Polychromos pastels

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Hello,

I did a search beforehand with no results, so I hope this has'nt been addressed yet. I know there has been a problem with Nupastels and fading, and since they have'nt made any claims about an improved formula, I assume they still have the problem.

I was looking thru the new Jerry's catalog, and saw a set of Polychromos by Faber-Castell. They are a bit softer than Nupastels, but are still supposed to be able to get to a point. I went on their site and these are their words;

Polychromos Pastel Sticks Superior pigments of unsurpassed light-fastness (resistance to fading). Intense colors, smooth stroke, colors stable to fixatives can be wiped or treated with paintbrush dipped in white spirit to give fine color transitions

Has anyone tried them and are they that much better quality wise than Nupastels? I am also interested in their set of pencils. Sergio Ostroverhy uses them with incredible results.

Thanks.

[Molly Sherrick Phifer]

Hi Jimmy!

I have used the pencils, but not the pastel sticks themselves. One of the nice things about the Faber-Castell products is that they do test their colors individually for light-fastness and provide a chart of the results with the product. Not surprisingly, some colors are more light-fast than others.

If you are particularly concerned with certain colors, you might benefit from finding a set in a store and seeing if you can get a look at the chart inside the box. I took a look on their website and did not find it posted there, but you might be able to ask to have a chart sent to you. Here's the site.

I love working with the pencils! The sharpen nicely, and don't break off as many pastel pencils do. They have a terrific range of colors that match perfectly across their product lines.

Good luck!

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Molly,

Thanks for the info. I'll have to get to Pearl Paint and see if they have open boxes. I'd also like to test how they act with softer pastels, such as it's ability to leave a mark over a few layers of pastels. Thanks again.

[Molly Sherrick Phifer]

Hi Jimmy!

In my experience these pastel pencils work quite well over layers of soft pastels. The extent to which this is true is dependent on the paper you are using as support. I find that papers such as Canson are more difficult to work with in terms of pencil over layers. Using a good quality sanded paper such as Wallis makes layering incredibly easy.

Have fun! I hope you'll share your pastel work with us!