This metal box contains 24 colors (color codes 100, 105, 205, 215, 221, 305, 311, 325, 335, 365, 385, 390, 405, 450, 460, 530, 570, 575, 585, 625, 635, 655, 690, 750). Softness-wise, I find Koh-i-Noor pastel pencils very similar to CarbOthello. If I can't see which pencil I'm holding, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two. Derwent is the scratchiest and chalkiest among the four brands. Their colours are also the least vibrant. Stabilo is always the brand that I recommend to artists looking to try pastels for the very first time. The sets are fairly priced and are sold through many online retailers. Where to buy: The price and lightfastness data I provide is current to my knowledge as of September 2020. Keep in mind prices and brand offerings can change over time. If you see an error, please leave a comment with the correction and link to a source document to help myself and fellow artists.

Cost and quality are the two most important factors when I choose to invest in art supplies. I have analyzed the five brands (Caran d’Ache, Stabilo, Faber-Castell, Derwent, Conte) that I have personal experience using in this post. Some notable brands not included in this review are Bruynzeel, Cretacolor, Gioconda, and Daler-Rowney. Cost Analysis |I found that Derwent's ability to layer is similar to CarbOthello (it just appears brighter because the pencil is a lighter colour). But Koh-i-Noor pastel pencils layer best of all! They draw on with absolutely no problem. Do note though that this paper could have affected the layering Both brands are great, but if I had to choose only one, since CarbOthello layers better and is cheaper in price, I have to give the edge to CarbOthello. Where I live, Pitt pencils are more than double the price of an equivalent set of CarbOthellos, so unless you can find a discounted price or are looking to expand your range of pastel pencils, I would recommend CarbOthellos instead.and definitely very well on sanded paper. The tests just demonstrate the relative layering abilities of each pastel pencil brand in All discounts against RRP are made against the United Kingdom Recommended Retail Price (RRP). Unless specified, offers and vouchers are not valid on products which are already discounted from RRP, gift vouchers, books and from the I LOVE ART range. The pastel range has an excellent assortment of desaturated colors in a variety of hues. The Caran d’Ache pastel core is firm or slightly softer than Faber-Castell PITT, and the wood casings of all the pencils I own do not have any imperfections. The pastel pencils sharpen very well with my manual pencil sharpener and I have experienced zero breakage. And then, a final test - I decided to test out the whites (image below). Both the CarbOthello (left) and the Pitt (middle) have a similar level of whiteness, but the brightest white goes to Koh-i-Noor's White Coal pencil. This I found early on when doing research - no other pastel pencil comes close to the Koh-i-Noor. Please note this is the White Coal pencil, not the pastel pencil. It comes in three grades - 2 (soft), 3 (medium) and 4 (hard). Get the Grade 2 pencil. It's what I use to draw the brightest highlights in animal eyes, nothing else compares. My experience with the fragility metric is based on using these five brands for two years. This metric is subjective and may be different for artists using various sharpening methods. Fragility is measured on a scale of 0 to 5. An evaluation of “5” indicates that the pencil brand has never or rarely broken during use. An evaluation of “0” implies that the pencil breaks consistently during normal use and sharpening.

It’s no surprise that Caran d’Ache took the top spot for quality as the clear winner of both fragility and lightfastness metrics. I was familiar with the Caran d’Ache through their Luminance colored pencils (which are a joy to use).