Which Pastel Pencils Work Best On Which Paper?
There’s no prize for guessing which pastel pencils and pastel sticks are my favourite – just looking at that delicious photo!! But, the point of this blog is not what is my favourite but which pastel pencils work best on which paper. Between myself and the lovely helpful Judy, a member of my art classes we realised we had just about every brand of pastel pencil on the market. So we got together to do some testing.
First of all, a little disclaimer: We didn’t test every single colour and within a brand the softness can vary due to which elements the colour is created with
Lets find out which pastel pencils work best on which paper. The papers below from left to right (or top to bottom) are blue Ingres paper, off white Pastelmat Card and yellow Velour Paper on the end. We tested the following pastel pencils as a block of colour then with a lighter colour on top and then Unison Soft Pastels with pastel pencil on top: Derwent, Caran D’Ache, Faber Castell Pitt, Bruynzeel, Carbothello, Cretacolor, Koh-i-noor, Conte A Paris and Engross Penart (very cheap pastel pencils I found on Ebay. Please do not buy these you WILL be wasting your money. They crumble really well!).
DERWENT
Block of colour: Good coverage on Pastelmat and Ingres but pigment was paler than pastelmat. On velour poorer coverage with similar pressure and paler pigment than the Pastelmat.
Pencil over the block of colour: One layer of lighter pastel pencil over the top was not very good.
Pencil over Unison block of colour: better coverage than over the pencil. Unison pastels are very soft and lay more pigment down than a pencil.
CARAN D’ACHE
Block of colour: Good coverage on all 3 papers and all the same strength of colour.
Pencil over the block of colour: Pencil worked well over 1 layer on the Pastelmat and paper, a couple of layers required on the Velour before it worked well.
Pencil over Unison block of colour: Pencil worked well over 1 layer on the Pastelmat and paper, a couple of layers required on the Velour.
FABER CASTELL
Block of colour: Good coverage on Pastelmat and Velour but pigment was slightly paler on Inges paper. On velour poorer coverage with similar pressure and paler pigment than the Pastelmat.
Pencil over the block of colour: Worked equally well on all 3 papers
Pencil over Unison block of colour: Worked best on Pastelmat, quite poor on Velour.
BRUYNZEEL
Block of colour: Good coverage on all 3 papers
Pencil over the block of colour: Good coverage on all 3 papers
Pencil over Unison block of colour: Good coverage on all 3 papers
CARBOTHELLO
Block of colour: Great on Pastelmat and Ingre, Velour was very poor.
Pencil over the block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres and terrible on Velour.
Pencil over Unison block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres and Velour was terrible.
CRETACOLOR
Block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres and Velour was very pale and difficult to get coverage
Pencil over the block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, not good on Ingres and terrible on Velour.
Pencil over Unison block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres and Velour was very pale and difficult to get coverage.
KOH-I-NOOR
Block of colour: Good coverage on all 3 papers
Pencil over the block of colour: Good coverage on all 3 papers
Pencil over Unison block of colour: Good coverage on all 3 papers
CONTE
Block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres -slightly paler and Velour was very pale and difficult to get coverage
Pencil over the block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres and terrible on Velour.
Pencil over Unison block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres and Velour was suprisingly good.
ENGROSS PENART
Block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres and Velour was very pale and difficult to get coverage
Pencil over the block of colour: Best on Pastelmat but not as good as others, not good on Ingres and terrible on Velour.
Pencil over Unison block of colour: Great on Pastelmat, good on Ingres and Velour was very pale and difficult to get coverage.
BUT I DON’T RECOMMEND THESE. THEY ARE CHEAP AND CONSTANTLY BREAK!
Hmmmm Did this test answer the question – Which pastel pencils work best on which paper?
This was a very straight forward simple test and as we were conducting it I was realising it’s shortfalls. I do not work with pastel pencils in this simple way. For example, the results show that Caran D’Ache is good on Pastelmat but how will it layer with multiple layers. I have found them to be problematic because they are very soft. However, Pastelmat is not my paper of choice and the one that I’ve had most experience with. With a little more practice and some lighter layers, this combination may work for me.
So which paper and which pencil brand should you use together? It’s a really tough question and the only person that can answer that is you. Because despite these results there will always be artists who will disagree and in fact, i know artists that use certain pastels and pencils that I find impossible to use on Velour. It is down to technique and honing your skills.
My best advice
Choose 3 to 5 pencils of each brand and work out which ones suit your style best. Most artist end up with a range of brands simply because it gives them better colour choices. For example, I am finding that the Bruynzeel and Koh-i-Noor pastel pencils work great on velour but they only have 48 in the set. Whereas Caran D’ache have a range of 84 and the colour choices are delightful.
Sue is a Soft Pastel Artist and International Tutor from England UK
She's passionate about soft pastel art and teaching her students from around the globe.
"Art makes my heart sing and my soul smile"
Please send guide.
I’m new to pastels and really need help to learn from scratch. Thank you
Considering using unison soft pastel and wondered which pastel pencil and paper is best
Hi Alison, the best paper is pastelmat and most pastel pencils are fine. Look at Faber Castell and Carbothello. You can download my free resources here: https://skhportraits.co.uk/free-resources/
Hi thinking of going over to Pastelmat as keep reading good comments about it. Also changing to pencil as opposed to chalks which I’ve used on Velour and would appreciate your comments.
Thanks
Hi Peter, Pastelmat is certainly a great paper to use, especially if you love detail.
I am a complete beginner to drawing , after retirement.
I have learned that colour brings excitement to a drawing and certainly you need to use pastels for detail but it will only ‘happen’ if you use the best suited paper.