Jessica Crabtree

People frequently ask me what brands of pastels I use most often. Here’s a quick list of my favorite chalks and their characteristics.

Sennelier soft pastels – hand-made in France; produced in the widest color range available. Usually classified as soft, but vary from medium-hard to very, VERY soft. Extremely rich and blendable chalks. I use these for base coats, large areas of color coverage, or wherever I need especially rich tone.

Nupastels – Prismacolor’s signature line of hard pastels, and probably the most versatile (and affordable) set around. Very good range of colors with nice, sharp edges for fine lines and detailing. Some of my paintings, such as Cougar, 16×20 (below) were done almost entirely using Nupastels.

Art Spectrum – Australian brand notable for hard-to-find-colors. The chalks are big and durable and also come in nifty small assortments that are handy for individual projects.

Besides these I have a partial set of the old Grumbacher soft pastels that was handed down to me. This line is no longer in production (Grumbacher pastels are now made by Prismacolor) but I especially like their fine, creamy flesh tones. And I still have plenty of my old student pastels on hand to use on occasion. It’s true, you can’t have too many pastels – but it’s better to have the ones that work best for your needs in order to get the most out of them.

Cougar, 16x20