XLP50 50-Piece Cray-Pas Expressionist Oil Pastel Set, Assorted Color

Wonderful selection of colors. I cannot imagine a scene one could not draw with this color ramhe. Blend easily. Strongly recommend planning out your drawing in advance so you can successfully work in layers or from light to dark. This is a basic premise of pastel (and other art media) techniques but i often forget it, to my dismay. Planning helps with any project. Packaging is durable and provides good environmental protection for product. It gets hot in my area and the pastels stay in good shape. Recommended storing them flat rather than placing box on its side or everything will fall out. I also recommend placing it on to of whatever supplies you have stacked. I feel the box could endure an encyclopedia on top but why test destiny? Overall, a positive experience for beginners or more advanced artists. IF you are a BEGINNER, I strongly recommend finding videos regarding how to use oil pastels. These are good for beginners but the caveat is that said beginners should obtain info on use before taking the plunge.

These oil pastels work well. They are creamy, they are easy to blend, and the colors are bright.

came on time.product was exactly as promised

I bought these to have a set that I can boldly experiment with without feeling sorry for them like I do for my more expensive oil pastels. I didn't expect much considering the price tag but what a surprise I got! A fantastic range of colours, richly pigmented, they handle really nicely, blend well and the colours even go over each other surprisingly well too. They are great for broad strokes and finer details. One can get interesting effects by going over the strokes (and different colours) with the Extenders (they are shaped exactly like the pastels but contain no pigment and only the filler wax component, and you get 2 of these in the box). They react well to blending stumps too. They are noticeably harder than e.g. Sennelier or Mungyo Gallery, but that is also a nice feel to work with and makes it easier for a softer oil pastel brand to go on top. They do look rather cheap (e.g. the packaging, and the wrappers don't even have colour names written on them) but don't be fooled - these are really a joy to work with and a steal at the price. They produce some crumbs while working - if not for that I would have given 5 stars.

This brand was the first oil pastel to come on the market. They were invented in 1925. I have been using them since 1964 when I was a teenager who couldn't afford oil paints and all the products that are needed to use it properly. Over the years I have used other oil pastels including the water soluble kind, but I find Cray-Pas to be my favorite and these days I just don't bother with any other brand. I like this expressionist set very much. The colors are beautiful and vibrant, and the 2 extender/blender sticks that were included will make it easy to get the effects I want.

I bought another brand before this one and sent it back after trying 2 of the colors. When these came I was apprehensive but am thrilled with them. They blend well on batik fabrics and the oil doesn't transfer to my hands like the other brand. Love them. Tsome of the highlights and shading in the photo were created with these oil pastels. These were also less money for the same amount as the first set.

Previously, I wrote a review saying these are good but Sakura's "Specialist" line is better. It's not better, just different. If you've used regular pastels and are new to oil pastels (as I was when I wrote my initial review) these are as close to good quality, soft, dry pastels as you will find. There are others that look like they are similar to soft dry pastels, like Holbein and Van Gogh, but they are overly dry which make it difficult to get a rich surface. The Specialist are square thus more like square dry pastels. Each has its uses and I recommend getting both if you can afford both, plus a few buttery Senneliers for some finishing touches. (Available in single colors from sites like Dick Blick). The colors for both the Expressionst and Specialist lines are similar, and both can be used for covering broad areas and underpainting, but the square is advantageous when making fine lines and for hard edges. I highly recommend both! The colors of the Expressionist and Specialist lines are very similar. If you are switching from dry pastels to oils, start with the type you are used to, square or round, but ultimately you'll find both useful - the square especially for fine lines and hard edges.

The colors were nice but they are hard to lay down on paper and hard to blend. They were not soft enough.

Estos colores de Sakura, que aparecen como "Expresionistas" no son pasteles al óleo, son simples ceras, como lo conocemos en España, no llevan aceite de linaza, deben estar tratadas con parafina. Lo explico poque observo que en muchas marcas aparecen también con la misma denominación y son simples crayolas o ceras. Los tonos de los colores son variados, pero en cuanto a calidad dejan que desear, tenemos las ceras Manley españolas, que son fabulosas y las hay de 50 colores y mucho más económicas. La gran mayoría de las pinturas que aparecen como pasteles al óleo, incluidas las Faber Castell, que también las he comprado son ceras y por tanto bastante caras. Estoy pendiente de recibir las de Sennelier, por lo cual no puedo opinar aún, pero quizás sean las únicas que son al óleo y posiblemente las de Windsor & Newton.

Highest quality pastels at good price. Lasts longer than other plus colour very rich

Es handelt sich um sehr schöne Stifte für ausdrucksstarke Bilder. Das Produkt kam schnell und genau wie abgebildet an. Vielen Dank.

As a professional Artists, these Cray-Pas Expressionist pastels are a bit firm but easy to blend. They have excellent pigment quality and are light fast. I would but them between Sennelier being the Softest Oil pastel then in the middle is Cray -Pas Expressionist, along with Mungyo and Holbein then Cray- Pas Specialists being the hardest. These Cray-Pas can be bought in sets and found as well as singles to purchase, I use them as final layers or as the whole painting, their cost is excellent to make an every day product to use in your art work.

I love the crayon! It blends well and even when I accidentally dropped the box and the crayons all scattered, it didn't break at all!