LyraPolycrayons Soft Pastel Crayons, Set of 24 Crayons, Assorted Colors (5651240)

These are some of the best, most vivid colors I have found in s product like this...now just to find the larger set I can afford!!!

Nice set.

Years ago, I found a set of water soluble chalk pastels called “Carre.” They were excellent- nice and soft- but not excessively so, not super-crumbly when you applied them to paper. They were very pigmented, easy to blend when dry, and AMAZING when wet. They truly were water soluble, breaking down and dissolving under a wet brush, and acting almost like gouache on the paper, putting down nice solid areas of color or blending beautifully into each other.I came across these particular pastels back in the late 90s, when I was in art college. I hadn’t really worked with pastels before as I found them too messy and time-consuming a media for my personal taste. But these water soluble ones- they were great. They were so good, I used them almost exclusively that semester, for portraits (which I usually have a hard time with, but these pastels helped a lot, making the work easy) and lots of little abstracts, as well as depictions of amazing extinct animals, which are my favorite thing to draw. I filled sketchbook after sketchbook using the Carre water soluble pastels. At the time, I was working in 11” x 14" 140 cold press 100% cotton spiral bound sketchbooks that were made especially for the college. It was a “sweet spot” combination- those water soluble pastels and that paper. It was my most productive time making work.Neither the pastels, nor the sketchbooks I remember, have been available since about 1999. I’ve been searching for a brand of water soluble chalk pastels that hopefully will come close to the ones I worked so successfully with back in school. The closest I have found to those are the Charvin “Artist Colored Chalk Pastels” which you can find here on Amazon for $22, for a set of 48. They work just fine- decent amount of pigment, aren’t too crumbly, they blend smoothly with water. However- they just aren’t the ones I remember. So... as when chasing the bright elusive butterfly of whatever it is you remember, and loved, and can’t find… I keep trying as many kinds of water soluble chalk pastels as I can afford.Derwent Inktense pastels are incredibly pigmented, and blend beautifully with water. I would love a set of those, but they are prohibitively expensive. I had ordered a few of them awhile back, as well as some Creatacolor Pastels- which, ironically, are also called/labeled “Carre” but are *not* the amazingly user-friendly water soluble chalk pastels from the 90s. (I looked it up, and “Carre” means “edge” in French, so I guess it may be a kind of non-specific term for a kind of pastel. But that is just a guess on my part.)I just now tested out all three so-called water soluble chalk pastels- the Derwent Inktense, the Creatacolor Carre, and the LYRA Polycrayons. The Derwent performed the best. They were the least crumbly, the most pigmented, and blended with a wet brush into the paper the most smoothly. The Creatacolor and the LYRA both performed the same, which was-- not great. Both were very crumbly, putting out a lot of dust and little chunks, and neither blended well with water. After starting off the test with the Inktense, the poor performance of the Creatacolor and the LYRA pastels was kind of a shock. As in- I don’t think either the Creatacolor pastels or the LYRAs should accurately be described as “water soluble.” When the wet brush hit them, all that really happened is the crumbly bits sort of floated around in the water discharged from the brush. I had to “smush” the wetted-up chalk into the paper. Not a lot of blending or dissolving- very little “soluble-ing” at all, compared to the Derwent Inktense and the Charvin pastels.I do regret purchasing these LYRA pastels. I wish I had re-purchased the Charvin; they are both cheaper, and perform so much better than these. Of course, you don’t know how a new kind of media is going to perform until you get it home, and try it out.I tested all of the pastels on the same two types of paper: Arches Hot Press 90 pound 100% cotton watercolor paper- wet on wet, and then dry on dry, then adding water to the dry pastels on the dry paper. I also tested them on heavy duty acid free mixed media paper from an old sketchbook. I tried them out on the non-Arches paper first, as I find media behaves more effectively on 100% cotton paper, and wanted to try the more challenging substrate first. But really- there wasn’t much difference between their performances on the less expensive paper, and on the Arches.After I use up these LYRA pastels (or get sick of them and give them to a friend) I will go back to the Charvin chalk pastels, which really are water soluble. They aren’t the pastels I found back in art college, but they come the closest. I just wish these LYRA pastels had performed better.And maybe- just maybe- I will, some day, find a *true* substitute for those long-vanished, amazing water soluble chalk pastels I remember so well. :)The LYRA pastels would be great for kids. Be aware, they are going to put out a lot of dust, but kids would enjoy their chunky feel in the hand, and would have fun with the colors. Just don’t expect them to be water soluble. They are about as "water soluble" as any inexpensive chalk pastels that don’t claim to be water soluble. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Love these! Took a minute to get used to them but now I use them all of the time in my art journaling and adult coloring books. Be sure to get a spray fixative!

Love this item

I think perhaps some people reviewing this product thought these were standard chalk pastels. These are water soluble pastels. They are a little harder than regular chalk pastels, but softer than woodless colored pencils (which these are NOT). They can easily be blended with a finger or tortillion, they can be brushed over with a wet brush for watercolor effects, AND you can use the sticks like pan watercolors - just drag a wet brush across to pick up the color. In the two rows of swatches on the left, I put down color from the sticks, then used a water brush to blend out half the swatch. I then rubbed my finger over the other half, blending the colors easily. The two rows of swatches on the right are where I used the polycrayons as pan watercolors, rubbing a wet brush on each stick and painting with it. The only negatives I see with this set are the lack of pigment and lightfastness info, but this is not priced at the level of professional artist materials, so I wouldn't expect that info at this price. I'm assuming they are not lightfast. All in all, this is a good mix of vibrant colors in an easy-to-use and versatile format. I highly recommend them. And at just over $1 per stick, the price is great!

these are great WOODLESS colored pencils. They are NOT soft. Not as represented, as if the manufacturer doesn't even know what product they are selling. Just bizarre. Using them for students with zentangle and adult coloring pages.

I just simply love them as they r wonderful! They are just what I was hoping they would be. They are fun to use & easy to use also.

Pibtura

Li usa mio figlio per le sue lezioni d’arte e sono veramente un buon prodotto

I love these! My friend had a twelve pack which I loved so I bought the twenty four pack for more colours. I love that you can scratch the pastel with a knife onto wet canvas and it creates a splatter effect. I really like Lyra products too bad they aren't found in stores like other bigger brands.

Ordinato la sera, arrivato la mattina.Uauh!Conoscevo già la qualità di questi gessetti superiori alla media.Fantastici da usare e belli

Très bon rapport qualité/prix. Suffisant pour réaliser mes fonds de coloriages ! Pour ceux et celles qui ne voudraient pas se ruiner, tout en testant la technique des pastels.