectely find for these pencils. I've bought mine from Hachem which is one of my local Art supplies store i live to canada but i can't tell you where else you could buy this Sharpener because i search on Amazon & Ebaye and they don't have it so if you really wan't this sharpener Harry let me know and i will send you this sharpener with Pleasure because when i saw you try to sharpener your pencils and the core broken all the time it's heart braking lol! so has i said i could buy one and send to you but it's an expensive one arround $ 20.00 CAD dollars so if you wan't to try to found it by yourself the name of the sharpener is ''Conte de Paris'' sharpener. Thank you for the great review love these pencils and it's a shame to only have 48 Pastels Pencils, i agree with you for a full set of 120 Pastel pencils that would of be fantastic because i really love these pencils! Take care Harry, xx
Thank you so much Sylvie for your wonderful support and for your incredibly kind comments about Amelia. It really has been an incredibly difficult 8 or 9 months however things are getting better and hopefully they will continue to do so. I have had some amazing support from you guys on TH-cam and I can't put it into words as to just how much I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
@@TheArtGearGuide Oh! Harry, You are so very welcome and i'm shure with all the Prayers Peoples do for Amelia, things will goes much more netter anyway i'm so Glad She's getting better and it will continue believed it dear Harry, in french whe say since they still alive the chance to recover completely are there and this is what's gone happen to Amelia this is my wish to your wife and you for Christmas & New Year, i hope in 2020 Amelia have a wonderful life without so much medical issues ss Take care my friend!
Im glad your daughter is doing better. Bullying is terrible and it definitely leaves a mark on the person but tell her just remember its more the bully was an insecure jerk and saw her and how amazing she is and wanted to ruin her day. It seems like itd be more complicated but really some people are just jerks. I know myself I dealt with being bullied all through high school. I nearly ended it all too but what saved me was my parents, playing guitar, art, and video games. Its amazing how helpful they can be when you need them and therapeutic as well. As for the pencils yes I unfortunately dealt with the breakage issue. I ordered 4 different conte pastel pencils open stock and every one I couldn't get sharpened to save my life. Really no joking no exaggeration they were worse than prismacolors trying to sharpen them and even prismacolors eventually take a point but the conte pencils I couldnt even get a usable nub out of them. Really I literally sharpened them down to an unusable nub with nothing to work with. I used razor blades, pencil sharpeners, my opinel knife, and sandpaper. Nothing sharpened them and for the same reason as you. I just got a little of the usable pastel part exposed only to have the core fall out. Im sorry but when it costs me $8 and I dont even get to use them or even really test them I just wont use them again ever. Meanwhile I have the FC Pitt and Carbothellos and they work great so I have to wonder what the heck is wrong with conte? I have some of their pastels in stick form and they work great. My only complaint there is why do they push paris when the box I got says made in china? If conte were my only exposure to pastel pencils I would have written pastel pencils off as a giant pain in the butt and never tried them again and im sure some have done exactly that given conte's name recognition and my experience with them. Im sorry if I sound harsh but hours of sharpening and all I get is 4 useless nubs and feeling like I got cheated somehow. That $8 could have bought some great pencils too. Im sorry but im still ticked off about it.
just watched this. I bought a full set on Amazon is 2020 and the first 5 pencils, everyone just kept breaking as you showed. I returned the set and the replacement had the same problem. They were the first pastel pencils I purchased in the 90's and Michaels as singles. I have produced many pieces of artwork with those with no breakage knife cutting. These 15 or so are now stub but precious to me. Not sure what happened, pigments appear the same but something is different. Sucks cause I own all professional brands of pastel pencils and these just collect dust other then my baby stubs. So sad, because they are so beautiful and I want to use them.
I am so glad to hear that amielia is doing better. I can totally relate to her. Im not just saying that. i'm 30 years old now have been bullied throught my whole life started at her age to. got bullied for my nasaly voice. i have a disability and autism. I suffer from depression and anxiety etc. its very challenge to live with growing up but you do come up with great coping skills on the way that will help (that helped for me). I been bullied since 3rd grade. i didnt find out about my disability till going into 6th grade and then i only just found out i had autism 2 years ago. I wont go on but I just wanna say its tough road don't give up on her either it really helps when your parents are so supportive of you also, when she says she doesnt wanna do something unless u really know, you should try really hard to get her to do that. it helped me so much when my parents would push me to do things. but it comes and goes. but just don't give up on her cuz if it wasnt for my parents believeing in me I wouldnt know what to do. Just show her so much love like i heard in your voice telling us. I hope everything is ok. Thanks for sharing. sometimes you feel like the only onen when this happens to someone and its not because people just keep it inside. Good luck
The thing is, a lot of pastel pencils tend to be quite thick barrels because the core is so brittle the thicker the core the better. So as a result not all sharpeners will fit some pastel pencils. Most pastel pencil artists will use either a hand crank sharpener because the hand crank hold the pencil firmly in place the and blades rotate around the pencil running less risk of breaking the core. It is the twisting motion that we inevitably create when using a hand held sharpener that breaks the core. Other pastel pencil artists use blades such as Craft knives or Stanly knives but recently tools have been made specifically for pastel pencil artists. I’ve reviewed two of them which I’ve added links to one is expensive and the other not so much. Caran D’Ache Pencil Peeler bit.ly/2Qrt3OQ and the Hovel Pencil Sharpener bit.ly/3pwSugA. Hope this has been helpful abs thank you for stopping by the channel.
Yeah it is so important to get a wide view from other reviewers, but as I mentioned in the video, pastel pencils and charcoal pencils are notoriously difficult to sharpen and not break, the reason is due to there not being a lot of binding agents in the pencil and the pastel material is more powdery and therefore brittle than colored pencils. This is why so many pastel artists, not all of them but many of them, use pastel blocks, sticks, cakes etc to cover the larger areas and only use the pencils for the smallest detailed areas. I know not all pastel artists work in this way, such as Colin Bradly, who is an amazing pastel artist but traditionally only uses pastel pencils, in particular Faber Castell Pitt Pastels. Then artists such as Emma Colbert, another amazing pastel artist from my home country of Northern Ireland predominately uses Unison pastel sticks and only a few pastel pencils for the smallest of detail.
We only have a few of these and one of them splits every time we sharpen it. The others have been difficult to sharpen but my 6 year old loves them and will rarely use anything else to colour/draw with. We are trying to find a less messy medium she enjoys. She is definitely not keen on kid's pencils.
Properly pigmented colored pencil maybe... Faber Castell Goldfaber maybe? The Bruynzeel expression series is really nice too, but these pencils feel chalky it's a great feeling if you manage to get a point....
Those were my first pastels pencils and I was just beginning in the world of "razor sharpening" the sharpening process was a frustrating act, but now 3 years later still the nightmare when I sharpen them, when I can't use the razor blade then I try a rough wood sandpaper. This also happen with some sanguines and pierre noire's, I've seen some comments in wet canvas about the down of the quality because they are now made in China, but I never used the old pastels pencils but in the "carré's" there's a difference, the french ones are softer than the new ones, not a big deal but sometimes I feel an uncolored "dust scratch" and it damages the paper. The lightfastness is low compared with stabilo, faber castel, koh I noor, even derwent, and the white is quite grayish. In conclusion they just disappointed me, the full pastels are good but the lightfastness chart they offer in their website they basically say all of them are good but the doubt only increases.
Watching this 3 years later...I do hope your daughter continued getting better ❤️🩹. I'm familiar with Conte crayons as that was standard for drawing in the art classes I took years ago. But today is the first day, unbelievably, that I ever knew Conte made pastel pencils. And by those who use them, they're pretty highly rated...with the exception of those who received broken ones from lousy shipping n Amazon. So I'm in the US, but I watch a lot of YT vids from creators from all over the world, especially the UK, and I've never seen any reviews of Conte pastel pencils. Amazing how a such a respected brand of Conte crayons can have their line of color pencils so overlooked...maybe not as much in EU/UK but you're the first one of channels I'm subscribed too that I've seen a review. 😮
The best part of the review is knowing your daughter’s spirit is healing and your family is moving through the difficulties. As always, you and your family are in my thoughts and 🙏
So glad your daughter is doing much better. Thanks for the review.
I am so glad to hear your daughter is doing better. I wish you and your family well. Take care:)
Because some of these pencils cost quite a bit plus if you are working on a piece it's frustrating to have lead breaking, I keep a clutch pencil and use the broken bit it that. Saves on stress and money. I just put a broken lead piece in the jaws and put any other useable pieces in a pot. The jaws of a clutch pencil opens wider than the usual lead size used in the pencil and it grips the broken bits snug enough to work, it's just you can't store the bigger lead bits in the body.
can i know which clucth pencil do you use?
@doni8677 I use the Staedtler Clutch Pencil I’ve had it about 7 years now and I absolutely love it. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000WL4WEC/?tag=tecpla30-21
I'm so glad your daughter is doing better. I had a horrible time in middle school and the start of high school too and was bullied a lot too. I became really depressed too because I felt like I could not fit in. My parents were very worried about me, I was almost sent to a mental hospital even but eventually, things got better. What helped was having my parents to love me and support me no matter what and it sounds like she has that too! If you ever want any advice from someone who was recently a teenage girl who was also battling depression, just message me. I was there, I climbed through it and I made it to the other side!
Good to hear your daughter is doing better. I wish you and your familie all the best.
Another great review. So happy to hear your daughter is feeling better. Prayers that she continues to be a happy young girl. TYFS
Just found your video now, it's great. I'm having the same issue with the core and sharpening the pencil.
Thank you for your nice review on the Conte pastel pencils!
I’ve been using them in the past, but switched to another brand, because I also had some pencils that kept breaking. I couldn’t sharpen them with a sharpener to begin with, so used a sharp knife instead. Just like you did on the video!
Also a few colors had very hard bits in them, which made making details hard. So I switched to Stabilo carbothello and some Derwent pastels. I’m very happy with those!
I am so happy to hear that your daughter is starting to heal. Best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful holiday and continued progress for your daughter.
Thank you for another great review.
Hi Harry, so glad your daughter is doing much better. I have the 48 set and also was disappointed that there wasn't a bigger set. As far as sharpening them, I have tried every method and as you said in your review they break and break. I have totally been put off with and don't use them anymore, too bad really because it did like them and they have some interesting colours. Hope this helps !!
For Amelia: You are loved, you are smart, you are important, you are beautiful, you matter.
Lisa🕊
Can't express to you how happy I am that your little girl is doing so much better! God bless.
So glad to hear that Amelia is doing better. Lots of hugs for her.
Thank you for your useful and interesting reviews! I just heard about you recently. I have a few of these pastel pencils that I've kept and treasured for ages (decades really).
I appreciate your review of pencil sharpeners, I've never been successful with the small manual kind and ended up sharpening all my pencils with utility knives. Not a method that encourages frequent pencil use.😄
I'm plan to try out some pastel work this month and look forward to including my stash of Conte pastel pencils!
Thanks again for this talk and demo, I've picked up several useful tips. Best wishes!!!
What great review! Thanks I like these pencils!!! I glad Amelia is feeling better. That’s what’s most important. Take Care.
I've recently got a 48 set of them and had a problem sharpening one of the pencils. Hand crank sharpener (Kohinoor, the one shaped like a camera) finally managed, but I needed to be very gentle and leave the pencil rather blunt. I thought it was handled roughly in the shipping, but maybe it's some problem with the brand. Maybe some problem with the binder in the leads? Maybe they should be sharpened with sandpaper? I don't know. Fortunately I found one shop that sells them individually, so I'll be able to replace the bad pencil.
Hi Harry, happy to hear you guys are doing well.
I haven’t used them but I wanted to purchase at some point, while ago. They were quite expensive here in Australia. I did a bit of research and I got the same feeling regarding to sharpening them. So I gave up totally.
Thanks for this video!!!! I'll watch it as soon as the Impeachment Hearings are done for the day.I'll need a terrific video to watch after that! Love from Vermont
Great review! I’ve had the same experience with sharpening. I like the colors in the set but they don’t do much good if you can’t sharpen them.
I have various sizes of lead holders (2, 3.2, 4 and 5.6 mm) to deal with small bits of broken pencil type media. Waste not want not.
Thanks so much for the review. My 11 year old has started to has a lot of anxiety. Since you have gone through this, is there anything you recommend to do to help control this in the beginning?
Great review, Harry. I’ll stick with the blocks with the mess that causes (tried urban sketching and pleased with the sketch but the mess I got myself in!). Your honest reviews are invaluable.
Jan you are too kind, thank you so much for your wonderful comment. I have no problem with the mess either, I absolutely love my Unison Pastels and could use them all day. Again Jan thank you so very much for your comment
Thank you for your review! :)
Amazon Canada now has them! :)
This company is the oldest there is. Especially well known by there pastel pencils,
Born in 1755, Nicolas Conté claimed the title of painter, chemist, physicist, hot air balloonist and inventor during the fifty years of his life. His historical achievement is undeniable. In 1794, he developed the modern graphite lead from a mixture of clay and graphite, thus making it finally possible to create different hardness grades for pencils. The pencil factory he set up in 1795, enabled France to produce its own calligraphy and drawing materials.
This is a very bright pastel pencil and soft. These pencils are strong and stable. No problems with breakages.
Content just came out with a pack of 60 pastel pencils. My Christmas present to myself. Only thing is it comes in a flimsy paper box and not a tin.
Oh Wow I hope you love using them and so will definitely take a look at them and try to get hold of a set to review. Check out this gorgeous item to help store your pastel pencils if you don’t like the storage packaging they came in www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087ZFQBBF/?tag=tecpla30-21
Oh I was confused sorry. The Conté’s largest size is 48. I was confusing myself with the Carbothello pastel pencils made by Stabillo. But yes I am enjoying the 48 set. I also have the 24 set, that has one pencil that keeps breaking. Sometimes I just hold the lead in my fingers and work from there. I hate to see good money go to waste.
currys art supply in Canada has a conte pencil sharpener
Haven't used these but looking forward to the peeler review as I quite fancy it but it's quite expensive.
I have the peeler review all done and dusted and I am ready to just release it, but I think I will wait until Sunday. I don't want to upload reviews too close together, so I think I will post it tomorrow, which is Sunday. It is a fantastic little product but I am still on the fence about it I think. Anyway thank you so much for your support and comment and I hope you enjoy the review of the Caran d'Ache Pencil Peeler when it goes up.
Thanks, look forward to it.
Any idea how I can get a pencil extender for these pencils? When it comes to sharpening, what works for me is to cut small and grind the wood to expose the core but I can’t get a sharp point just yet. Thanks for a great review, I hope your little girl is doing well!
you are right sharpening those pencils It is a real challenge but they are amazing pastels
A cheap hardware store belt sander has been my secret to sharpening pencils that break with knives/sharpeners
After reading about sharpeners and breakages; have you tried the white Derwent pastel sharpener, or Conté‘s own wooden sharpener?
Hi Pauline, I have tried the Derwent Pastel sharpener and the one that comes with the Stabilo Carbothello pastel pencils and to be honest I didn't have much success with those either, especially the Stabilo one. When I see that I was really excited as it looked really fit for pastel purpose, but it hacked the wood to bits, it was like trying to sharpen with a hatchet.
I haven't tried the Conte wooden one, but someone else has told me about that sharpener, so I will have to give it a go. To be honest, in this video when I demonstrated the sharpening, it was less about the sharpener and more about the core of the pencils just crumbling away. The other pencils in the set sharpened fine, it was just these 5. Thank you so much Pauline for your comment and I will definitely check out the Conté sharpener.
@@TheArtGearGuide Sorry you have had this problem as art supplies aren't cheap; especially when you think you are paying out for quality :-(. I hope there will be a suitable sharpener that you come across.
I've had around 4 of these and they all broke quite easily. I found my Swordfish hand-crank sharpener could sharpen them without breakage as long as I stopped while it was relatively blunt. Then the sharpened to a blunt point with sand paper.
However they are nice to use and I think that's a lot to do with them having a softer core than my Pitt and Koh-i-Nor pastel pencils.
I saw a bad review of these and have been hesitant to buy more. But this review makes me think that it might be worth it, even if they are a pain to sharpen. Thank you.
My partner has just reminded me that there was another thing that I said when I first used these. I am sorry it's another negative but I had forgotten so it wasn't too bad: one of the cores had gritty bits within it. They caused scratching on my Pastelmat which really annoyed me. It was coverable and the pencil was still good but I thought I should mention it. It was a brown, so it might not be in the 24 set.
I’ve noticed the gritty bits as well!! So frustrating
Thanks a ton.
What is the softest colour medium you've used? In terms of pencils..
Softest pencil I have ever used would have to be the Prismacolor Premier and the hardest core would have to be the Derwent Artist Pencil
Conté á Paris has a small wooden sharpenener for their pastel pencils. It makes a short pointed tip, and that sharpener works very well for me. I have the 48 set. Some nreak every once in a while, but since they came via mail order I am quite sure the cores broke during shipping. I have not seen them in any art store here in Berlin, so had to order from amazon. I think these pencils are not really made for mail ordering. But do gove the little wooden sharpener a try, it is pnly €6. It is the only one for me that does not break the core over and over again.
Hi Harry, i'm so Glad to hear Amelia is doing better, i know how you could feel about Amelia's medical issue but you are both great Parents Harry i'm shure she will go better then better.For sharpener Conte Paris have a sharpener for these pastels pencils, i have it and it's worked perfectely find for these pencils. I've bought mine from Hachem which is one of my local Art supplies store i live to canada but i can't tell you where else you could buy this Sharpener because i search on Amazon & Ebaye and they don't have it so if you really wan't this sharpener Harry let me know and i will send you this sharpener with Pleasure because when i saw you try to sharpener your pencils and the core broken all the time it's heart braking lol! so has i said i could buy one and send to you but it's an expensive one arround $ 20.00 CAD dollars so if you wan't to try to found it by yourself the name of the sharpener is ''Conte de Paris'' sharpener. Thank you for the great review love these pencils and it's a shame to only have 48 Pastels Pencils, i agree with you for a full set of 120 Pastel pencils that would of be fantastic because i really love these pencils! Take care Harry, xx
Thank you so much Sylvie for your wonderful support and for your incredibly kind comments about Amelia. It really has been an incredibly difficult 8 or 9 months however things are getting better and hopefully they will continue to do so. I have had some amazing support from you guys on TH-cam and I can't put it into words as to just how much I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
@@TheArtGearGuide Oh! Harry, You are so very welcome and i'm shure with all the Prayers Peoples do for Amelia, things will goes much more netter anyway i'm so Glad She's getting better and it will continue believed it dear Harry, in french whe say since they still alive the chance to recover completely are there and this is what's gone happen to Amelia this is my wish to your wife and you for Christmas & New Year, i hope in 2020 Amelia have a wonderful life without so much medical issues ss Take care my friend!
Moi aussi j'ai acheté les fameux Conte à Paris je les adores c'est crayons.Au coin de Papineau et Laurier.
Im glad your daughter is doing better. Bullying is terrible and it definitely leaves a mark on the person but tell her just remember its more the bully was an insecure jerk and saw her and how amazing she is and wanted to ruin her day. It seems like itd be more complicated but really some people are just jerks. I know myself I dealt with being bullied all through high school. I nearly ended it all too but what saved me was my parents, playing guitar, art, and video games. Its amazing how helpful they can be when you need them and therapeutic as well. As for the pencils yes I unfortunately dealt with the breakage issue. I ordered 4 different conte pastel pencils open stock and every one I couldn't get sharpened to save my life. Really no joking no exaggeration they were worse than prismacolors trying to sharpen them and even prismacolors eventually take a point but the conte pencils I couldnt even get a usable nub out of them. Really I literally sharpened them down to an unusable nub with nothing to work with. I used razor blades, pencil sharpeners, my opinel knife, and sandpaper. Nothing sharpened them and for the same reason as you. I just got a little of the usable pastel part exposed only to have the core fall out. Im sorry but when it costs me $8 and I dont even get to use them or even really test them I just wont use them again ever. Meanwhile I have the FC Pitt and Carbothellos and they work great so I have to wonder what the heck is wrong with conte? I have some of their pastels in stick form and they work great. My only complaint there is why do they push paris when the box I got says made in china? If conte were my only exposure to pastel pencils I would have written pastel pencils off as a giant pain in the butt and never tried them again and im sure some have done exactly that given conte's name recognition and my experience with them. Im sorry if I sound harsh but hours of sharpening and all I get is 4 useless nubs and feeling like I got cheated somehow. That $8 could have bought some great pencils too. Im sorry but im still ticked off about it.
just watched this. I bought a full set on Amazon is 2020 and the first 5 pencils, everyone just kept breaking as you showed. I returned the set and the replacement had the same problem. They were the first pastel pencils I purchased in the 90's and Michaels as singles. I have produced many pieces of artwork with those with no breakage knife cutting. These 15 or so are now stub but precious to me. Not sure what happened, pigments appear the same but something is different. Sucks cause I own all professional brands of pastel pencils and these just collect dust other then my baby stubs. So sad, because they are so beautiful and I want to use them.
I am so glad to hear that amielia is doing better. I can totally relate to her. Im not just saying that. i'm 30 years old now have been bullied throught my whole life started at her age to. got bullied for my nasaly voice. i have a disability and autism. I suffer from depression and anxiety etc. its very challenge to live with growing up but you do come up with great coping skills on the way that will help (that helped for me). I been bullied since 3rd grade. i didnt find out about my disability till going into 6th grade and then i only just found out i had autism 2 years ago. I wont go on but I just wanna say its tough road don't give up on her either it really helps when your parents are so supportive of you also, when she says she doesnt wanna do something unless u really know, you should try really hard to get her to do that. it helped me so much when my parents would push me to do things. but it comes and goes. but just don't give up on her cuz if it wasnt for my parents believeing in me I wouldnt know what to do. Just show her so much love like i heard in your voice telling us. I hope everything is ok. Thanks for sharing. sometimes you feel like the only onen when this happens to someone and its not because people just keep it inside. Good luck
I wanna ask only if they need a special sharpener or any sharpener
The thing is, a lot of pastel pencils tend to be quite thick barrels because the core is so brittle the thicker the core the better. So as a result not all sharpeners will fit some pastel pencils.
Most pastel pencil artists will use either a hand crank sharpener because the hand crank hold the pencil firmly in place the and blades rotate around the pencil running less risk of breaking the core. It is the twisting motion that we inevitably create when using a hand held sharpener that breaks the core.
Other pastel pencil artists use blades such as Craft knives or Stanly knives but recently tools have been made specifically for pastel pencil artists. I’ve reviewed two of them which I’ve added links to one is expensive and the other not so much.
Caran D’Ache Pencil Peeler bit.ly/2Qrt3OQ and the Hovel Pencil Sharpener bit.ly/3pwSugA.
Hope this has been helpful abs thank you for stopping by the channel.
@@TheArtGearGuide thanks alot😀really it helped me😀👍🏻my best artist keep on😇😇😇i love your drawings😀
I've just watched another TH-camr review these and they had the same breakage problem. That definitely makes up my mind for me.
Yeah it is so important to get a wide view from other reviewers, but as I mentioned in the video, pastel pencils and charcoal pencils are notoriously difficult to sharpen and not break, the reason is due to there not being a lot of binding agents in the pencil and the pastel material is more powdery and therefore brittle than colored pencils. This is why so many pastel artists, not all of them but many of them, use pastel blocks, sticks, cakes etc to cover the larger areas and only use the pencils for the smallest detailed areas.
I know not all pastel artists work in this way, such as Colin Bradly, who is an amazing pastel artist but traditionally only uses pastel pencils, in particular Faber Castell Pitt Pastels. Then artists such as Emma Colbert, another amazing pastel artist from my home country of Northern Ireland predominately uses Unison pastel sticks and only a few pastel pencils for the smallest of detail.
@@TheArtGearGuide so you wouldn't discount them completely, Harry?
We only have a few of these and one of them splits every time we sharpen it. The others have been difficult to sharpen but my 6 year old loves them and will rarely use anything else to colour/draw with. We are trying to find a less messy medium she enjoys. She is definitely not keen on kid's pencils.
Properly pigmented colored pencil maybe... Faber Castell Goldfaber maybe? The Bruynzeel expression series is really nice too, but these pencils feel chalky it's a great feeling if you manage to get a point....
Those were my first pastels pencils and I was just beginning in the world of "razor sharpening" the sharpening process was a frustrating act, but now 3 years later still the nightmare when I sharpen them, when I can't use the razor blade then I try a rough wood sandpaper. This also happen with some sanguines and pierre noire's, I've seen some comments in wet canvas about the down of the quality because they are now made in China, but I never used the old pastels pencils but in the "carré's" there's a difference, the french ones are softer than the new ones, not a big deal but sometimes I feel an uncolored "dust scratch" and it damages the paper.
The lightfastness is low compared with stabilo, faber castel, koh I noor, even derwent, and the white is quite grayish. In conclusion they just disappointed me, the full pastels are good but the lightfastness chart they offer in their website they basically say all of them are good but the doubt only increases.
The problem is same for me... cant sharpen it ...too labile
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Somebody dropped the pencils you couldn’t sharpen. The core is broken inside.
I understand. And perhaps there is a.creative high- energy originality waiting for her to release.
Just watching these crayons break a lot is very sorry that you have such a problem.
Your tin of pencils may have been dropped even before you received them.
Watching this 3 years later...I do hope your daughter continued getting better ❤️🩹.
I'm familiar with Conte crayons as that was standard for drawing in the art classes I took years ago. But today is the first day, unbelievably, that I ever knew Conte made pastel pencils. And by those who use them, they're pretty highly rated...with the exception of those who received broken ones from lousy shipping n Amazon. So I'm in the US, but I watch a lot of YT vids from creators from all over the world, especially the UK, and I've never seen any reviews of Conte pastel pencils. Amazing how a such a respected brand of Conte crayons can have their line of color pencils so overlooked...maybe not as much in EU/UK but you're the first one of channels I'm subscribed too that I've seen a review. 😮