A Sennelier extra soft pastel is composed of high quality pure pigment grounded with a natural transparent binder.
The high quality composition of “à l’écu” pastels is the result of a perfect balance between binder and pigment. For gradient shades, increasing amounts of mineral fines are added, ultimately tending towards white. The exceptional brightness is the result of the pigment and of the natural mineral fines discovered by Sennelier in 1905 and that have been used ever since.
The manufacturing process of the Sennelier cylindrical pastel does not compress the paste and the pastel dries naturally in open air. The life span of a piece of work is guaranteed by the quality of the pastel, but also by the quality of the substrate. If a lot of overlapping is performed, it is preferable to fix between layers. Avoid, however, fixing the final layer too heavily, as the original vibration of tones will be lost.
The key to Sennelier's colour offering is pigment and in each grouping of colours the first colour in the sequence is made with the natural single pigment type. The colours that follow in the group are a balanced graduation of that pigment towards white.
PLEASE NOTE: Despite being very well packed, sometimes, these Sennelier extra soft pastels might arrive broken or chipped at the ends when being sent by post. This is due to the fact that they are very delicate. This does not detract from the way the pastels work and as such we cannot refund broken pastels unless they are deemed unusable by being shattered into several small pieces.
Great quality, gives excellent depth of colour, smooth, rich brilliant to work with. Daphne Murray (Bangor, United Kingdom) on 31 Mar 2012
I had a commission for 6 large canvases, and I use a range of materials, including pastels. I have used lower quality pastels in the past, there is a massive difference, the colours are not strong and they create so much dust! Now these are a delight and joy to work with, such rich colours, easily blendable, and not quite so much dust. Will defo be buying again. Such a big range of colours. Also the shops service was absolutely brilliant! I wasn't sure which colours I actually needed since you don't see true colours on the screen (I needed a light flesh colour), so when I phoned for advice, they were fantastic. I got exactly what I needed - the next day!! Brilliant. All round a great experience! Jane Delve (Bridgend, United Kingdom) on 8 Oct 2015
great quality for blending and outstanding vibrancy in colour Julie Saye (Benfleet, United Kingdom) on 30 May 2013