Everything about oil pastels, wax pastels and soft pastels

Oil, wax, and soft pastels: what is the difference and what are the best brands?

Pastels are one of those materials that you either love or hate. They're the kind of material you might have to date for a while before you fall in love with them. I'm past the dating phase and totally in the *LOVE* category.

It's a material that allows you to work in a painterly way. If you embrace that (and the dirty fingers that come with it 😉), it's a wonderful material. In this blog I'll tell you all about wax-, soft-, and oil pastels, including reviews of various brands. As a bonus, I also tested two new hybrids: Caran d'Ache Neoart pastels and R&F drawing oils.

Wax pastels review

Let's kick of this blog with wax pastels. Out of the 3 types of pastels these are the most firm. I have two brands of wax pastels that I use regularly: Caran d'Ache and Posca. I haven't tested any other brands because I'm very happy with the quality of these two. Plus I try to keep my collection of art materials under control 🤣.

Posca wax pastels

The brand Posca is mostly known for their acrylic markers. But they actually also have had colored pencils and wax pastels in their range for quite some time. This set is very similar to their pencils (which I really like working with), as they are also quite thin. This comes in handy if you like to work in detail: with Posca wax pastels, you can! I did sharpen the pastels, so the tips are as thin as a thick pencil.

Fun detail: the color numbers correspond to the colors of the acrylic markers. The downside of Posca wax pastels? The number of colors is limited to 24, and they are not the cheapest. But if you like wax pastels, these are great basis to start with.

You can find Posca pastel sets here, and here you van buy them open stock.

Caran d’Ache Neocolor* There are two types of Neocolor pastels from this brand. The first (Neocolor I) is a regular ‘water-resistant wax pastel’ according to the description. Then there is Neocolor II, which is the one I use. You could argue whether these fall under wax pastels, because on the Caran d'Ache website they are now called 'water-soluble oil pastels' (whereas in the past they were called wax-oil). But I really think they are more like wax pastels, both in terms of firmness and the way they work. The nice thing about Neocolor II pastels is that they are also water-mixable. So it's a nice, versatile material!

You can find the Neocolor II pastels here and here

*Want to learn how to (better) draw with Neocolor II pastels?

I have a great masterclass for you! For only €12.50, you will learn how to use these Neocolor II pastels as colored pencils, wax pastels, watercolors, and gouache. All in in 45 minutes. It's a fantastic mixed media material in one. The masterclass is in English 🇬🇧

MORE INFO

Oil pastel reviews

Oil pastels are more creamy, softer and buttery than wax wastels. For oil pastels, I have three brands that I often recommend, ranging from affordable to the crème de la crème (literally and figuratively 😉).

Pentel oil pastels  

Pentel pastels are perfect if you want to start using oil pastels but don't want to spend all your money right away. For less than €10, you can get a set of 25 colors. For 50 colors, you pay around €15. The quality is better than you would expect for that price! I think these sets are great student quality.

You can find the Pentel sets here or here.

Van Gogh oil pastels Want to take it up a notch? Then I recommend the Van Gogh oil pastels. They are still affordable yet work even better than the ones from Pentel. For around €25 to €30, you can get a set of 60 colors. Smaller sets are also available, and they can be purchased individually. These pastels have varying degrees of lightfastness, so your work will better retain its color when displayed. These pastels are slightly sturdier than the Senneliers and also a little smaller. So if you prefer to work with more precision, the Van Gogh pastels are a good choice.

Available at Bol.com.

Sennelier And then there's Sennelier. I call this the crème de la crème for a reason. Literally, because oh la la, these are wonderfully creamy. They are often compared to lipstick (both in terms of shape and consistency). The consistency can also be difficult to work with, especially as a beginner, because they are so soft. This makes it more like painting than drawing. I personally love that!

These are also high-end pastels in a figurative sense. They were initially developed by the brand because Picasso himself requested them, so they are truly professional pastels! They are available in beautiful sets as well as individually: I got my set from Splendith. So I would say: treat yourself to a few colors to try them out! (Good to know if you buy them online: 5 ml is the standard size).

Soft pastels review

Soft pastels are more dry pastels, with a chalk-like consistency. I have tried many different brands of soft pastels, but I don't have a clear preference yet. Each brand has different advantages and disadvantages. Like the difference in hardness and softness, the extent to which they shed dust, and how small or large they are. I have listed a number of brands below.

Many of these brands can also be found in art supply stores open stock. That way, you can test a few different brands before you buy a large set. I regularly visit Swaak in Utrecht (which is part of Gersteacker), but I also like to order from the Splendith webshop.

Bonus: some of these brands can be mixed with water for a watercolor effect! I only recently discovered this, so I'm definitely going to experiment with it.

Winsor & Newton

Years ago, I got gifted ceived a set of soft pastels from Winsor & Newton. Although this is a great basic set at an affordable price, I found them to be a lot drier than other brands. They also feel less pigmented. So these are more student than professional quality.

Gallery

I only recently discovered this brand. The big advantage, in my opinion, is that these soft pastels leave very little residue. This means a much cleaner workspace! A disadvantage to these pastels are the fact that they are a bit shorter and thicker. This makes them less suitable for details, but great for a looser style. This brand also makes oil pastels by the way.

Rembrandt and Schmincke

Both are also professional-quality brands! I only have 3 or 4 pastels from each brand and haven't worked with them long enough to give a clear review. My first impression is that they are a little drier than brands like Blockx and Sennelier, but I will elaborate on this when I've worked with them more often.

Sennelier

Sennelier is also one of the better-known brands in soft pastels. I bought a number of individual colors. Most of the colors felt really nice and soft, they glide smoothly over the paper and give off a lot of color! Again, they are a lot more expensive, but in return you get professional pigmented lightfast soft pastels.

Blockx 

I was asked to hosts workshops using this brand and received two sets from this Belgian brand Blockx. I really enjoy working with them! They strike just the right balance between not too soft and not too hard, with lots of pigment. Highly recommend these!

PanPastels

A league of there own: PanPastels! Soft pastels in a packaging reminiscent of makeup. You also use these with applicators, which again resemble makeup brushes or sponges. These make it easier to fill large areas, but with a little practice you can also draw in more detail.

PanPastels are quite pricey to buy, as one jar costs around €8. But you get a lot in return: both in terms of the size of the packaging and the amount of pigment! Each jar contains 9 ml, so you get about 40% more pastel than in a crayon (according to the internet). Plus: these are really highly pigmented; it feels like pigment compressed into a jar. The colors are also lightfast. Be sure to use special paper such as Pastelmat by Clairefontaine or Mi-Teintes Velvet by Canson. This will bring out your colors much better! You can find those here and here.

Want to know more about PanPastels? Together with my colleague Anne, I recorded several videos for our YouTube series 'Art Supply Expedition'.You can find the videos here.

Pastel pencils

Would you like to add smaller details to your illustrations with soft pastels? Or do you simply prefer to work with greater precision? Then you could also opt for pastel pencils. I have a set from Caran d’Ache and I really enjoy working with them. These pastel pencils look similar to their colored pencil counterparts: the Caran d'Ache Luminance. Not coincidentally, they are also one of my favorite pencils!

A special category: wax-oil pastels and oil sticks 

Caran d'Ache Neoart wax-oil pastels 

In early 2024, Caran d'Ache launched a new variant of pastels: the Neoart. A wax-oil pastel that is lightfast (and therefore does not discolor quickly in sunlight). Opinions online are divided. I think this Neoart pastels are particularly suitable for professional artists who want to sell their work. Lightfastness is its biggest unique selling point. In terms of hardness, they are firm: more like wax pastels than oil pastels. They are also not water-soluble like the Neocolor II.

I received a gorgeous set from Caran d'Ache to test, but unfortunately, I did not fall in love with them. Their hardness makes them more difficult to blend and requires more effort to work with than, for example, the  Neocolor II or Neopastels. If the lightfastness of a material is not that important to you, I would personally opt for the diversity of the Neocolor II pastels instead.

R&F drawing oils

I first became familiar with the American brand R&F through their Pigment Sticks: oil paint in the form of a large oil pastel. A stick with a thicker oil paint consistency, making it particularly suitable for combining with painting. But now they have something new that I find very interesting: R&F Drawing Oils. These sticks are a combination of pigment, linseed oil, and wax. The big advantage? Unlike oil pastels (which remain sticky), these Drawing Oils eventually dry permanently. So you don't get the sticky layer that oil pastels have, and you don't need to fixate them anymore!

Depending on the color, drying takes several days or even weeks. This is something to keep in mind if you're going to use them in a sketchbook. I particularly like the fact that (in addition to canvas) I can also work on high-quality paper and that these art works are easier to store or frame after drying! Be sure to prepare your paper with a layer of gesso. This will make your final work ‘archival’, meaning it will not fade or discolor quickly.

Also useful to know: a protective skin will form on the outside of the Pigment Sticks and Drawing Oils - this is due to the properties of the material. It preserves the paint on the inside. Scrape off this layer with a separate pastel sharpener or razor knife before you start drawing/painting to get to the good stuff.

I received the R&F sets to test them and... yeah, this was a very nice drawing experience! The Drawing Oils are wonderfully buttery to work with and have beautiful, rich colors. In my opinion, they are exactly halfway between oil paint and oil pastels. Ideal if you want to draw in a more painterly way, but don't always want to use tubes, a palette, and brushes. Although that's possible too, by the way, because you can easily combine these Drawing Oils with brushes, turpentine, oil paint, and other materials. I will definitely be using these much more often!

Want to learn more about drawing with pastels?

Would you like to learn how to work with pastels? And get tips on the best paper, blending, and working in layers? On sharpening your pastels and fixing your work? You'll find all this in my course 'Pastel Portraits' (it's in Dutch 🇳🇱). In this course, I will teach you step by step how to create beautiful portraits using all three types of pastels. Would you prefer to follow all the lessons using just one type of pastel? That is also possible! Want to know more?

CHECK THE COURSE

PS Planning on buying new materials?

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