Comparing Pan Pastels with Stick Pastels: A Cave Road Test 

You can mix pan pastels like paint, you cant do that with the sticks. So pan pastels are cheaper for more colours, just get split primary and white. Pan pastels then take up less space. Have you ever seen pastel artists, they have drawers full of pastels to achieve tones. Also the pans don't fill the tooth as much, allowing for more layers and you can put pastel pencils or coloured pencils on top.

I have added to my basic mixing set of PPs that I bought about 6-7 years ago. I haven’t used them that much, but have recently become very fond of pastels and have also purchased some additional stick pastels so really making use of these beauties is def gonna happen. PPs are really quite extraordinary and are made from the highest grade pigments. I would recommend watching a video produced by Golden, who now owns them now, and see all the tips/tricks and use details the two PP founders, who created them, along with a Golden Paints rep, have to say about their “baby.” Golden says they will NOT change the original high quality PP formula. One thing a viewer, who posted a comment asked, (this was originally a live vid,) is if they would ever consider making a mini or half-size version of PP. I think the question didn’t get recognized or they said there are no plans for that right now. Can’t recall. But I wouldn’t look for a smaller size anytime soon. And that’s too bad. The size the pans now are pretty large and with the cost and how long one pan of color lasts, (a good long time) a smaller more affordable size would make these much more popular than they already are….IMHO. The link below is a YT link for the video I mentioned if anyone is interested. ru-vid.comA81IJVFgajE?feature=sharea

Hi Colorcave. Thank you for sharing this video , I have watched many about Panpastels ..thinking about getting a set . Yes they are so expensive. I am crafty for sure . Got a Cricut Maker, I needle felt and sketch ,Draw, water color and coloring books .... Thanks again xxxx

I store my pan pastels in wooden pastel drawers that most people use for colored pencils. (I also store colored pencils, oil pastels, pastel pencils and watercolor pencils in those drawers - basically everything but what they're intended for :D) Just take out the wooden dividers and you can fit 15 pans in one drawer. This way I don't have to worry about screwing the lids off and on.

I love my pan pastels!!! I have about 45 colors. I'm bed ridden most of the time so I don't like messes. I do have a 64 set of Mungyo stick pastels. I like them but I have to put down a sheet over my work area. They are really soft as well. But nothing is as nice as panpastels.

I have a small set of stick pastels that my friend gave me as a gift a few years back at the beginning of my arting journey. I don’t use them often because I’m not a fan of mess, but looking at your tools, I might try and use a paint brush and paint that way!

Great comparison, I love my pan pastels especially for backgrounds. They speed things up and you can get beautiful effects with them.

I tested so many different brands before deciding on a line I could invest in. I did try Terry Ludwig but they are so expensive I have 3 from a sample pack from Dakota Pastels. I finally decided on Schmincke Sticks and they are the best in the price range that I only screamed softly when I purchased them! I will say NEVER BLOW the dust from any pastel. You can drop the dust from your paper over a trash can or a HEPA vacuum to suck it up. I use a dust tray under my easel and it is positioned at a slant towards me so the dust drops into it. I believe you showed these supplies off to the greatest advantage and I have not really seen a better beginner video so packed with wonderful information! Thanks Gem! I also want to add that your surface is so important with pastels and you can make your own, but I found Pastelmat(expensive) or any sanded papers are a great place to start!

Love my PanPastels, I use them in my colouring books for background effects all the time, sometimes do a bit of original art with them but not as much. I've seen PanPastel artists mixing them a lot using the Primer/Blender to get the colours right either on the paper or in the pastel tubs themselves. I've got around 40 of them atm including the metallics, and the mediums set with the blender, and am slowly buying the rest each time Jackson Arts has a sale :D Apart from the Artful stick pastels that came in the last box, I've also got the Mungyo stick pastels, which I've not used a lot for all the reasons you mention here about making a mess and the lack of precision when it comes to using them in colouring books especially as, like a previous commenter, I'm usually "arting" when I'm sat on my bed because of my disability issues. Very useful tutorial Gem, thanks!

I have almost the same sets as you, with not so many of the pans, so this comparison was really helpful. Thank you :)

I recently lucked into the 20 pot panpastel set for an absolute steal, so this video really couldnt have come at a more opportune time! This was amazingly informative. Im glad you feature pastels since it really seems to be a dying medium :( it's a wonderful way of rethinking the way you create art, it also really helps loosen you up, its a great recalibrater for me at least lol Thank you for sharing this brilliant comparison!

I think that was quite helpful. I've got two sets of stick soft pastels (one cheap off wish and one that came in Jazza's sculpting box) but I haven't really used them much. I generally use them for backgrounds in colouring books and they seem to work great for that. However, seeing how much vibrant and softer the pan pastels are... I might invest in a small set some day, if I feel the need to do so, haha ;-) Have a lovely week, Gem!

Jem, I am so afraid to use my pastels-because I don’t think I have the talent to use them. I was feeling mixed about the Artful box, and let it sit at my desk. This third(?) pastel video has encouraged me to open the box, do some swatches, and practise blending. I find it a bit more difficult than watercolour paint, but at least my blends don’t turn to brown. Next stop cat tutorial from the Artful box. Thank you again for the instruction and inspiration.

Thank you for the time you took creating this video. Was helpful; currently wanting to experiment with this medium

Thank you for doing the comparison!

Hi. Have you tried the mount vision pastels? There the closest to the pans i have found. Jacksons do them for £3 each, means i get more colours!

I would love a set of pan pastels but so expensive :/ I dont mind the texture you get from pastels, actually prefer the look but if I was using coloured pencils over them, the pan pastels would be really handy to have to save time

Love your detailed comparisons. So very informative! I don't think I will be trying pastels any time soon, but if I do I think you have convinced me that pan pastels are the way to go. Reminds me of make up, which I do sometimes use for colouring. But here is the real question....if you prefer the pan pastels so much, why did you get all of the artful extra sets?

I am a fan of pastel pencils, gives you a lot of control with little mess, however they are not good for covering large areas.

One more advantage of panpastels is framing. If using pastelmat, there is no need for special framing techniques needed for dust of stick pastels.

Just done a small order from the Stash; every little helps 🤪

I bought the Rembrandt pastels I’m every color family of sets of 5 and maybe 5 -10 color sets and a few different square ones and also sennelier landscape sets of 6 colors I like the color sets I have the sennelier is really easy , and I can use those sets as an example to use the Rembrandt color families I’m new to it and I found chanson xl dry media sand grain in natural and in grey tone, 5.50$ approx for 40 pages it works incredible and I’ve made my own by painting clear gesso onto much cheaper watercolor paper which works really well I like the mi tients by canson too, I never liked canson for other mediums still don’t but I love the dry medium for pastels oh I have faber castel pencils and carb ot hello full set of the gabbed castel pastel pencils and many carb othello

One question, what is your opinion on fixative/ workable fixative? I've yet to experiment with them at all but ive been very interested

Can you recommend a good economical paper for these?

I'm trying really hard to like pastels and charcoal, but I don't want to buy a big bottle of fixative if I find that I still don't like the medium. Have you tried the Clairefontaine fixative and if so, what did you make of it?