27049 Premier NuPastel Firm Pastel Color Sticks, 24-Count

I have been participating in vote-based art contests on Facebook. I noticed that they tended to cycle through art media when I went and looked back. The first one I participated in was any medium (I used colored pencil), the next one was ink (I had some Pigma Micron pens around, luckily). The other two things they have used in contests so far were pastel and watercolor. This put me in a quandary. I asked a few other art friends if they had used some of the less expensive pastels, and no one I asked had, and one person suggested these. A few days later, Amazon notified me of a flash deal where they were a very good price. I would have liked to have a larger set to start off with (24 is better than 12 though), but am hoping I have enough to be able to create something for the next contest. Experiments with Conte crayon and Prussian blue allowed me to do a pretty good eye study. I haven't used pastels in more than 30 years, and the ones I had were chalk pastels, student grade bought for a kid in one of those Christmas artists sets. Touching pastel like that makes me cringe - the chalky sensation of it. These pastels are NOT quite like PrismaColor Premier ArtSticks - if anything, these are a little creamier. There is a little bit of dust that comes off when you stroke them across the paper, but not crumbly, etc. I was surprised to see instructions saying to use them with water. I can't wait to play with these a little more, and even maybe venture more into mixed media (I started out planning to learn colored pencil painting very well; the thing I used most when I used to create visual art was heavy-body acrylic paint with modifiers, etc.).

For the price, Prismacolor is the best quality you can get. If you're just beginning and never used pastels before, start with this brand or get a set that is comparable, such as Faber-Castell. Avoid craft store brand pastels that are tempting because they are cheaper (such as Artist Loft) as the quality is sub-par and you'll get frustrated by how they perform. I work with Prismacolor and Faber-Castell together, as both have their advantages. NuPastels are thinner, easier to break, and have a sharper edge which is convenient for thin lines or tight spaces in your artwork. I don't find them useful for covering large amounts of the paper, though, so I use my Faber-Castells to fill in my backgrounds and then use the NuPastels for foreground work and details. Pigment is rich and there is a nice variety of colors. You can start out with a smaller set, too, and get plenty of use out of the color range. This brand is worth your money and time!

There are many fine pastels, but these are my absolute favorite for quality versatility and value. You can wet them with water for painterly effects and washes. They dissolve with turpentine for shading standard oil paints and special effects. This is a great starting set with all the warms and cools of the primaries plus brilliant thalo blues and greens. The earth tones mix with other colors nicely and the white will actually create opaque tints when mixed with others colors. These are the best value too. Please don't get me wrong, I still love my handmade handmade French, Japanese and Italian pastels. Some things just require that buttery softness. But for basic layout and sketching the superb lasting quality, these are hands-down tops in my forty years experience. My only complaint is these are addictive. They make you want to play!

Love

Overall good product. Most of the pastels are really nice and the sticks will probably last a while. They are also easy to blend. My only complaint is that the black pastel came warped and looks like it has been shaved down on one side. Other than that good product

Got these for a great buy 2/16, don't know if I should write $8.88 or not because they are now over $24 but I would still purchase for that price. I am not a professional artist, far from it, but I love to be creative at the kitchen table and I've found these to be a great addition to my creative toolbox. The colors are vibrant I do go ahead a spray with just cheap hair spray as not to smudge them if I also add another medium to keep it that way. I think anyone professional or some one like me just a kitchen table "artist", would really enjoy these and are well worth what ever price they happen to be but follow and see if it drops as I did. Also I recieved shipped in a box full of air balloons in addition to having the actual box of pastels encased in extra bubble wrap so no breakage at all, they were well protected coming from Amazon, as usual. And no I did not recieve free or at a discount but paid filled asking price.

Arrived in excellent condition. Exactly as described.

These are soft pastels but are a little bit firmer and more durable than some other brands. They are a buttery consistency but a bit more controllable and less messy than the softer set I have. They blend really well and there is a nice selection of colors. They also provide good coverage on dark paper. They arrived safely in a sealed box with foam protection so there were not any broken pieces. Great quality at a good price.

始めて手にした時に、折れやすいのがショックでしたが、 他には無い微妙な色がそろっているので、描いた時の色合いがきれいです。 のびが良く、濃淡もつけやすいので、使いやすいです。

Excelente pigmentación textura y todo lo que puedas buscar en los pasteles, aunque son pasteles secos son muy suaves al utilizar casi cremosos se podría decir.

-Great balance of durability and use: Won't break easily in hand (unless breaking into smaller pieces - not too hard to break); smooth laydown when drawing/coloring - 24 colors for the given price is much better than buying in store, while being a great starter set for color choice - Box is nice and secure, and separator foam inside keeps things organized. - Best used on black paper (maybe because I got inspired by the picture on the box cover :D )

Craie correct mais difficile à estompé. Pigmentation normale. Ce n'est pas mes préférés.

I am new to using pastels with my coloring projects and chose Prismacolor Pastels because I use Prismacolor pencils. I am very pleased with the vivid colors. I use the pastels mainly to fill in backgrounds like the sky and sometimes the ground. (Image is from the Nice Little Towns 5 coloring book by Tanya Bogema-Stolova - I used the pastels on the sky and the ground)