Brighten up your next project and reach for the pastels. When it comes to stepping into the world of pastels, there’s a fair amount of variety to these coloured pigments. From soft, oil and watersoluble to pastel pencils, this colourful medium is incredibly versatile and depending on your choice, are also available in different shapes – round, square, thick and thin.



Soft pastels

Soft pastels are great for creating colourful, expressive marks, thanks to their finely ground pastel pigments that are often mixed with chalk to create a soft stick that still packs a punch. Soft pastels are great for blending and layering, plus their broad shape means you can easily block out large areas for colour or use the edge for a finer line.

Our signature range of soft pastels are available in 12pc, 24pc and 36pc sets, or if you’re looking to amp up the game, try our premium set of soft pastel metallics to create shimmering colours and highlights.

Ranges:
Signature
Premium

Sizes:
10pc metallics
12pc
24pc set in tin
36pc
72pc

Techniques:
- Hatching
- Cross hatching
- Blending
- Scumbling
- Layering
- Mixed media applications

Oil pastels




If you’re looking for an intense colour with a velvety texture, look no further than oil pastels. This choice of medium has a smooth buttery texture, that makes for seamless blends and easy layering. If you’re creating large scale works, then you’ll want to try oil pastels, their thick bodies will give you large strokes, plus large works will also give you more room to play with building up those rich colours. Oil pastels tend to smudge less than soft pastels too, so if you find the smudging and powder of soft pastels a little too much, give oil pastels a red hot go.

Our range of oil pastels are available in 12pc, 24pc or a 48pc set in a tin, to keep your pastels clean and in tip top shape.

Ranges:
Signature

Sizes:
12pc
12pc Fluoro
24pc
48pc
48pc set in tin

Techniques:
- Hatching
- Cross hatching
- Blending
- Sgraffito
- Layering
- Mixed media applications

Watersoluble oil pastels

If you’re wanting to dip into something totally new, why not give watersoluble oil pastels a go? The best part about these, are that they’re similar to oil pastels so you can use them like crayons and create broad strokes and layer colours. Plus, watersoluble oil pastels are less waxy than other pastels, making them much easier to blend with. Whether you blend them with pastels, a wet brush or wet finger, scratch them back, or use them with turps or mineral spirits and work over surfaces, these are a super versatile medium for creating watercolour and glaze effects.

Our range of watersoluble oil pastels are available in 12pc, 24pc, 36pc and 48pc sets, with tin options available too, so you can take them with you wherever you go.

Ranges:
Signature

Sizes:
12pc
24pc
24pc set in tin box
48pc

Techniques:
- Sgraffito
- Watercolour
- Glazes
- Blending
- Layering
- Mixed media applications

Pastel Pencils

If you’re wanting to create more intricate and finer strokes or if you’re looking for more control over your pastels, then pastel pencils might be a better option. Whether you blend with them, smudge with them, create expressive sketches, or use them alongside soft and hard pastels, these pencils are a great combination of both art pencils and pastels.

Our range of pastel pencils includes 12pc and 24pc sets, but if portraiture work is more your style, we also offer a 12pc skin tint pastel pencils, so you can play with pastels in portraiture work.

Ranges:
Signature

Sizes:
12pc
12pc skin tint
24pc
37pc

Techniques:
- Hatching
- Cross hatching
- Blending
- Scumbling
- Layering
- Mixed media applications

Pastel Paper

So you’ve got your pastels in mind, but what are you drawing on? Getting the right paper for your pastels is a pretty important step, because without it, you can risk your pastels not gripping to the paper making creating a lot less fun than it should be. When browsing paper, look for a fine tooth so your pastels can cling to the paper for application and layering.

Our pastel paper range features a combination of cream, gold, green and pink coloured papers, each with a fine tooth that will help you bring your pastels to life. These are great for soft pastels, oil pastels and pastel pencils.

Ranges:
Signature

Sizes:
A5
A4
A3

Or alternatively you can use a black paper pad to make your creations truly pop. Our range of black paper has a fine tooth so it’s ideal for soft pastels, hard pastels and oil pastels. For more on our papers check out our Guide to Mont Marte sketch books and papers to find what will work best before you get started.

We hope that you feel inspired to dip into pastels for yourself. Show us what you create and #montmarteart or tag us @montmarteart on Instagram or Facebook, we’d love to see it, or get straight into it and check out our range of pastels here.