What’s in My Box

The first version of this article was written in 2012. Since then, many new materials have appeared, so I decided to make some updates. Here’s the revised version from 2018, where I’ve included several brands that have become essential to my work and removed those I haven’t purchased since the original article.

I store all my pastels in special wooden boxes. My main working box consists of three sliding drawers, where various pastel brands are mixed together and organized by color palette.

If you’re planning to work seriously with dry pastels, one set won’t be enough.
I use a wide variety of pastel sticks, which differ in properties, quality, and manufacturers.

Let me start with my favorites.

This brand differs an excellent color palette, with plenty of muted shades: dusty pinks, soft blues, and intriguing bright tones. While it sometimes lacks deep darks, its midtones in complex hues are unparalleled!

It is one of the softest brands I’ve encountered, leaving a velvety trace on paper. It layers beautifully, allowing for multiple overlays, and its adhesion to the paper is outstanding.

Schmincke pastels are sold in sets and individually. Large sets are quite expensive, and since not every stick is frequently needed, it’s better to curate your own palette piece by piece, which is exactly what I do.

You can find more details about specific Schmincke color numbers that I often use in my works here.

In Moscow, this pastel can be purchased, for example, at Peredvizhnik.

Over the past few years, more and more Terry Ludwig pastels have found their way into my box.

This family-owned business was founded in 1995 and produces handmade pastels of exceptional quality. The color range is luxurious, offering indispensable deep dark shades in various tones and a variety of whites, ranging from cool turquoise-tinged to warm pinks. It’s incredibly important to have two light sticks side by side with their own unique hue and warmth. There is a wide selection of muted tones as well as rich, vibrant colors.

This pastel layers beautifully, even over heavily worked surfaces. If nothing else adheres to a particular layer, Terry Ludwig pastels will.

The sets are very practical. When I run out of lights, turquoise, or grays, I simply buy a set from Terry Ludwig. The sets are designed for active artists who already have preferences in color, and they are organized by close tonal ranges, which is incredibly convenient.

While not inexpensive, this pastel is worth every penny.

Unison pastels appeared in Russia relatively recently. Nowadays, they can be purchased at Krasny Karandash, but not long ago, they were only available through select international websites.

The palette is excellent, as is often the case when the founder is an artist. I always keep a stock of gray-green, olive, turquoise, and gray-blue shades from this brand.

The quality of the pastels is outstanding—they are handmade and layer beautifully, adhering exceptionally well to the paper.

Unison pastels are sold both in sets and individually, and they come in different sizes. For those just building a palette, the half-stick sets are very convenient. Unison also offers large sticks, which are twice the size of standard ones—perfect for frequently used colors. The photo shows one of these larger sticks.

Mount Vision offers an excellent balance of price and quality. The pastels have a stunning color range and come in intriguing sets. One of my favorites is "Thunderstorm." Not a single stick from this collection goes unused. The sticks are shaped like chunky barrels, adhere well to surfaces, and layer beautifully.

I don’t have many of these pastels in my palette.

The colors are beautiful, and the pastels are soft, almost oily. However, in my multilayered work, they sometimes don’t apply as I’d like on certain layers or surfaces. Overall, this nuance is hardly noticeable because the quality of the pastels is excellent. That said, if I had to choose between other premium brands, I would still prefer Terry Ludwig, Schmincke, or Unison.

I’ve loved this pastel for a long time due to its color range and quality. It’s not the softest pastel, but it’s not hard either, often serving as the perfect compromise between these properties. The colors in the sets are excellent, such as the Cool Selection. Individual sticks are also available, though not in Moscow.

This pastel is very pleasant to use and can be compared to the Italian brand Ferrario Color, though I find Daler Rowney’s quality superior and its color range more complex and diverse. It layers beautifully, both applying over and being covered by other layers, and adheres well to the paper.

Very useful pastel. It’s not too expensive and very convenient to work with. I’ve been using it for several years. The sticks are moderately soft and adhere excellently to paper. The brand offers a wide range of buffer tones, including gray-pinks, gray-greens, and olive shades, which tend to get used up first. I rely on these for almost all my initial layers.

This pastel is a true lifesaver.
The sticks are relatively hard, yet their adhesion to paper is excellent. They work even when soft pastels can no longer adhere. Perfect for refinements and final layers, they can create thin, precise lines, almost like a pencil. Rembrandt pastels are ideal for working on sanded paper, rigid surfaces, and even over thick layers of gouache.

I own a box of half-sticks (80 pieces), which I recommend for those who are still building their pastel palette. The range includes everything from vibrant colors to muted, sophisticated tones. The sticks are very soft. Sennelier also offers standard-sized sticks, available individually, as well as large sticks measuring 11 cm in length and twice the diameter of regular pastels. These are particularly convenient when working extensively in a single-color range on large formats.

The pastels are delightful to use, though they don’t adhere well to heavily layered surfaces due to their softness. However, if your work isn’t too layered and you use high-quality paper or abrasive surfaces, Sennelier won’t let you down.

Cretacolor’s long, square sticks can be classified as hard pastels. They are excellent for finishing touches and creating fine lines. While I use them rarely, they are incredibly handy in specific situations.

I’ve also frequently had pastel pencils from this brand in my collection—especially white, gray, and brown tones.
Additionally, Cretacolor produces outstanding graphic sets, including pencils, sharpeners, and erasers, all packaged in visually appealing designs that artists will appreciate.

To conclude this list of pastel brands, I want to write about the pastel that started it all for me.

For me, Podolsk pastel is a legendary product. A set of this pastel was once a staple for every Soviet graphic artist, and my father also had a small set.

My experiments with this medium began with that set. I mixed Podolsk pastel with watercolor and gouache. The set was small, and to achieve the desired color, I often had to blend four to six sticks together.

Podolsk pastel has its charm and character, but it is almost absent from my palette now. Occasionally, I enjoy using Podolsk sauces sticks, which blend well with pastels and come in an excellent range of gray-beige tones.

Best of luck in choosing your materials, and, more importantly, wishing you great ideas!

© Olga Abramova. Article and photos originally prepared in August 2012, updated in August 2018.