STAEDTLER 2430 C48 zacht pastelkrijt (hoge mate van lichtbestendigheid, zachte uitstrijk, gemakkelijk uitwisbaar, kartonnen etui met 48 briljante kleuren)

I know that Steadtler isn’t the typical go-to brand for pastel artists but I was pleasantly surprised by how rich and pigmented these pastel sticks are. They’re chalky, however, comparable in quality and feel to Faber Castell student-grade pastel sticks (the cheaper version. Faber’s high end pastels are called Polychromos, like the colored pencils). If you’re looking for extra soft or creamier pastels, I would go with Mungyo handmade pastel chalks (on the cheaper side) or Kohinoor’s Giaconda extra fine pastels (moderately priced) or Sennelier extra soft pastels (high end, more expensive pastels that I almost never use despite owning a set for how pricey they are. They’re intimidating to use). But honestly for the kind of paintings I do, these work beautifully and give the desired effect. They lay down well and the dust gets fully absorbed by the paper and settles in nicely if you press and rub it into the paper, leaving almost no residue behind (unlike Conte pastel pencils for instance that leave a lot of residue that just won’t blend into the paper no matter what I do and has to be tapped off the page). The less dust residue, the better (since inhaling pastel dust is unhealthy on the long run and can irritate the lungs).

I purchased these to use in my adult colouring books for backgrounds and they are lovely. I usually grate a small amount off with a knife and then use either a cotton wool ball or pad to colour the area. There is a lovely variety of colours as you would expect from a collection of 48 and I have found that a little goes a long way. I am not an artist by any means, but I love the effect you get when using them in colouring books. I was very lucky and bought them when they were on offer, but I am not sure I would pay the full price for them just to use for backgrounds.

I purchased a small set of Staedtler's excellent soft pastels and loved them so much, I decided to go for the largest set- currently, it is their 48 pc set. These are rectangular, so they won't slide off your tables, robust, lay down smoothly, and the colours are lovely. Typical of soft pastels, they layer and blend nicely, and their largest set does offer a nice assortment of colours with not too many colour gaps. Even if there are slight gaps, these blend beautifully, so combining colours to get new and unique shades shouldn't be a problem, and most artists have other brands of soft pastels at their reach, so this is not too much of a concern.Usually when I purchase soft pastels, I do test them out, and compare them to other brands, and these stand up well to even the most expensive soft pastels I own such as Rembrandt, Sennelier, Conte, Schmincke, and Koh-i-Noor. I also noticed some of the colours/pigments are even more vibrant than some of these other brands. For instance, the Staedtler black, a side by side comparison highlighted it's vivid, and intensely rich pigment.These come in sets of 12, 24, 36, 48, and are priced medium to high to extremely high (premium), depending on where they are purchased. I was able to get great pricing here at Amazon.ca for the 48 pc set. So I recommend to check regularly for the sales.The negatives are minor, and my main issue is not really with the product, but with Staedtler, as the marketing and their product launches remain confusing. Here in Canada, they have various soft pastels with different packaging being sold on various websites, and locations. For instance, a local art store (in the Greater Toronto area) sells the packs of 12 & 24 but the packaging is different; the Staedtler websites sell the Staedtler "Karat" soft pastel chalks (again different packaging), while the more current set appears to be for their *new* "Design Journey" product line. Are all of these the same product or do they differ in formula, quality? I would like to know. Staedtler has a habit of doing this, and I have the exact same inquiry about their oil pastels (same exact scenario).The lightfastness (resistance to fading) of this product is also not clear. Staedtler's website, and their social media accounts, does state these pigments are lightfast, which is great. However there are no details such as L/F ratings included. Their websites are also devoid of this information. Are all the pigments lightfast? I guess we'll have to take their word on this. For those that require more information pertaining to their lightfastness, I recommend you send them an email, or drop in a question in their Instagram (they are good at responding from what I have seen). With that said, these soft pastels are highly pigmented, vibrant, smooth, blend effortlessly, have a dynamic output, have a reasonable colour selection, and stand up well to even the most premium brands. Although they are nowhere near as soft as the renown and expensive Sennelier's or Schmincke's, these are a lot more firm and durable, yet the pigments remain rich, so it's the best of both worlds; I have not been disappointed yet, and I doubt many will be. I do wish Staedtler would expand on the colour selection to avoid any colour gaps, but overall, a good quality product, and is recommended to anyone wanting to get their artistic hands on good quality soft pastels.

Fabrication de poupées

These are very nice chalk pastels. Soft, rich, blendable colors. (5 stars for the pastels.)I just wish the box were more sturdy. It arrived squashed and torn in a couple of corners, but the chalks were, fortunately, not damaged. Given the high quality of these chalks, as well as the beefy price, one expects the product box to be sturdier and more conducive to long-term storage of the materials. Come on, Staedtler, step up! (1 star for the box.)