Conté à ParisConté à Paris 48 Count Assorted Pastel Pencils

Super soft pastel pencils. They tend to fill the tooth of the paper a bit quicker but they are super vibrant. I did the eyes of this cat using them. They are rather chunky so keep that in mind when sharpening.

The core is made of chalk.Its twice as tick as most other color pencils! The lead seems to be better than the generals chalk pencils I’ve used but either one doesn’t break if you sharpen them with a knife….

These pencils are larger than most, so keep that you'll require a larger sharpener, unless you sharpen with a blade. I find they break more easily in a sharpener than my other pastel pencils. They are highly pigmented, like the more expensive Caran D'Ache, but that means they tend to have rough spots or a grittiness like them, too, and they aren't quite as vibrant. Because of their larger size, they are good to use for larger coverage areas and putting down a base layer of pigment, but not as good for fine details. If you are looking to add to your pastel pencil assortment, these would make a nice addition because of the different selection of colors. If this is your first set of pastel pencils, I would not recommend these because of their grittiness and inability to gain a sharp point for details. For a first set, I'd recommend the Stabilo Carbothello brand.

Wow -- these are the super pastel pencils that you always wished for. Pricey, but worth it. They are a bit fatter than other pastel pencils, so you need a larger pencil sharpener -- or just use a knife. They put down the color very well, are smooth, and really nice to handle.

I love these pencils! I saw them first in Australia and I decided to try them (every color). The colors are vibrant. The pastel isn't as chalky as some pencils. My only issue was finding a sharpener that was large enough to sharpen the pencils as the width is a bit wider than your average colored pencil. I resolved that when I was shown how to sharpen them with sandpaper and later on I found a sharpener at an art store.

I am an artist. I absolutely love these pastels . I have professional grade soft pastels. But, I bought these because of the harder core and hoped the conte could be used for shading with my other other softer pastels. I also bought the conte pencil sharpener . Works well. The only complaint I have is with the Amazon packing. These pastels should be bubble wrapped. Once the core is broken the pencil is useless. Conte pencils work well with mixed medium.

The media could not be loaded. The pastel pencils are OK, actually are very fine but the packaging it's not safe, the pencils arrive everywhere and some leads came broken.

Conté crayons are my favorite, especially the various sanguine variations. These, however, are true pastels, so if you know pastels, then you will know what you are getting. If you do not know how pastels act, then you may be puzzled at first by the granulation and the sharpening. Be patient. Conté is the best.