This page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full disclosure.
Are you looking for the best soft pastels to buy? Over the years, I’ve collected quite a few different brands of soft pastels. I enjoy using some more than others. And certain ones work well for certain uses better than others.
Watch me try out different brands of soft pastels on my YouTube channel.
In this video, I show the several brands. They are all artist-quality brands. Here’s my thoughts on which are the best soft pastels, and those that don’t live up to my expectations:
Nupastel
- One of the hardest soft pastels I’ve used. Some don’t consider these soft pastels at all.
- Great for making more detailed marks
- Not the best for covering large spaces
- Doesn’t blend very well
- Affordable
Daler-Rowney
- Affordable yet still decent quality
- I’d say it’s about medium softness
- Can make moderately detailed marks. Not as sharp as the Nupastels, but better than the softest pastels
- Blends okay
- Not easily available outside of the U.K. although I picked mine up a few years ago in Canada.
Schmincke
- These ones are oh so soft. The colour just glides onto the page.
- Can apply colour to a large area without much effort
- Blends just beautifully
- Since they’re so soft, you have to watch how quickly you fill up the tooth of your paper
- Fairly expensive
Art Spectrum
- About medium softness
- Blends okay
- There’s something I don’t like about how it feels when using them. They feel harder than the other medium-softness pastels and sound scratchy when using them.
- Overall, not a favourite but a decent brand for the price if you can ignore the oddness to them.
- They feel like a budget brand yet are moderately priced.
Rembrandt
- Useful for sharp lines and details
- Medium softness
- Feel nice to use
- Blends okay but nothing special
- Moderately priced
Holbein
- The square shape lends itself well to drawing lines and details
- Medium softness
- Okay at filling in large areas with colour
- Decent blending
- Nice to use
- Moderately priced
Sennelier
- Love this brand for most uses but aren’t great for fine lines or details
- Beautiful application over larger areas
- Sometimes fills up the tooth of your paper quickly, which means you also go through pastel sticks quickly
- Often the priciest brand of soft pastels
While I would never commit to just one brand of soft pastels, Schmincke and Sennelier are the best if you’re looking for beautifully soft soft pastels. They have gorgeous pigmentation and are great if you’re looking to paint a loose, impressionist pastel painting. If you’d like to add detail to your pastel paintings, I’d use those in combination with the NuPastels. If budget is your priority and you’re just looking at the affordable brands, I prefer Daler-Rowney or Rembrandt over the Art Spectrum brand.
Buy your own
These pastels are available from many art stores and on Amazon:
US
Canada
