Sennelier : Oil Pastels

Sennelier Oil Pastels are made with fine quality pigments, an extremely pure binding medium, and mineral wax. The pigments are ground with an inert, non-siccative-based binding medium that does not oxidise and does not affect either film stability or surface. This base is then mixed with wax. The balance of this mix provides the pastels with a creamy, lipstick-soft consistency that allows for a great deal of freedom in pictorial expression.

Sennelier Oil Pastels possess an extraordinarily high pigment content, thus providing them with a high colouring and covering potential and a high degree of lightfastness (with the exception of metallic and fluorescent shades).

In 1949, Parisian painter Henri Goetz approached Henri Sennelier, the famous artist materials manufacturer, about creating a wax colour stick for his friend Pablo Picasso. Picasso, a long-time Sennelier customer and a frequent visitor to their store across the street from the Louvre Museum was looking for a medium that could be used freely on a variety of surfaces without fading or cracking.

Their collaboration produced the incomparable Sennelier Oil Pastel. Originally available in a palette of classic hues, the colour selection was expanded with the addition of metallic and iridescent hues.

Beyond these classic hues a selection of unique shades have been developed, including a gradation of greys required for a balanced palette. This evolution is the fruit of a long-standing collaboration with European and North American painters, who have worked with Sennelier to develop an exceptional palette of shades.