A blast from my Past (are pastel pencils still a thing?)

I saw a pencil the other day with a swan on it.  It brought back a flood of memories of one of my favourite pencil sets from my childhood.  After much digging and cursing, I found it.



Also, look at the price of those smudge sticks in the 1980s! Crazy considering these are $0.10 and $0.25 today.

I remember I stopped using them because I couldn't sharpen them easily.  I tried a few and yep, it's still breaks hard.  But these have been with me for many changes of house and adventures, so I guess it might be time to say goodby.

But I don't want to.

I'm going to see what kind of art I can do with these and use them up.  Then I can use the tin for something new.  It's a pretty box.



Speaking about price, I had hoped to buy a new set to relive some memories, but alas, these are nearly $75 CAD for the same size set on amazon.  That's way too much.   Any suggestions for pencils like this to play with more in my price range?  

I wish I knew this about pastels when I was a kid.  Her work is amazing.  I wonder if I can draw an eye like that with the pastels I have left.

I never had pastel pencils - those are cool!! Are they less messy to work with, than the chunks? Do they play the same way, on the paper/ canvas?

Carla Burke wrote:I never had pastel pencils - those are cool!! Are they less messy to work with, than the chunks? Do they play the same way, on the paper/ canvas?

I have exactly the same questions.  I can't remember from childhood what these were like, but they did get used a lot.

Excited to find out.

r ranson wrote:

Carla Burke wrote:I never had pastel pencils - those are cool!! Are they less messy to work with, than the chunks? Do they play the same way, on the paper/ canvas?

I have exactly the same questions.  I can't remember from childhood what these were like, but they did get used a lot.

Excited to find out.

I'll be watching to see what you discover. I didn't even know there was such a thing.

Thanks.
I don't know why I have a mix of fear and excitement to try these again.  Probably because they are so expencive to replace if I fall in love.  But it's not any use having them sit unused.

But what to draw?

And what paper.  Some tutorials suggest that it needs specific paper to work.

What to draw? Hmmm... Gamboling lambs? Flowers with beneficial insects? Dragonflies? Bees? Self portraits? Still lifes? Water lilies? Port scenes? Partially done weaving on the loom?