Range Introduction

Our Artists' Soft Pastels have been formulated to the highest standard to give brighter, stronger, cleaner colours.  This colour excellence is combined with a soft, creamy and more uniform texture allowing you to achieve maximum control of your pastels whilst minimising the level of dustiness.  The range consists of 200 colours.

Click on the headings below to discover more about this range's unique qualities.

You can also view all of the colours in this range on our colour chart.

Size

Our large size pastel stick ensures easy transfer of colour to the paper, ensures the pastel is comfortable to work with and provides excellent value for money.

Colour Range

The Artists' Soft Pastels range offers a systematic and wide spread of 200 individual colour positions.  The colour range has been developed from 40 full strength colours (Tint 4).  Each full strength colour is available in 3 lighter Tints (Tints 1, 2 and 3) and one darker shade (Tint 5). 

Wherever possible, the intensity of each Tint is equal across the colour range.  This provides the logical colour system you see in the colour chart.  Some colours however are naturally weaker in tinting strength, eg; Ultramarine Violet.  Overall, the combination of the high pigment strength, purity and the use of single pigments ensures that the artist has the widest choice from the palest tint to the darkest shade.

To view all of the colours in the range, see our colour chart.

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Maximum Brilliance of Colour

Brilliance of colour is one of the most important criteria for pastels, as they cannot be mixed on a palette. Winsor & Newton Artists' Soft Pastels have been formulated to ensure brighter, stronger and cleaner colours.  This is achieved by

• The use of the purest, highest grade pigments
• The use of single pigments wherever possible
• High pigment strength

As a result Winsor & Newton Artists' Soft Pastels can be layered without losing their brilliance of colour.

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Supple Texture

Winsor & Newton Artists' Soft Pastels have a supple, creamy consistency, which allows them to flow onto the surface of the paper making them easy to apply. This suppleness allows the artist maximum control and versatility when using the media, and is achieved without creating a weak pastel.

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Optimum Level of Softness

As a result of choosing just the right binder for each and every colour, Winsor & Newton Artists' Soft Pastels have a soft working characteristic which allows for the subtlest blending and layering.

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Minimum Dust

The inherent dustiness of the pastel is minimised, making the pastel easier and more manageable to work with.

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Uniformity of  Texture

Winsor & Newton Artists' Soft Pastels have been formulated so that a consistent and uniform texture is achieved wherever possible across the range. The reduction in the variation of texture across the colour range, makes them easier to work with when using a variety of colours.

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Opacity and Layering

Pastels are an opaque medium because they are made using inert pigments like chalk to form the stick and produce the paler tints. Subsequent layers will cover initial ones unless you utilise the texture of the paper to allow the underlayers to show through. Winsor & Newton Artists' Soft Pastels retain clean colours on layering, avoiding muddiness.

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Maximum Permanence

Winsor & Newton have continually strived to provide artists with the most permanent colours. They were the first company to publish the composition and permanence of their colours in 1892.  Our Artists' Soft Pastels have also been formulated to provide the artist with an unrivalled level of permanence and quality. All colours have a permanence rating of either AA, A or B.

14 out of the 200 pastel colours in the range are given a B rating which means they are moderately durable.  This is due to the pigment not being protected by the binder in pastels, combined with the quantity of white required to make pale tints.  However, these 14 colours offer unique hues and are the most permanent currently available in that part of the pastel spectrum.  The application of fixative greatly improves the permanence of these colours by protecting the pigment and in fact 5 of the 14 qualify for an A rating when fixed.

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Series

Artists' Soft Pastels have a single price series for all 200 colour tints.

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