Pastels are available in different types and forms. There are hard pastels, soft pastels, pan pastels, and pastel pencils. All these pastels have their own unique characteristics, so it depends on you to experiment with each pastel and decide which one meets up to your expectations and purpose.
Soft pastels come in stick form with pigment with a binder
Hard pastels are drawing sticks made of pigment, chalk, and water. They are good for creating sharp and bright lines but cannot be sharpened easily like pencils.
Pan pastels are the same as soft pastels but not in a stick form but rather set into a pan or jar. They are the pastel color that can be applied like paint
Pastel pencils are pastels that are enclosed in wooden shafts. They can be easily sharpened and used for detailing.
When buying pastels you need to know they are artists’ quality and students’ quality pastels.
Artists’ quality pastels are obviously much pricier than students’ quality pastels since they have more pigment than fillers and binders, which gives high-performance ratings and wouldn’t fade away over time compared to students’ quality. But students’ quality pastels wouldn’t crumble as easily as artists’ quality pastels.
