Soft Pastel

🎨 Camel Artist Soft Pastels — A Budget-Friendly Beginning

An accessible starting option for exploring vibrant colours, soft blending and your first steps into pastel realism.

• 🌈 Rich colours — useful for exploring colour relationships, light and shadow.

• 🪶 Smooth colour application — supports broad strokes, overlapping colours and blended effects.

• ◼️ Square-shaped sticks — use the side for larger areas and the edges for narrower marks.

• 🎨 Mix and overlap colours — experiment with transitions and discover new shades on the paper.

• 📦 Set options: 20, 36 and 50 shades, as listed by Camel.

• 🖼️ Useful for simple studies and backgrounds — practise skies, fruit, flowers and softly shaded objects before attempting complex subjects.

• 💡 My suggestion: Start with a simple sphere using a few colours. Learning to see highlights, midtones and shadows matters more than owning a large set.

• 📄 Give your pastels suitable paper — choose a textured surface that holds pigment, and begin with gentle layers.

• ⚠️ Keep in mind: Soft pastel can smudge and produce dust. Protect finished areas and avoid blowing loose pigment off the paper.

Hypencil Academy Pick: ⭐ A practical starting choice—begin with what you can afford, practise regularly and let your skills guide your next upgrade.

🎨 BRUSTRO Artists’ Soft Pastels — Explore Rich Colour & Blending

A practical choice for beginners and developing artists exploring vibrant colour, soft transitions and expressive pastel work.

• 🌈 Strong colour intensity — concentrated pigment helps create rich marks and bold colour areas.

• 🪶 Soft, smooth application — colour transfers readily with gentle strokes, so begin with light pressure.

• ◼️ Square-shaped sticks — use the sides for broad coverage and the edges for smaller marks.

• 🎨 Minimal binder — formulated with a high proportion of pigment for rich colour application.

• 📦 Set options: 24 and 48 colours, depending on your needs and budget.

• 🖼️ Useful for backgrounds and studies — explore landscapes, flowers, simple portraits and softly blended backgrounds.

• 💡 My suggestion: Start with a small fruit study using only a few colours. Build the form through light and shadow before adding highlights.

• 🪶 Avoid overblending — leave some fresh strokes visible to preserve colour and texture.

• ⚠️ Keep in mind: Heavy early layers can fill the paper’s tooth and make further layering difficult. Use textured pastel paper and build gradually.

Hypencil Academy Pick: ⭐ A versatile option for growing your confidence—from simple colour exercises to more developed pastel studies.

🎨 Mungyo Gallery Artists’ Soft Pastels — My Preferred Starting Upgrade

A good starting option for learners who can spend a little more, with strong colour payoff and room to explore pastel techniques.

• 🌈 Good pigmentation — in my experience, the colours give a rich, satisfying result.

• 💨 More dust during application — I find these quite dusty, so a light touch helps control pigment buildup.

• 🪶 Limited layering in my practice — compared with Rembrandt, I’ve found it harder to build multiple layers on the surfaces I use.

• ✨ Highlights need planning — excess loose pigment can make it difficult to add clean highlights and fine details over existing layers.

• 💡 My working tip: Keep the early layers thin, avoid overworking the surface and reserve your final highlights for selected areas.

• 💰 Worth considering from the start — if your budget allows, I would recommend beginning with this range rather than Camel or other basic beginner pastels.

• 📄 Paper makes a difference — these observations reflect my working experience; layering and detail also depend on the paper’s tooth and your pressure.

Hypencil Academy Pick: ⭐ My recommended starting upgrade for learners who want good pigmentation and can stretch their budget a little.

🎨 Rembrandt Soft Pastels — My Go-To for Controlled Realism

Rich colour, controlled application and effective layering make these one of my strongest recommendations for developing realistic pastel artwork.

• 🌈 Rich pigmentation — in my experience, the colours provide strong coverage and depth.

• 💨 Less loose powder — compared with Mungyo Gallery Artists’ Soft Pastels, I find these produce less dust during application.

• 🎯 Better control — I find it easier to place deliberate marks and refine shapes as the drawing develops.

• 🪶 More controlled blending — they feel less freely blendable than Mungyo Gallery in my practice, but that gives me greater control over edges and textures.

• 🐾 Excellent for animal subjects — a personal favourite for developing fur, colour variations and the forms beneath the texture.

• 👤 Useful for portraits and still life — I enjoy using them to build facial structure, subtle shadows and convincing object shapes.

• ✨ Effective highlights over layers — I’ve had good results placing lighter accents over existing colour, especially when I preserve some paper tooth.

• 💡 My working tip: Keep the early layers light, establish the main values and save your strongest highlights for the finishing stages.

• 📄 Surface still matters — layering and highlight coverage depend on the paper, pressure and amount of pigment already applied.

Hypencil Academy Pick: ⭐ A must-have in my own realism toolkit—and an upgrade I strongly recommend when your budget allows.

🎨 Schmincke Extra-Soft Pastels — Velvety Colour for Expressive Artwork

A handmade premium range for artists interested in exceptionally soft application and rich colour passages.

• 👐 Handmade production — Schmincke’s range includes 400 handmade pastel colours.

• 🪶 Velvety texture — the manufacturer highlights their particularly soft feel and application.

• 🌈 Extensive colour choice — offers scope for selecting subtle transitions, deep shades and light accents.

• 🎨 Explore broad, expressive marks — consider these for colour passages and finishing touches alongside more controlled pencil work.

• ✨ Use a light hand — build small amounts of colour gradually, especially when adding accents over existing layers.

• 💰 An expensive addition — a few carefully selected colours may be a more practical introduction than a complete set.

• 💬 My honest note: I haven’t tested these personally. They are included as an option to research, based on their professional reputation and recommendations from experienced artists.

• ⚠️ Keep in mind: An extra-soft stick will feel different from Rembrandt. Try a small selection before committing to a larger purchase.

Hypencil Academy View: ⭐ An optional premium addition for artists who want to explore a softer working feel.

### ✏️ Brustro Pastel Pencils — An Affordable Start to Detailed Pastel Work

**A budget-friendly starter option for beginners exploring pastel pencil techniques and building confidence through practice.**

* 🖍️ **Harder pencil feel** — in my experience, these pencils feel quite hard, requiring patience when building colour.

* 🎨 **Lighter pigment payoff** — I find the colour intensity limited, so achieving stronger colour takes more effort.

* 🌈 **Wide colour choice** — the variety of shades offers beginners room to explore colour combinations at an affordable price.

* 🌫️ **Limited blending ability** — I find smooth transitions harder to achieve, making a gradual approach helpful.

* ✨ **Highlights can be challenging** — adding bright, visible highlights over existing pastel layers is difficult in my experience.

* 💰 **Affordable for practice** — a practical option for learning and experimenting before investing in premium pastel pencils.

* 💬 **My honest note:** Despite their limitations, I highly recommend these as a starter kit. Their affordability and colour variety make them useful for regular practice.

* ⚠️ **Keep in mind:** Expect limitations in pigment strength, blending and final highlights, particularly as your work becomes more detailed.

**Hypencil Academy View:** ⭐ *A recommended budget-friendly starter kit for exploring pastel pencils and developing your skills through practice.*

**My highly recommended upgrade for artists ready to explore richer colour, sharper details and realistic portrait work.**

* 🎨 **Rich pigmentation** — in my experience, these pencils deliver strong, rich colour that helps bring depth to pastel artwork.

* 🖍️ **Firm pencil feel** — I find their harder texture useful for controlled strokes and careful detailing.

* 📐 **A sharp, precise tip** — they can be sharpened to a fine point, which I particularly appreciate when working on intricate areas.

* 🔍 **Excellent for fine details** — my preferred uses include delicate hair strands, fur, eyelashes and other small textures.

* 👤 **Well suited to portraits** — I find them especially useful for refining facial features and adding definition to portrait work.

* 💬 **My honest note:** Their rich pigmentation and ability to achieve a sharp tip make them a valuable part of my detailed pastel work. I highly recommend them to artists ready to take the next step towards realism.

* ⚠️ **Keep in mind:** Their firm feel suits precise marks; use gentle pressure and build details gradually.

**Hypencil Academy View:** ⭐ *A highly recommended upgrade for sharper details, expressive portraits and greater control in realistic pastel drawing.*