What brand of Pastels for pigment work.

[dshavers]

So i'm looking to get some artist pastels for doing some pigment work, and I was curious if the quality of pastel really matters when selecting what brand to go with. Blick has so many different sets ranging from inexpensive to crazy. My local hobby store (Michaels) has a few sets that are super cheap but not sure about the quality. Seeing as pastels are pigments based, I'm assuming that a higher pigmented brand would work better.

 

[freakinacage]

higher the pigment, the better but mine were a couple of quid form lidl's and have been very happy with the results

 

[dshavers]

that's what I was thinking...The good thing is that I can buy them individualy so I can afford to spend a bit more if I have to since I only need a few colors.

higher the pigment, the better but mine were a couple of quid form lidl's and have been very happy with the results

 

[Dragonsreach]

higher the pigment, the better but mine were a couple of quid form lidl's and have been very happy with the results

Ended up with Faber & Castell from a local Hobbycraft store. £1.50 in a sale and I could cherry pick the colours I wanted.

 

[Ghudra]

I use Prismacolor's NuPastels. They are easy to work with & give excellent results. They go for about $1 apiece from most art stores.

 

[akaranseth]

Why don't you buy dry pigment instead? Either the Mig, Vallejo, Forgeworld, Secret Weapon or any other brand you can find in art stores. Just make sure they are really fine pigment. This way you will have better quality pigment. They will cover more and will be so much easier to work with. Pastel contains arabic gum as a binding and I really don't recommend it. You want dry pigments for weathering get dry pigments.

 

[Einion]

Why don't you buy dry pigment instead?

Maybe because it's cheaper, sometimes much cheaper, not to?

Pastel contains arabic gum as a binding and I really don't recommend it. You want dry pigments for weathering get dry pigments.

The MIG pigments are reportedly not just pigment.

Einion

 

[Ghudra]

Why don't you buy dry pigment instead? Either the Mig, Vallejo, Forgeworld, Secret Weapon or any other brand you can find in art stores.

Mig, Vallejo, Forgeworld (aka Warpigs), & Secret Weapon only come in a limited range of colors. I would, however, highly recommend the Mig metallics. PearlEx has some interesting metallics too if you want to get outside the box a bit.

For as much as the "binders are bad" argument gets parroted around, it's worth noting that pastel manufacturers use a wide variety of binding agents. Frankly, pastel solubility is more important.

Chances are, if you're not buying Crayola, you're probably fine.

 

[Einion]

For as much as the "binders are bad" argument gets parroted around...

It does? New to me; good to know anyway.

Personally I would have though that having something that helped hold the pigment to the surface was a good thing... :glasses-cool:

The difference in colour selection is another important point, although of course you can blend powders at will the number of possible colours in pastel is humongous. These and a couple of other points raised here.

Einion

 

[dshavers]

Hey Mathieu,

I actually needed them to finish a project I was doing for work, so I had to find something local. I ended up getting some nice heavy pigment pastels at Blick that work really well. Unfortunately, I've been sick, so I haven't had much time to work on it.

Why don't you buy dry pigment instead? Either the Mig, Vallejo, Forgeworld, Secret Weapon or any other brand you can find in art stores. Just make sure they are really fine pigment. This way you will have better quality pigment. They will cover more and will be so much easier to work with. Pastel contains arabic gum as a binding and I really don't recommend it. You want dry pigments for weathering get dry pigments.