Working with Schmincke’s finest extra soft pastels will give you a completely unique drawing experience. They have an incredibly high concentration of top quality pigment powder held together by the absolute minimum amount of binding agent - just enough to ensure that they remain a stable compound. Unlike many pastels on the market, they also do not contain chalk or additives which helps keep their colouration pure and consistent throughout each pastel.
This stripped-back recipe results in such soft pastels that Schmincke had to design a costly and time-consuming manufacturing process to stop them from breaking. Each lump of pre-kneaded pastel dough is rolled into rounded skeins which are sectioned by hand and laid onto a sheet. The skeins are then cut by hand with a wire-strung frame and transferred onto wooden palettes where they are left to dry for around 2 weeks. By this time they are so soft that they need to be wrapped by hand and gently placed in their foam packaging. Each pastel is covered in an information sheet that denotes its colour name, number and grade of graduation:
B - the black graduation
D - the pure colour
H - the darkest white graduation
M - the medium white graduation
O - the lightest white graduation
The Schmincke Soft Pastel Cardboard Set of 120 Half Sticks contains the following colours:
Titanium White (x 2), Titanium Yellow O, Permanent Yellow 1 O, Permanent Yellow 2 Light D, Vanadium Yellow Deep D, Permanent Yellow 3 Deep H, Permanent Yellow 3 Deep D, Orange Light H, Orange Light D, Orange Deep H, Orange Deep D, Permanent Red 1 Pale D, Vermilion D, Scarlet D, Permanent Red 3 Deep D, Madder Lake D, Carmine Red D, Permanent Red 3 Deep B, Bordeaux D, Rose Madder H, Rose Madder D, Bordeaux B, Madder Lake B, Quinacridone Violet B, Purple 1 B, Quinacridone Violet D, Purple 2 D, Deep Violet H, Reddish Violet O, Bluish Violet O, Ultramarine Deep O, Cobalt Blue Hue O, Greenish Blue O, Ultramarine Light O, Cobalt Blue Hue M, Prussian Blue O, Ultramarine Light M, Ultramarine Light H, Ultramarine Deep H, Cobalt Blue Hue H, Cobalt Blue Hue D, Ultramarine Blue Deep D, Delft Blue D, Ultramarine Deep D, Prussian Blue B, Ultramarine Deep B, Deep Violet D, Deep Violet B, Cobalt Turquoise O, Cobalt Turquoise H, Bluish Green M, Greenish Blue D, Cobalt Turquoise D, Cerulean Blue H, Prussian Blue H, Ultramarine Light D, Bluish Green D, Prussian Blue D, Phthalo Blue Deep B, Phthalo Blue Deep D, Bluish Green B, Light Green D, Indigo Hue B, Greenish Grey 2 B, Leaf Green Deep B, May Green B, May Green D, May Green M, Ochre Light O, Flesh Ochre O, Ochre Light D, Gold Ochre O, Brown Ochre H, Burnt Umber O, Burnt Green Earth D, Caput Mortuum Pale H, Caput Mortuum Pale D, English Red D, Burnt Sienna D, Caput Mortuum Deep H, Burnt Sienna O, English Red O, Permanent Red 1 Pale M, Rose Madder O, Permanent Red 3 Deep O, Permanent Red 1 Pale O, Pozzuoli Earth M, Pozzuoli Earth O, Caput Mortuum Pale O, Caput Mortuum Deep O, Sepia Brown O, Grey Violet M, Neutral Grey K, Neutral Grey L, Grey Violet O, Neutral Grey M, Grey Blue 1 N, Neutral Grey O, Grey Blue 1 O, Grey Blue 1 M, Cold Grey O, Grey Blue 1 H, Grey Violet H, Grey Blue 1 B, Grey Blue 1 D, Van Dyke Brown D, Caput Mortuum Deep B, Van Dyke Brown B, Grey Violet B, Neutral Grey D, Cold Grey B, Black D, Serious Black D, Silver D, Gold D, White Pearl H, Blue Pearl H, and Green Pearl H.
