Pastels

A oil pastel consists of a mixture of pigment, a stabilizer and a binder. The binder is often a wax or an oil. The special thing about oil pastels is that this material never dries up. It therefore always remains 'open' and available to start work again. You can continue to mix all the colors together.

A very nice variation on these oil pastels are the Neocolor II from Caran d'Ache . These look very similar to oil pastels, but are soluble with water! The pastels do not feel greasy and can also be used as a watercolor paint.

The soft pastels are available in beautiful sets. Soft pastels are pigment with a chalky binder. They look like 'crayons', but in the most beautiful colors.