Pastels and Pencils: Post photos and reviews of what you use!

uneven color, I just went ahead and bought some Unison pastels from Dick Blick. They are handmade and pricey, but I was able to buy just the colors I wanted ($4.00 ea.) but I hear they are as smooth as a dream. They even have pre-made sets for caucasian, African American, Native American etc. tones! I figure hundreds of dollars for a doll, I could afford the finer pastels for a faceup. I'll let you guys know how they work soon!!

 

Just wanted to add that I would NOT recommend Loew Cornell Soft Pastels. The grain of some of the pastels is VERY large, making even application difficult at best.

I'm currently trying out Prismacolor Nupastels, and so far they're working well. Very hard and dry, so I have to scrape them some to get enough pigment on my brush, but the extremely fine grain is worth it. They don't go on particularly vividly, so if you're looking for a softer, more natural faceup, they'd work well.

And of course, Liquitex. Yaaay Liquitex! They're lovely, although a little fast-drying on the palette (also on the doll, which is often a very good thing).

 

I agree with Nupastels; I got a set for my birthday and they're brilliant IMO

 

Wow, these pastels are like a dream!! They are so soft that there is no need for sanding them down or crushing them! The colors flow like dust particles and go on so smoothly right off of the stick. And I only bought the colors I will use, not every color under the rainbow!! I bought a mixture of American Indian (for my Manos) and Caucasian sticks which at $4.00 ea from Dick Blick were a good deal. The sticks are quite large and the coverage is intense, only a tiny bit on my brush did the job nicely, and they blend beautifully!! I did a whole faceup and the sticks look like they haven't been used yet! I really recommend these! A dream!! Thanks for listening!

 

I'm interested in grabbing up some PanPastels to try them out as a regular art medium... but I must ask!

Does anyone know if their safe for face-ups? I think their soft pastels, but I was hoping someone could confirm?

They look so neat!

 

If they are not chalk pastels you shouldn't used it. The oil damage the resin... Check on the ingredients before using them

 

hello!

I own panpastels and have used them on faceups without any problems, go ahead and have fun! (just seal your resin first!)

 

Neat! I didn't think they were oil pastels (which is great, because oil pastels hate me anyway, regardless of if I considered using them for face-ups or not XD)... but it's nice to get some confirmation! The internet was failing to give me much in the way of answers...

do they cover and blend well?

 

Yes they do, they go on very smooth and not blotchy at all. The colors can be very intense too, so be careful how much pastel you put on. A little goes a long way!

I have about 48 colors of panpastels and find some on them to be very similar. If you were to buy a specific set, i'd suggest the 'portrait' set which has some very nice browns and natural skin colors. You could then buy individual 'makeup-ish' colors. You certainly don't need 48 colors, don't worry about that!

The colors can be applied with a brush on the sponge tools they give with the sets although I suggest going for the more traditional brush method.

Hope it helped!

 

I used PanPastels before I switched to Rembrants and I really really liked them. They go on really smooth.

 

I use for pencils Caran d'hache supracolor soft: http://www.carandache.ch/m/la-couleur/artistes-et-professionnels/les-crayons/supracolor/index.lbl , it's that fine? I'm go fine but I want to be sure.. Thank you!

 

Where can I buy these ProArt brand pastels?

 

I've just ordered som pastels, the Gallery ones that there's a pic of, but someone mentioned something about pastels that were packed into a square form being bad, but didn't state why.

 

I use Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils and some REALLY cheap soft pastels I got (like, they were $12NZD a box of 30, which is like $9USD) and they work alright for me! I love the Inktense pencils, as if you put a little water on the tip they become inky (hence the name) and end up with really bright colours and they go on really easy. The pastels take a coat or two to get the colours the way I like, but that doesn't worry me too much. I also have really bright student pastels that I bought for an art course, which I use if I want really bright colours for eye make up etc.
At an artstore I go to they have pre-ground pastel dust that a company makes, and it is really tempting to see whether that is any good, especially as they have some gorgeous natural colours that would work well!

 

Yes let the debate begin!

For doing face ups a lot of people use pastels. Scraping the sticks with a blade, then even crushing the powder so that it becomes fine to get an even spread. I have heard good and bad, and okay stories of what pastels to use, but I didn't find a master thread about them.

So fill out this little form or just give your thoughts and tips!

• Brand Name:
• Where you got it:
• Price:
• How even was it?:
• Needed a lot or few layers?:
• looked good or bad? (not due to your painting techniques, but how the product looked on the resin):
• Easy or hard to use?:
• Quality?:
• Other?:

 

I'm too lazy to do the form. To preface, I always scrape some pastel off, chop it up with a blade if it's not already powdery enough, then I dust it on.


I've use three pastels: Mungyo economy pastels ($5 for a whole lot), Mungyo Gallery pastels ($15 for 15 full sticks) and Rembrandt pastels ($40 for 40 half sticks) and even though Rembrandt is higher quality, I really love Mungyo Gallery pastels. Mungyo economy pastels were awful, they're way too hard and full of fillers, but the Gallery pastels are soft and have rich color. They usually go on quite smooth but I find the base coat is more of a factor in going on right than the pastels (unless you're using something full of hard fillers, of course). I'd definitely recommend Mungyo Gallery for the quality and price. I know there are some better pastels that are softer and have more pigment, but they're a little out of my price range right now. Oh, and you can get these all at Hobby Lobby or any art store.

 

I second the Mungyo Gallery pastels, they've worked wonders on my boys.

 

Mungyo eh? Thanks, haven't heard of that one. there is a German named one that I saw several people liked over at resinality. Anyone tried those?

 

* Brand Name: Rembrandt
* Where you got it: Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Specialty/fine arts stores
* Price: Depends on the amount of colors and lengths, I think it was $90 for my newest set of 30, half lengths. I had a 40% off coupon though. ^^
* How even was it?: When shaving them into powder correctly, they go on very even.
* Needed a lot or few layers?: I usually don't. Some colors are more vivid than others, but that's the minerals at work.
* looked good or bad? (not due to your painting techniques, but how the product looked on the resin): Good. Though if the head has rough spots, the pastel picks up on it real easily, then it's hard to get it to look smooth.
* Easy or hard to use?: After practice of mixing the colors, very easy.
* Quality?: They're very fine. Don't have filler elements. Like sometimes pastels have rough little bits that emerge when trying to draw with them. These don't.
* Other?: My experience with them has been a very good one. They're very fine, smooth, and the colors are nice and vivid. It will take some practice mixing colors, but they do last a long while. Except white. I find myself needing more white more often than other colors.

 

Another vote here for Mungyo. I got this set from Leeke. Very inexpensive, and nice to use.

 

Rhembrandts. I've never even tried another brand of pastel. The richness of the pigments is amazing. I buy them from an art store so I get them one at a time as the need arrises.

 

Brand Name: PanPastels
Where you got it: dickblick.com
Price: Depends, mine was a set of 10 that ran me about 20-25
How even was it?: Fantasticly so, its already in a more powder form so very easy to work with.
Needed a lot or few layers?: Just a few, covers very well.
looked good or bad? (not due to your painting techniques, but how the product looked on the resin): Looked good!
Easy or hard to use?: Easy, SUPER easy.
Quality?: High
Other?: They come with sponges and tools to apply the pastel to paper, they work very much like paints in a lot of ways. But I like to use brushes, and Q-tips and sometimes cotton balls.
http://www.panpastel.com/

 

• Brand Name: General's multi Pastel: http://www.dickblick.com/products/g...google&wmcid=products&wmckw=21954-0129#photos
• Where you got it: Michael's crafts
• Price: really affordable, i think $11
• How even was it?: terribly uneven
• Needed a lot or few layers?: 2 layers was a nice natural look
• looked good or bad? : looked ok, not great. It was very hard to get an even color
• Easy or hard to use?: very hard to use, too dry and hard
• Quality?: not great for bjd's, if your in a pinch you can give it a shot though
• Other?: next time I plan to invest in rembrandt's. the main problem with general's was getting it powdery and fine. it is very compressed and hard and dry.

 

Brand name: Rembrandt
Where you got it: Local art supply store (Prism)
Price: Set of 30 1/2 sticks was $20 on sale
How even was it?: Usually it's lovely, but even the most tiny imperfection in the resin or sealant make it clump up. This is extremely hard to undo.
Needed a lot or a few layers?: Usually just one or two, depends on what color I start with and what shade I'm going for.
Looked good or bad:Most of the time it looks great - it is MUCH better than the Prismacolor pastels I used in the past - but it does seem to be extremelyl sensitive to any rough spots.
Easy or hard to use: Very easy. I like to rub it on some sketch paper and pick up the excess with my brush. This works really well with these pastels, though with the old Prismacolors it was better to use the craft knife method.
Quality: Pretty darn good! I've stuck with them for two boxes-worth now
Other: I was lucky enough to get mine on sale both times I've bought it, but I would definitely play full price for them.

 

That was my problem with Rembrandt. It was very unforgiving when it came to imperfect sealant. Mungyo Gallery was a lot easier to put down, smoother IMO when it comes to putting colour down. Rembrandt does have the upper edge when it comes to colour mixing though. Really, they're both good. I have both sets still and I use them both for different things.

 

Brand name: ZM make Pastles
Where you got it: Volks
Price: $9.00
How even was it?: *Shakes head* It didn't go on at all! I sprayed a before coat, an after coat, I tried it when it was wet...anyone have any idea what I might have done wrong?
Needed a lot or a few layers?: After 5 layers and nothing happening, I gave up.
Easy or hard to use: Hard.
Quality: Poor, Unless i'm doing something wrong.
Other: I might have used them wrong...being my first time...but It did nothing.

 

Anyone ever tried prisma colors nupastels?

 

• Brand Name: Schmincke
• Where you got it: art store or online
• Price:$5-$6 per stick
• How even was it?:very very smooth
• Needed a lot or few layers?: goes on very well
• looked good or bad? (not due to your painting techniques, but how the product looked on the resin): looks good
• Easy or hard to use?: very easy..super soft with almost no binder so getting it powdery is easy
• Quality?: excellent
• Other?: also use Windsor and Newton... good but not quite as good as Schmincke.... found rembrandts quite hard in comparison

 

Zoukeimura from Volks. 23SGD for a set of 5. It's soft so no need to use an exacto knife to scrape at the pastels. It's brushes right onto the brush. Great quality and easy to use.

 

another question for you guys. Favorite fixative to use with pastels, Mr. super clear? Testors?

 

For beginners I have found that the chalk pastels from Walmart work quite well. not as fantastic quality and they may get a little blotchy if aplied to heavily but i have used those in addition to the ZM pastels quite sucessfuly. the wally world pastels are VERY soft.

I also use the ZM finishing powder, love its texture and it works well for me (have had a few faceups get ruined when it came time to gloss but i chalk that up to user error.

 

• Brand Name: Loew Cornell
• Where you got it: Michaels
• Price: Around $30 for 48 colored chalk pastels. May have gone up since I got these.
• How even was it?: I had very nice, even results.
• Needed a lot or few layers?: Just two layers gave me very rich color depth
• Looked good or bad?: I think it looks quite nice
• Easy or hard to use?: Medium. Colors mix nicely once powdered, and go on smoothly and evenly, but it can be hard to powder.
• Quality?: Not so great. Very hard and flaky, break easily, tends to break into granules instead of powdering smoothly. On the up side, the color through the pastel stick seems to be very smooth and very even, so there's no surprise pockets of differing color.
• Other?: The biggest issues seem to be that they can be very difficult to reduce to a powder for blushing, and that the powder doesn't always go on very true to the color the powder seems to be. I've had great results, but I've developed my own tricks for working with them. For one, I choose a color two shades darker than what I think will work when I'm mixing colors. This usually results in the shade I wanted, and if it's too dark, it's pretty easy to mix a little white pastel into it to mellow it out. The other trick I have is that I use an ink grinding stone (for sumi-e inks) to grind up the pastel. It's easy to scrape it back and forth in the grinding stone's hollowed tray, and my stone came with a marble block meant to crush lumps, so I go over the scraped pastel with the crushing block, and it gives me good results. For the price of them, though, you're better off getting a set of Mungyo pastels.
• Sealant of choice: This is a bad one for me to answer because I've only used two for sealing pastels. Testors Dullcote is my primary sealant of choice, simply because it's cheap, readily available, and it's worked very well for me in a variety of projects - Not just my dolls. A friend recently introduced me to Liquitex matte varnish. It's a more delicate finish than Testors seems to be, and it could only be because it has to be airbrushed on, but the tooth of the finish was AMAZING.

 

I use Prismacolor NuPastel. I see nothing wrong with how it is when shaved other than sometimes too much pressure gives you big chunks and the consistency of the pastels differ... like I have a difficult/hard puprle but white and tan were easy/soft. Needed more force to shave the hard feeling colors. Other than that, applying them is easy, and the colors I use are pretty beautiful, considering I get most of them from the basic set being mixed.

 

I have a question!
I bought a set of mungyo gallery soft pastels, but I was wondering if they were safe to use on resin since they didn't say "chalk" on them and they didn't say "oil" on them so I am very confused as to what they are since they just say "soft".
They did have another set that said "oil soft" so I stayed far away from those.

 

I was just going to ask about the chalk pastels from Walmart...as I was wondering if I could use those. Awesome and thanks for that tidbit of info.

 

• Brand Name: Sennelier
• Price: $3 for a full stick, bought by piece, Set of 40 half sticks $40, portrait set 40 for $40.00
• How even was it?: Very
• Needed a lot or few layers?: Few
• looked good or bad? Gorgeous.
• Easy or hard to use?: Easy.
• Quality?: High Quality
• Other?: Vibrant, intense pigment. Looks lit from within. It takes so little product to do so much. I didn't buy them from here, because I have been using the same set for close to a decade, but this is one place :http://www.aswexpress.com/discount-...nnelier.html?gclid=CMSEosae3KcCFQgHbAodhVK89g

 

Yes, I use these...^u^ They are nice, but I'd think not the best. The colors aren't very strong, but other than that they're generally good and inexpensive. I haven't tried any other brand, but to so far even with my limited color palette I am doing pretty well with them just by mixing. Easy to use, but lots of layers needed and I believe I got them from Michael's along with that brand of watercolor pencils. I usually scribble patches on a piece of paper with the colors I want and dab at them with the brush that way rather than shaving like I used to. It seems easier and more clean.

 

Brand Name: Sennelier
Where you got it: Ebay
Price: $12 for a set of 24 demi sticks
How even was it?: Fairly even, I used a semi-firm paint brush to apply
Needed a lot or few layers?: Few layers. One layer can be quite dark and vivid
looked good or bad? (not due to your painting techniques, but how the product looked on the resin): Very good on resin
Easy or hard to use?: Easy, no scraping or sanding. I directly rubbed my brush on the pastels.
Quality?: Gorgeous! Very high quality, vivid, soft, and nicely blendable
Other?: I used it with Testors dullcote. I mention this so you know what I was working with as far as surface I got smooth color that was vivid and layered easily without actual coating between the layers. ( Meaning I just kept applying pastel, with no spraying and it got darker). I have not used MSC or ZM finishing powder. I also live in a very hot dry climate.

 

Rembrandt pastels are awesome. You can get them at just about any art supply store, sometimes by the stick, sometimes by the box. The pigment content is wonderful and they are sooo rich!

 

Brand Name: Derwent
Where you got it: Micheals
Price: I can't remember, but I think it was $30 for 12 sticks
How even was it?: Goes on smooth and even
Needed a lot or few layers?: To achieve darker color, then yeah you need multiple layers.
looked good or bad? (not due to your painting techniques, but how the product looked on the resin): Varies from resin color. I used them on tan, white, and normal resin and it comes out nicely.
Easy or hard to use?: Easy
Quality?: I been using Derwent products for some time now. Their products are good artist quality and never failed me yet.
Other?: Small set contains bright vivid colors, if you want more natural colors, you will want the bigger set that can ranged from $40-60 depending on where you buy them.

 

Brand Name: Prismacolor Nupastel (I use ZM finishing powder with these)
Where you got it: from Plaza Art Supply (Richmond, VA) and then Micheals (Charlottesville, VA)
Price: See Below
How even was it?: It has always been very even to coat for me
Needed a lot or few layers?: it usually needs at least two layers for a light coat for me, but I also then do things very...vibrant, so I use possibly 3-5 layers per section.
looked good or bad? : They've always looked fantastic to me.
Easy or hard to use?: very easy, I use a box cutter razor to get a tiny tiny bit of powder at a time.
Quality?: They always seem decent to me, however, they are very soft and you should be aware of that.

Other?: Micheals charges an arm and a leg for Prismacolor products. If you have coupons, use them. If you can stand to wait from an online shop, that might be better. I used to buy them as individual sticks for less than to a dollar to two dollars a piece from Plaza (online they charge $1.30, and I did have a frequent customer card though too), but recently got a set of 24 so I have more rounded pallet and a place to store them neatly, with my other regular colors in a different box. The sticks themselves are very fragile and will easily snap in your hand, and you barely need to put pressure to scrape powder into a pile (at least, that's how I do it, because I mostly mix colors together). They do seem to mix into thins like Liquitex gloss very easily if you are doing the powdering methods. Also with the softness, they tend to attract fragments of the other colors they are stored with to them, I suggest a quick gentle clean off with a piece of tissue before you go for your color.
I probably don't have the skills to really do them justice, but here's a bit about how I use them: The first layer or two of color tends to look very thin on resin, but can be built up to very deep colors. I also tend to work in layers of colors, below the places I want deep red on my boy, I'll put down one or two layers of hotish pink to really turn it up. A little light color under the darker colors that you want to be rich tends to push it out more in my experience.
A favorite feature of mine with Prisma is their number ID for the color is written on the actual instrument, in this case, it is pressed into the sticks. This makes it really easy to buy the individual replacements.

 

Brand: Artist's Loft Soft Pastels.
From Where: Michael's.
Price: $4.99 for 36 full sticks. (They were on sale.)
How Even?: Pretty even.
How Many Layers: Four or five. They don't stick to resin too well.
Appearance on Resin: Decent. They look VERY splotchy if you have imperfect sealant, though.
Ease of Use: Kinda easy.
Quality: Not bad. They make a somewhat fine powder when they're scraped off.
Other: I don't like having to do multiple layers of sealant for them to stick. :C Bought the below pastels because I was not satisfied.


Brand: Faber-Castell Artist's Quality Soft Pastels.
From Where: Michael's. (this set)
Price: $7.50 for 24 half sticks. (I had a 50% off coupon.)
How Even?: Even-ish. They clump up occasionally.
How Many Layers: One for a natural look; two or three for bright, bold colors.
Appearance on Resin: Good.
Ease of Use: Not easy, but not difficult. When scraped off, they make a very fine powder.
Quality: Good.

 

Has someone experience with 'van Gogh' pastels? We have those already at home. But I'm already happy that Dewert and Rembrandt pastels are tested as good. I can at least buy those here in the Netherlands.

 

* Brand Name: PanPastel
* Where you got it: Blick (art supply store)
* Price: $30 for a set of ten, roughly $5 for individual colors
* How even was it?: Incredibly smooth.
* Needed a lot or few layers?: Need a few layers for intense colors, more subtle tones, just one.
* looked good or bad? (not due to your painting techniques, but how the product looked on the resin): Very smooth, great coverage and blends beautifully. Haven't had any trouble with blotchiness when using darker tones or several layers of pastel.
* Easy or hard to use?: Super super soft, just a dab loads up the brush. No need for powdering as they come in a make up style pan.
* Quality?: Fantastic
* Other?: I really wish I had bought these sooner. I've only had the chance to use them once and they give me itchy fingers to repaint all my dolls.

 

I don't know if you still need to know, but your pastels are "safe" As long as it says "soft pastel" it means chalk pastels and not oil pastels. You feel the difference too, oil pastels are much more oily and grimy and stick to your fingers. Chalk/soft pastels feel like...well, chalk lol.
Oh and thank you so much for your detailed description Ice Mutt, your tips are really useful!

 

Has anyone used the Blick brand soft pastels?

 

I also use prismacolor nupastels, also. I've only attempted a faceup twice so far, so I don't feel like I have much to contribute. They seem to go on very thin and need a couple of coats, but the colors are very pretty and they're easy to mix. I have nupastels from my freshmen classes in art school, so I might need to replace them because they are quite old, and it's a rather small set.

 

I have finally gotten around to doing my very own fade up. I used Prisma colors soft pastels.

I used a coat of mr. super clear first and the pastels went on very well! a little expensive, (lucky for me it was on sale) and I wasn't sure what colors I was getting as the box didn't have a picture....

 

I have tried two brands of pastels for faceups and had good results from both: Holbein and Sennelier. Both are available from art supply stores; I lucked out and got my Holbein full set at an artist's workshop a few years ago for half price. Good color and even coverage from both. Sennelier are softer, chalkier, although some colors seem composed mainly of irregular hard bits that tear the paper if I try to draw with them. I bought a set of half-sticks just to try them; I wouldn't buy them again. Holbein are my pastels of choice. They are uniformly smooth and firm, not as dusty as some brands, with intense pigment. A little goes a long way. (Note that these are Holbein's soft pastels. They also make an oil pastel, which does not go with resin.)

The Sennelier are so soft that I merely run my brush along the side of the sticks to load up on all the color I need. Because the Holbein are harder, I scrape pigment off with a craft knife and then pick up the color with a brush. (I confess, I haven't tried to brush the Holbein sticks directly. I'll do that next time.) Both brands blend beautifully. I noticed no change in color with either brand after spraying with Mr. Super Clear, which is the only brand of sealer I have tried.

A good way to discover what brand of pastel works for you is to buy open stock at an art supply store. Buy a few colors from two or three different brands and see which ones you like and which ones you don't. That way you don't have to invest in a set that either doesn't work well with resin or else has a lot of colors you'll never use.

 

Brand Name: Prismacolor NuPastels
Where you got it: Hobby Lobby likely
Price: Unknown (but you can expect to pay a lot more for these than for others)
How even was it?: I always felt it went on very evenly, compared to other pastels/materials I've used.
Needed a lot or few layers?: While I feel it depends on what you're going for, I usually use about 2-3 layers for my face-ups, and 1-2 layers for body blushing.
Looked good or bad? (not due to your painting techniques, but how the product looked on the resin): I feel they look really well, both in person and in pictures.
Easy or hard to use?: Relatively easy.
Quality?: Very nice.
Other?: As previously stated, these pastel sticks can be quite soft, and I've even just ran the brush over them to get color on the bristles. If you're willing to pay the amount, I'd definitely recommend them.

 

Thanks so much Zomboid I really appreciate it!!

I just wanted to say That I really enjoy my Mungyo Gallery Soft pasteles
I love them alot! There very vibrant and beautiful!
I bought them at Hoby lobby
I'm sorry I don't remember how much they cost
They went on very evenly
It didn't take very many layers 1-3
I think it came out really well!!
They were very good quality I think
They were verrrrry easy to use I was able to just rub them on paper and use that and it didn't take much! I love them very much much! So I highly recommend them!!
Extra: stay away from the oil soft!!! Not the same thing
I checked this with Zomboid! Thanks again for that!

 

Has anyone any experiences with Kooh-i-Noor Hardmuth pastels?

I'm considering a hybrid, so I may end up body-blushing the difference (doing a face-up is a bit out of my league), may I ask how wide palette do use use for blushing?

 

I have these pastels: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002NL6H0Q/ref=oss_product

Inscribe Pastels. My friend who is a face-up artist uses them and I've found them to be excellent. (I was pleased to see similar ones used by professionals earlier in this thread too! )

And for pencils, I bought this set: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0014E6OXI/ref=oss_product

Staedtler Karat Aquarell Watercolour pencils. I partially chose them because my artist friend who was with me at the time said that Staedtler were a good brand and I thought that Watercolour pencils were the appropriate ones for the job. 70% off a £75 set of pencils helped sway me a lot too though!! (They're still on sale I think )

I think they should be pretty good - I'm terrible at face-ups but I'd like to learn ^_^

 

I use Liquitex Acrylics for eyelash and eyebrow hair detail, Gold Airbrush paint for blushing and eyeshadow, and Pan Pastels for detail eyebrow blushing. However Liquitex does dry very quickly when I'm working with it which I do NOT like. I may be trying out how guoache or watercolors works out for eyelash and brow hairs. Hopefully I get good results

 

As a newbie this is a great thread of info. Dumb question tho, when you scratch off the color from the pastel sticks do you just tap your brush into the color and then apply or do you add anything to the pastel color shavings like water? Like I said dumb question but I've never used them before.

 

You just dip your brush in into the powder Some people add gloss and paint it on but if you spray your sealant over this is takes the shine away.