Studio Sesh: Pastel Pencil Comparison

I was organizing my pastel pencils and wanted to see how they compared, join me for the exploration in this studio Sesh. You really can't go wrong with any of these brands and they all work well together if you want to mix and match.

Best overall pick: Carbothello by Stabillo. These came in at around the same price as Generals for open stock. They are on the soft side and the colors are vibrant. Available in 60 colors, made in Germany, open stock and in sets.

Van Gogh pastel pencils: These are lovely but it seems that there is only 24 colors available now and I can't find a place to purchase them, I think there is very limited availability,. these are made by Royal Talens

Credits:
Video production and Craft ideas: Lindsay Weirich
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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[ZeeCeeCreations]

Carb Othello girl, all the way! I love them! Thanks Lindsay!

[sofreader]

I have the faber castell pitt pastel pencils, they are good, but harder, for details they are perfect 👌

[dee-ellencook]

Love the Generals, very underrated! The watercolor Generals stack up against anything!

[waymire]

Perfect timing, I've been looking at pastel pencils to purchase since yesterday and here is a video. Excellent!

[JoAnneSmith-diok]

I bought two white and two black Conte pastel pencils about 15 years ago. I left them in their packages. Then I forgot them for about 8 years. I pulled them out of my box a few years ago and every pencil had cracks in the barrel from the top to the bottom. Until 14 months ago my home did not have any climate control. I live in PA next to a creek. Dealing with humidity, heat and cold fluctuations. I certainly understand just what happened to these pencils! Something else to think of when buying and owning pencils. I also have a budget set of Crayola Colors of the World pencils. The humidity caused the barrels to slightly bow on those pencils. I will use those up and purchase better pencils in the future. Thank you for the Studio Sesh on these pencils.

[DoveJS]

I don't know exactly why but watching you is extremely comforting. I enjoy your videos even when it's probably not something I'd be buying because it just makes me curious what you'd have to say about what you're reviewing and of course watching you make art is interesting too. Just very relaxing, even if something doesn't go quite as planned in the process. I generally want to pay close attention because of this, you're very casually informative through-out, so I don't think I could fall asleep to one of your videos even though your voice is very soothing (in a sprightly way mind you!) Haha then again I also prefer instrumentals or white noise if I'm listening to something to help me fall asleep, so that I don't get caught up in what they're saying, even though the crooning of some singers could get me there. YMMV for other viewers.

[MetalxMonica]

This was so helpful!! Also, my cat really enjoyed watching the scribbling swatch sounds 😂😺🎨.

[Eeveelyn]

The entire barrel of the Conte pastel pencils is painted in the color of the lead so it's easy to find the right pencil. They don't always match the color perfectly but it's close enough that after using them for a bit I can easily distinguish them. I did make a swatch card though that I keep in the box because if I can't choose between two colors it helps to hold it close to my drawing and see what fits best.

My favorite however are the Faber Castell ones. I have a couple of them for monochrome sketching in a pencil roll that went with me to so many different places and so far never had a core breaking.

Something I love to do is use them like watercolor pencils with a water brush. They don't completely dissolve but the colors are incredibly vibrant, they create beautiful textures and you only need to apply so little to the paper that you're using barely any product. (I only have the Conte and Faber Castell so I don't know how well other brands work for this)

[SomeoneWhoCrafts]

Love these Studio Sesh videos! Very good as background for when I'm painting! 💜

[sanctityjohnson]

I put on one of your studio session videos while I'm reading or doing other things. Not falling asleep at all! Plus I like all the random & relevant info we learn from your supplies. ✏️✍️💜

[brendawalsh]

I have the Carbothello as my only pastel pencils. I’m glad you did this video, I never know if what I have is really fine compared 😊

[jcfromupstate]

Great review, thank you. I was in my local art supply shop recently and picked up several of the Conte to try out, since they had open stock. (I was in there to grab more pan pastels.) I really like them, and plan to get more the next time I go back. First time using pastel pencils, so I can’t do a comparison. Yours was very timely for me - thanks again!

[hemjoo]

Hope you can try just a few caran dache pastel pencils for comparisons sake. Might be the most pigmented.😊

[clairewalters]

❤i bought the Faber Castel Pitt pastels slowly, open stock from Jackson's in Australia at AU$4.50 per pencil (hence the slowly) & although I primarily use them for backgrounds I love them. Like you I baby them but if I hadn't expended so much in their cost I probably would've got the Carbithelo by stabilo in a tin set, however I find the colours in the stabilo bright and nothing in nature's backgrounds are quite so bright. Thanks for your overview Lindsey. Much love & *Virtual hugs * 💜💜💜

[marvelenia]

Oh thank you for this review Lindsay, it is so useful! Unfortunately, I ordered the Derwent pastels last month when they were on sale at amazon here in Germany, and I was looking forward to them so much. But Amazon has gone idiotic here because they "save" on packaging material and they arrived totally broken so I sent them back. It keeps happening here in Germany all the time also with other items. I am SO done with Amazon. I hope I will see them again soon somewhere else for an affordable price....Can you tell me which pastels you consider to be the brightest? Thanks again and good luck to you and your loved ones!

[Paintsplash]

I bought a 12 set of Generals just to try and figured it was enough, ha-ha. But if I were shopping, I know the Carb Othello's would be on the list. Thanks for confirming my choice. I hope you got to see the eclipse today as it went through Maine.

[marytesta]

Thanks, Lindsay. Great little comparison. I like your spice rack idea. I have jars all lined up. Even though I don’t draw well, I have been enjoying pencils in general.
Your drawing class really helped me so much.

[kassaArt]

Thank you for this compassion.
I absolutely love the Faber-Castell 😍

[annettefournier]

Thanks Lindsay. Cretacolor does full sets BTW. I have 24 set of carbothello but the General brand looks good and more affordable. 💜

[susanbaker]

Btw, I don't use my 10 (Conte a Paris) pastel pencils very often, but the colors are beautiful! Sometimes I use them to add a touch of smeared color in a colored pencil sketch. Almost bought some Derwent pastel pencils recently, but my online Blick order didn't go through for some reason. The want monster was momentarily foiled.😅
It's given me time to rethink if I really need more.
Glad for your review as always.