I was so excited to see this video pop up in my notifications, as I’ve been lusting after these pastels after watching a RU-vid video where well-known French pastel artist Pierre Boncompain takes the interviewer to the shop in Paris, and there is also a segment of Isabelle Roche creating the pastels in the atelier. As for the price, when I consider the generations of passed-down knowledge, skill, time, and work that goes into hand-making these, the high quality pigments they use, their time-proven longevity, lightfastness, and history, not to mention the praise they receive from master pastelists, the price is fully justified. I, for one, are glad they exist at any price, and will be saving up for a set in the hopes that my artistic skill will do them justice!
That's how I feel about them! I see the history and the generations of skill passed down. The price puts them out of range for many, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't exist. While people want them, they will have a market. Not everyone has to be able to afford your product, a good lesson for most artists and their work also!
I remember hearing an interview with an astronaut and one crazy he thing he said about spacewalks outside the space station was that when a shadow fell across his arm the shadow was totally black. Unlike on earth when you have cast light even inside shadows, in space shadows are black, like that piece of his arm was gone. Now that’s black:) sorry ... random
I look forward to your posts....Your art speaks for itself, it’s fantastic!…Over the last couple of years I’ve watched your teaching and presentation skills go from very good to absolutely peerless! Your approach is compassionate, unpatronising, honest and easy to follow and your enthusiasm is infectious...Love this channel.
Thank you so much James! I am truly enthusiastic about pastel. But I cringe a little when I look back at my first videos on here as I was very uncomfortable chatting on camera! I feel that at least I've got better at that :-)
I got the whole set of Schmincke Pastels and faced the daunting task of breaking all of them! I found that if you peal the wrapper(I used an x-acto knife to cut the paper) off of half of the stick, hold it firmly at the paper side, and snap it in half. I reduced the crumbles and flaking of the stick and managed to save more of the sticks than wasting of them. I had many more successes than I thought I would when I started! I got a great deal and had they not been on sale at a steep discount i would have had trouble affording them! I hope to one day afford the Terry Ludwig sticks but they do not go on sale nor auction on e-bay often at ALL! Thank you for your continued pastel excellence and the sharing of your information, it is appreciated.
That's interesting to hear thanks for sharing! Breakability is one of the reasons I love the Unisons as I end up with some many smaller pieces which can still be held between fingertips without crumbling. I will hopefully really test these Rochés soon in a painting to see their true uses.
I, too, am on the hunt for best price on a set of Schmincke. If you can share your source, please, mjpete27. Further, I believe you are on the right track with the Terry Ludwig. At least the TLudwig's come in interesting sets. If you are ever in Colorado and physically visit their shop they will give 20% discount. Lastly, I am probably the only person on the planet who no longer lusts for the Roche'. I purchased and tried some sticks and found them in line with the premium soft pastel brands of today. Even if the Roche's were the same cost per stick as the other brands, I would not, necessarily feel the need to use the Roche's over the other brands. (A few isolated colors, perhaps??) I am very glad that I put them to the test and no longer lust after them. I applaud the two ladies for carrying on the Roche' history, tradition and wish them success. I would suggest that they consider looking at their price structure and availability. That said, maybe I am missing something?
I have replied to a couple of replies but they are not visible, So I purchased the Schmincke 400 set from Jacksonsart.com with an affiliate link from “In Liquid Color” Denise’s channel had an additional discount and I got the sale price on top of the affiliate link bonus! I believe Emma also is an affiliate of Jackson’s Art so be sure to check both channels descriptions and wait for a sale and use the affiliate link! I have not seen the Schmincke Pastels under 1K for the whole set before or since! I was surprised when the total was just over 900! Perfect and reasonable shipping from DHL too!
I love Henri Roche pastels and have a few sets from Paris. Isabelle and Margaret sent them to me in their beautiful wood boxes. They also sent me a special diamond black as well! You will love them!
After trying different mediums over the years, I decided that pastels are my medium of choice! So versatile, and pleasant to work with, and only minimal cleanup after painting. Having fallen in love with pastel as a medium, Roche pastels definitely seem worth the price, for their uniquely saturated brights and darks!
If you have the budget for these they are really lovely. I actually have some firm favourites in the other brands too though so for anyone who doesn't have the budget for these, you can still buy beautiful and high quality pastels for less. Enjoy these beauties if you've been lucky to buy some!
@@EmmaColbertArt You're definitely right! My brand of choice has always been Diane Townsend, and I love my Townsends a ton! The main thing I like about the Roche, is that they truly have every colour I could imagine ( and even more, lol ), and I really love the thin shape, along with the texture the pumice adds ( since I work on unsanded watercolor paper ).
@@meronyach. they are definitely the best in terms of colour range. It's incredible how many colours they have created in these beautiful sticks! I think that's where I'll find them useful, those unusual tones that you just can't get anywhere else.
Wow - seems indeed like they are the RR of pastels!! 🌟🌟🌟 I am off to check out your link - the Black & white pastels do stand out enough to grab hold of! 😉 Thank you for this video, Emma! 🌷
They have a few blacks, but their darkest black (labelled extra black) is 24 Euros - I was going to order one but it’s way out of my budget. Maybe I can get one for my birthday. Thanks for sharing your precious cargo Emma!
But that's ok as there are many awesome pastel brands which are much more affordable. Does not mean that there isn't a place for these in their own niche market. :-)
I love when you said “I have lusted after them”, that is how I feel about them. They are beautiful, still handmade and a huge and I mean huge range. Unfortunately, the one time I was in Paris, they had to switch the one day a week they are open to the public and didn’t get the email telling me till the day after I went to Visit. C’est la vie. I was lucky to get a few sticks at the IAPS. Hope to go again and pick up a few more. You are very lucky.
@KitKatToeBeans yeah, I know. I'm not anywhere close to being a museum quality artist. Boy do I want that Darks set with about 29 eggplants on the side.
I never thought I'd own this many! I especially want to be able to include them in my comparison videos as they should get a chance to shine just like the other brands.
I like Diane Townsend pastels for their quality and colour range. I have some of the pinks to pad out my pink collection. The one thing I don't like it the lack of sharp edges on the fresh pastel stick. Maybe better for painting less detail. But they are definitely one of the high quality pastel brands.
These colors😍 !!! But so costly ! As you say at least having a couple of them. Where did you find this big daler rowney pastel pls ??? Thanks for this video Emma !!
Thank you Marianne. I'm not really sure where I got that Daler Rowney to be honest. I've had it for years!! I know Jacksons sell the regular size at www.jacksonsart.com/search/?p=3&q=daler%2Browney%2Bpastel&___store=jacksonsart_en&acc=087408522c31eeb1f982bc0eaf81d35f
@@mariannepaumelle3981 No probs. I actually bought two of them earlier today as I have the full set of the Daler Rowney in the smaller size and really like them.
I believe it was a piece of Fisher 400. I've used it to paint on too. You can see it at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IAUCF8bP7_w.html
I'll keep my 20 pounds per 1 stick ( beautiful colors though) building my Caran D'ache pencils have 48 out of 84 …. Henri Roche Complete Pastel Set of 1201 in Wood Drawer Cabinets $17,550.00 USA next lottery win will use my black Nupastel in the meantime... be well
roche is always my go to, although in my case i was lucky enough to be born into old money, but even still, i hate spending money UNLESS on a set of roche's fun fact, there full set of all there pastels is about 25k which is more than even im comfortable spending despite the fact i can afford that
I think that these are a lovely option to have for those who do have the budget or as a treat. And for those who are passionate about the history of pastel as it's so wrapped up in this brand. But for everyone else there are wonderful pastels on the market for all budgets.
Too pricey for a lot of pockets it's true. But wouldn't you just love to visit that shop!! Would be dangerous though...any savings might disappear quickly lol!
Just having the whitest white and the blackest black already goes a long way. Im already lucky to have unions, saving a long time for a few smaller sets, bit by bit.
That's an awful lot of dust on the paper, which I think would make me use half of my time cleaning it up. Schmincke pastels on Hahnemüehle velour paper leave no dust at all.
Yes I have scraps of paper in the studio that I don't like to paint on that I use for videos like this to test colours etc. I normally use Pastelmat or Velour and don't end up with puddles of dust either.
