Late to this video but I really enjoy your reviews of art supplies, I've never used pastel anything and I'm not likely too either I have a hard enough time with my paints haha, loved the muted colours in this set and your squirrel was awesome! :D
Once I saw the earth tones, I was immediately interested😂 I don’t use pastel pencils too much either, I’ve had the most luck with pastelmat, however it’s a very rough surface and so pricey. I think it grips the pigment well though, and the colors end up so bright! I like how you did the background and halo with the squirrel🐿️ I would’ve definitely struggled with that lighting in a reference. You make good point about trying these to create rougher rather than fully rendered work! They could even be used in a small sketchbook to sketch wildlife/landscapes while out and about
I always struggle with pastels in any form, haha! But yes, I'd use these more for sketching and quick studies. The colours are really nice so that's a win!
Hi Becky! You may like how pastel pencils (and regular pastels for that matter) perform on UART 800 Grade Sanded Pastel Paper. It's similar to Pastelmat in texture, but a little less expensive where I'm from in the US. (The 800 Grade has a finer tooth than the 400 Grade, which I like as well, especially if I'm doing a lot of layering.) I thoroughly enjoy all of your videos and artwork 😊
Enjoyed review of pencils and your honest opinion of your skill with the pencils, i think your squirrel looked lovely and the apple, i believe your right with practice with the pencils your skill will grow as your a very talented artist...💙✍🎨🇨🇦🇺🇲💙
Thanks Becky, I love your reviews. I was actually looking at this set recently, but having another look after your review, I can't find any reference to charcoal. They are clearly marked 'Chalk Pastels', so now I'm even more confused. I love pastel pencils, I believe you should probably keep trying with them, and note that the technique is different to coloured pencils.
@@Robyn19fnq I was so confused by their labelling compared with the way they felt! I feel like something has gotten lost in translation so that's why I wasn't very clear. 🫣 That aside, the set's pretty decent.
I've used soft pastels for decades but had a lot of problems trying to use pastel pencils. Maybe that is because I'm too used to using colored pencils.
Thank you! I'm glad - it's hard to know what kind of videos to make sometimes, as to what everyone might want to watch. Your feedback is much appreciated!
I'm wondering if these are the same as my Kalour pencils I got from Temu. They look very similar, complete with the light fast ratings. Mine were not actually lightfast at all anyway. Not that I care about that, for how I use them. Kneaded eraser is very helpful for pastels, when they smudge to areas you don't want them. I've bought some eye makeup sponges to try with mine for the blending. The frugal crafter recommended them as you can buy a huge pack for a few dollars. I used mine for my kitty picture and then did some details with my white luminance pencil to add details. That's the best part I guess of pastels. You can do the backgrounds and go over the top with the wax and oil pencils for those details.
I didn't think about using coloured pencils over the top! But yes I think if I wasn't doing a review on just this product, I'd end up doing a more mixed media piece. I need to find some more cheap makeup sponges! Thank you 😊
Went to Artshopdirect in Richmond and then Senior Art in the CBD last weekend. Next time I just order online it would have been cheaper but it was good to check. The open stock for the oil pastels was last of stock stuff so no wonder I couldn't order ones that were out and it did not say. Can't get open stock of Sakura Cray Pas online from my regular supplier (I only got them originally as they were cheap.) Did get the "giant" Sennelier oil pastels in white and black to try out too.
Hi, Becky. On the basis that you really don't enjoy pastels because of the touch and messiness issues, and have given them more than a fair trial over time, maybe you could give yourself permission never to use them again, even if they are sent for review? 😄 🤗 Having said that, I enjoyed watching you do the squirrel, and I think that he's a lovely wee beastie!!! I like the white halo around him - it really makes him look special. Maybe go in with some coloured pencil to work on his body fur? The tail is superb, though - definitely showing your real skill with these pencils! I really liked your reply to the question on the questionable lightfast ratings on this sort of product. I've been doing some lightfast testing on my various brands of watercolour pencils, and I am absolutely shocked at the results after four (late autumn - winter!!!) very wet months. A lot of the Faber Castell, the Caran D'Ache Supracolour and even the Caran D'Ache Museum have lost some colour in the mass tone! There are other brands included, which I didn't expect to do well, but most have done better than I expected. Now I just need to find the time to set up my coloured pencils (about the same number as the w/c set) but maybe they won't take quite as long as the w/c set as I won't need to do the wet samples???) Only, now the weather and my health are improving, my plein air season is now in progress (Ye-esss!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but I do need to get those and my set of 13 'Miranda' Da Vinci watercolours done. There's no way Im doing my full set of W&N soft pastels - they're far too old now, and I only use them for expressive play or to let my students experiment with them. I've done my FC Pitt pastel pencils and Stabilo Carbothello pastel pencils, and got the expected results, though. Stabilo are definitely sketchbook only, but oh, I really love them!!! So yes, I think that your answer was absolutely spot on! Lightfast ratings can, and do, change according to the climate where we live in the world, and if any of us are really interested, the most sensible thing to do is our own testing, so that we can know for sure for our specific climate conditions. 😊
I've found that lightfast ratings for many, many products end up being inaccurate, and I'm sure it has a lot to do with local environmental conditions. I don't really bother worrying about it these days, and just enjoy the pretty colours in the present day, haha. We have three days of 38 degrees this long weekend and it is ridiculously hot outside right now. Not even the best art supplies could withstand it! I'm hunkered down for the next few days.
Thank you Becky. Very helpful. Do you think using them as watercolour pencils would be useful? They sound like a tinted charcoal similar to Derwent, although not the same quality. Cheers.
I didn't actually try them with water! I forget that charcoal is soluble, lol. But I might try that at some point. I'd probably just use actual watercolour pencils though as they aren't as dusty. 😂
I am sorry that you feel you cannot work with pastels/charcoal. I live working with them, but I have the problem with coloured pencils the way you have the pastels. I cannot seem to get the coloured pencils to fill the paper, nor am I able to layer them, but it’s probably just the way I go about using them. Each to their own I guess.
It's the feel of them more than anything, but I think it's just that we develop affinities to certain art supplies and not others. I'm always willing to try things more than once though and change my mind on them. But pastels are a struggle!
I have no idea if this is common among the pastel pencils, but I have the Pitt Pastels from Faber-Castell, the Conté a Paris, and the Stabilo Carbothello and none of them have names, only numbers, which I REALLY DISLIKE.
@@BeckyTregearsorry to jump into the conversation here but you seem to have used art spectrum colourfix smooth in the video. Pastelmat is a specific paper by Clairefontaine. Are they supposedly the same paper or was it a misunderstanding?
@@RamoArtIt's like 40C here....too hot for my brain right now! Yes you are right, I got the two brands mixed up but the paper is quite similar to each other.
Hi, AW! I'm 12th!!! (I'm not counting Becky's replies, btw) and as so many art supplies come in packs of 12, I'll happily join the ranks of being a 12!!!! 😄
I'm just going off the information provided on the pencils, then sharing the numbers so people can make more informed choices - only a year long window test would truly indicate their accuracy!
I really like the squirrel ❤
Thank you!
Late to this video but I really enjoy your reviews of art supplies, I've never used pastel anything and I'm not likely too either I have a hard enough time with my paints haha, loved the muted colours in this set and your squirrel was awesome! :D
Thank you so much! ❤
such a fantastic review, thank you for sharing ☺☺☺
❤️😎
Once I saw the earth tones, I was immediately interested😂 I don’t use pastel pencils too much either, I’ve had the most luck with pastelmat, however it’s a very rough surface and so pricey. I think it grips the pigment well though, and the colors end up so bright! I like how you did the background and halo with the squirrel🐿️ I would’ve definitely struggled with that lighting in a reference. You make good point about trying these to create rougher rather than fully rendered work! They could even be used in a small sketchbook to sketch wildlife/landscapes while out and about
I always struggle with pastels in any form, haha! But yes, I'd use these more for sketching and quick studies. The colours are really nice so that's a win!
It’s cute. The added background layer certainly gave depth to the drawing, well done.
Thank you 😊
Hi Becky! You may like how pastel pencils (and regular pastels for that matter) perform on UART 800 Grade Sanded Pastel Paper. It's similar to Pastelmat in texture, but a little less expensive where I'm from in the US. (The 800 Grade has a finer tooth than the 400 Grade, which I like as well, especially if I'm doing a lot of layering.) I thoroughly enjoy all of your videos and artwork 😊
Thank you for the suggestion! 😊
Very cute and lots of fun! 😍
Thank you 🤗
Enjoyed review of pencils and your honest opinion of your skill with the pencils, i think your squirrel looked lovely and the apple, i believe your right with practice with the pencils your skill will grow as your a very talented artist...💙✍🎨🇨🇦🇺🇲💙
Thank you! I need sooo much more practice with pastels; they're very challenging to work with! 😂
It's your apple for me ❤ Thanks for the review
Thanks! 😊
Hi Becky, you did a great job! Better than what i could do.
Thanks - still plenty of room for improvement but I had fun at any rate. 😊
Thanks Becky, I love your reviews. I was actually looking at this set recently, but having another look after your review, I can't find any reference to charcoal. They are clearly marked 'Chalk Pastels', so now I'm even more confused.
I love pastel pencils, I believe you should probably keep trying with them, and note that the technique is different to coloured pencils.
@@Robyn19fnq I was so confused by their labelling compared with the way they felt! I feel like something has gotten lost in translation so that's why I wasn't very clear. 🫣 That aside, the set's pretty decent.
I stopped using dry pastels due to the lifting issue. As I mainly sketch on notebooks oil pastels suit me fine
I like oil pastels more too.
I've used soft pastels for decades but had a lot of problems trying to use pastel pencils. Maybe that is because I'm too used to using colored pencils.
Pastel pencils behave so differently to coloured pencils - I can't get used to them either! 😂
Excellent work. I enjoyed watching this video. 🎉
Thank you! I'm glad - it's hard to know what kind of videos to make sometimes, as to what everyone might want to watch. Your feedback is much appreciated!
I'm wondering if these are the same as my Kalour pencils I got from Temu. They look very similar, complete with the light fast ratings. Mine were not actually lightfast at all anyway. Not that I care about that, for how I use them.
Kneaded eraser is very helpful for pastels, when they smudge to areas you don't want them. I've bought some eye makeup sponges to try with mine for the blending. The frugal crafter recommended them as you can buy a huge pack for a few dollars.
I used mine for my kitty picture and then did some details with my white luminance pencil to add details. That's the best part I guess of pastels. You can do the backgrounds and go over the top with the wax and oil pencils for those details.
I didn't think about using coloured pencils over the top! But yes I think if I wasn't doing a review on just this product, I'd end up doing a more mixed media piece. I need to find some more cheap makeup sponges! Thank you 😊
Went to Artshopdirect in Richmond and then Senior Art in the CBD last weekend. Next time I just order online it would have been cheaper but it was good to check. The open stock for the oil pastels was last of stock stuff so no wonder I couldn't order ones that were out and it did not say. Can't get open stock of Sakura Cray Pas online from my regular supplier (I only got them originally as they were cheap.) Did get the "giant" Sennelier oil pastels in white and black to try out too.
I hope you enjoyed wandering the stores - I do remember now that some items were on clearance. I'd love to try those jumbo Sennelier oil pastels. ❤️
Hi, Becky. On the basis that you really don't enjoy pastels because of the touch and messiness issues, and have given them more than a fair trial over time, maybe you could give yourself permission never to use them again, even if they are sent for review? 😄 🤗
Having said that, I enjoyed watching you do the squirrel, and I think that he's a lovely wee beastie!!! I like the white halo around him - it really makes him look special. Maybe go in with some coloured pencil to work on his body fur? The tail is superb, though - definitely showing your real skill with these pencils!
I really liked your reply to the question on the questionable lightfast ratings on this sort of product.
I've been doing some lightfast testing on my various brands of watercolour pencils, and I am absolutely shocked at the results after four (late autumn - winter!!!) very wet months. A lot of the Faber Castell, the Caran D'Ache Supracolour and even the Caran D'Ache Museum have lost some colour in the mass tone! There are other brands included, which I didn't expect to do well, but most have done better than I expected.
Now I just need to find the time to set up my coloured pencils (about the same number as the w/c set) but maybe they won't take quite as long as the w/c set as I won't need to do the wet samples???) Only, now the weather and my health are improving, my plein air season is now in progress (Ye-esss!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but I do need to get those and my set of 13 'Miranda' Da Vinci watercolours done.
There's no way Im doing my full set of W&N soft pastels - they're far too old now, and I only use them for expressive play or to let my students experiment with them. I've done my FC Pitt pastel pencils and Stabilo Carbothello pastel pencils, and got the expected results, though. Stabilo are definitely sketchbook only, but oh, I really love them!!!
So yes, I think that your answer was absolutely spot on! Lightfast ratings can, and do, change according to the climate where we live in the world, and if any of us are really interested, the most sensible thing to do is our own testing, so that we can know for sure for our specific climate conditions. 😊
I've found that lightfast ratings for many, many products end up being inaccurate, and I'm sure it has a lot to do with local environmental conditions. I don't really bother worrying about it these days, and just enjoy the pretty colours in the present day, haha.
We have three days of 38 degrees this long weekend and it is ridiculously hot outside right now. Not even the best art supplies could withstand it! I'm hunkered down for the next few days.
I can’t handle the feel of pastel, but I think it looks pretty. I like the soft effect.
Thank you! The feel of pastel is not my favourite, haha.
Thank you Becky. Very helpful. Do you think using them as watercolour pencils would be useful? They sound like a tinted charcoal similar to Derwent, although not the same quality. Cheers.
I didn't actually try them with water! I forget that charcoal is soluble, lol. But I might try that at some point. I'd probably just use actual watercolour pencils though as they aren't as dusty. 😂
So cute!!!
Thank you!
I am sorry that you feel you cannot work with pastels/charcoal. I live working with them, but I have the problem with coloured pencils the way you have the pastels. I cannot seem to get the coloured pencils to fill the paper, nor am I able to layer them, but it’s probably just the way I go about using them. Each to their own I guess.
It's the feel of them more than anything, but I think it's just that we develop affinities to certain art supplies and not others. I'm always willing to try things more than once though and change my mind on them. But pastels are a struggle!
I have no idea if this is common among the pastel pencils, but I have the Pitt Pastels from Faber-Castell, the Conté a Paris, and the Stabilo Carbothello and none of them have names, only numbers, which I REALLY DISLIKE.
Must be a pastel pencil thing! Names are so much easier to remember than numbers.
Yea for fixative!
It makes a big difference!
I think you did a champion job. I’m with you on not loving pastels
Thank you! They're just so messy and difficult, haha.
It's so sad that they aren't available in Germany
Sorry to hear that! I just shared the links that they sent me so I wasn't sure if they're available in other places like European countries.
Try pastelmat. A much better paper.
This is pastelmat, but the smoother version because the rough one makes me shudder to touch its sandpaper texture, lol!
@@BeckyTregearsorry to jump into the conversation here but you seem to have used art spectrum colourfix smooth in the video. Pastelmat is a specific paper by Clairefontaine. Are they supposedly the same paper or was it a misunderstanding?
@@RamoArtIt's like 40C here....too hot for my brain right now! Yes you are right, I got the two brands mixed up but the paper is quite similar to each other.
@@BeckyTregear No worries, just wanted to clear up the confusion! Oh how I'm dreading summer for that reason 😂
First!
Hi, AW! I'm 12th!!! (I'm not counting Becky's replies, btw) and as so many art supplies come in packs of 12, I'll happily join the ranks of being a 12!!!! 😄
@@MrsBarnabas 😂😂 12 it is!
Do you really trust the lightfast information of Chinese colors?, or just something you need to say
I'm just going off the information provided on the pencils, then sharing the numbers so people can make more informed choices - only a year long window test would truly indicate their accuracy!