Comments about Sennelier Soft Pastel Sets:

these are not so great for beginners, unless you have money to burn, because they are so soft. but, wow are they beautiful!! very strong colors, that blend and layer well.

Comments about Sennelier Soft Pastel Sets:

deep, dark, rich colors slip onto the surface like butter

Comments about Sennelier Half-Stick Soft Pastel Sets:

I teach pastel portrait classes and I've been looking for a basic set that was of good quality and not too expensive for those starting out. This 40 half stick portrait set is just what I was looking for. It has a good selection of colors that portrait artists need. You can't beat the price and Sennelier is one of the best brands around. I bought up a bunch of the sets for the convenience of my students. It's a great little compact set to take when I go outside my studio to sketch people also.

Comments about Sennelier Half-Stick Soft Pastel Sets:

Love the colours - got the landscape pastels. Easy to use - goes on smoothly.

Comments about Sennelier Half-Stick Soft Pastel Sets:

Hi,
Re: Sennelier Black Box 120 half sticks.
I'm Ron from Oz [Down Under] I've just received my delivery via Fed-Ex [November 2011], only a few days after placing my order, well done 'Dick Blick' great service, great price, and great product.
My studio is in beautiful tropical Queensland Australia, and like many other Aussie artists I'm experimenting with soft pastels as a means of understanding more about colour. The Sennelier 120 set is helping me to do just that, the colour range is suberb, the 1/2 sticks suit my painting style, and the quality is the best I have experienced.
So where's the problem??? well the set arrived without an accompanying colour chart and without a numbered placement list, thus making identification for replacement purposes impossible. Upon contacting the good people at 'Blick' I was concerned to learn that firstly, replacement 1/2 sticks are not available individually [only in bulk or in a new set] and that even with a colour chart, ID is difficult as the 1/2 sticks are not necessarily placed in any set order or sequence. All a bit of a shame... but won't stop me buying the product.

Comments about Sennelier Soft Pastel Sets:

After initial work in hard pastel, Sennelier soft pastel is my usual choice for a finished painting.
I recommend ordering single stick or sets from Dick Blick for the price and their careful packaging.

Comments about Sennelier Soft Pastel Sets:

vibrant colors, goes on creamy and smooth.

Comments about Sennelier Half-Stick Soft Pastel Sets:

The Paris set or the Landscape and Assorted sets are wonderful if you're new to pastels, or just trying to expand your palette. It's important to start out with a quality soft pastel set like Sennelier half sticks and avoid the cheaper brands--you will really see and experience the difference. Plus these sets offer a variety of wonderful colors that I keep going back to replenish. I recommend Sennelier half sticks to all my students.

Try the Sennelier half sticks on Kitty Wallace sand paper and you'll fall in love!

I do NOT recommend the Sennelier FULL sticks at all. The demi or half sticks are a much better product and do not crumble as easily as the full sticks. Plus, you don't have to mess with peeling the labels off. Happy painting!

Comments about Sennelier Soft Pastel Sets:

This was a Plein Air set. I prefer softer pastels and these were not very soft. They will be a nice addition to my set for my studio, however.

Comments about Sennelier Soft Pastel Sets:

The only problem, which I knew from the start, but took a chance because of the fantastic value of the purchase, is that the color swatches on the web are not a good representation of the actual pastel color. But I lucked out, nonetheless, and got many useful colors for portrait painting, which is what I was after.