About Soft Pastels

Soft pastel is an art medium consisting of pure powdered pigment mixed with an inert gum binder. The pigments are ground into a paste with water and the binder, and then rolled or pressed into sticks. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints. 

Soft pastel sometimes has been referred to as chalk. The use of chalk predated the use of pastel as a medium. The range of colors and the smoothness of the application of manufactured pastels are very different from the dyes and binders of fabricated synthetic chalks. 

With pastels, the pastelist obtains two effects, either a drawing if it is used as a colored pencil or a painting if the medium covers the entire surface. When pastels are painted on acid-free paper and protected by proper framing, they are among the most permanent of all media, for they never crack, darken or yellow.