Emilie Meyer
PanPastels are professional-grade soft pastels in a unique pan format. They were launched in 2007 by Bernadette Ward and Ladd Forsline, who wanted to develop a pastel that would function like a paint. PanPastels are packed in a format similar to women's makeup pots and are applied with Sofft Tools, specially formulated micropore sponges. They are available in a variety of colours, all of which are lightfast to varying degrees. While some sources claim that PanPastels are not lightfast enough for anything but sketchbook use, others assert that they are well worth the money and perform as the company claims.
Are Pan Pastels lightfast?
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Lightfastness | Yes, PanPastels have lightfast qualities and excellent ratings. |
| Pigments | Professional artists' grade pigments are used. |
| Colour range | 80 colours (plus a few metallics and pearlescents). |
| Binder | PanPastels reduce the amount of binder and filler to a minimum for quality. |
| Price | Comparable to the most expensive stick pastels. |
| Application | Can be applied like paint and used for traditional painting and drawing techniques. |
| Surfaces | Can be used on Bristol Vellum, Marker paper, Watercolour, PastelBoard, UART Sanded paper, and even canvas and wood. |
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What You'll Learn
PanPastels are lightfast
PanPastels are professional-grade soft pastels in a unique pan format. They are packed with rich, ultra-soft, and super-blendable colours that can be applied like paint, making them excellent for painting, drawing, and mixed media. The special pan format also reduces the amount of binder and filler, enhancing the quality of the pastel.
The lightfast qualities of PanPastels are evident in their use of modern lightfast pigments. While the colour range is relatively small, it is balanced, and the pigments are non-toxic. The company provides a colour chart on its website, indicating the lightfast qualities of each pigment with a star rating system. This transparency ensures that artists can make informed choices about the permanence of their artwork.
Additionally, PanPastels are designed to be used with Sofft Tools, a range of specially formulated micropore sponge applicators. These tools provide maximum control and versatility, allowing artists to create a variety of marks, from small painterly strokes to large blocks of colour. The combination of lightfast PanPastels and Sofft Tools empowers artists to create long-lasting artworks with rich, velvety colours and seamless gradients.
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Pure pigments vs. synthesized dyes
PanPastels are professional-grade soft pastels that come in a unique pan format. They are rich, ultra-soft, and super-blendable, and can be applied like paint. PanPastels have excellent lightfast ratings.
Pure pigments and synthesized dyes are the two principal types of colorants. They are used in a wide variety of products, including textile dyeing, foods, cosmetics, paints, inks, pharmaceuticals, candles, cleaning products, wood stains, and more.
The major difference between pigments and dyes is that dyes exhibit their colour by dissolving in a solvent matrix or by attaching to a substrate, whereas pigments exhibit their colour without any required chemical interaction. Dyes are usually organic and are obtained from flora and fauna, making them expensive and unsuitable for bulk use. On the other hand, pigments are chemically synthesized substances that are comparatively cheap and easy to use for a variety of purposes.
Pigments are solid organic or inorganic compounds that exhibit colour in their solid form. They do not dissolve in their chemical environment but are instead suspended or dispersed in it. This dispersion is sometimes enhanced with a dispersing agent suitable for the specific pigment and the host matrix. The suspended pigment particles typically provide an opaque or "cloudy" colouring effect.
Dyes, on the other hand, will provide a translucent colouring effect. They are available in a wide range of bright colours and are commonly used in the textile and paper industries. Dyes are also more likely to bleed or spread across the immediate area.
In terms of lightfastness, pure pigments tend to result in better lightfastness than synthesized dyes. However, some pigments may exhibit much greater lightfastness than many dyes, and advancements in technology have led to the development of more lightfast dyes.
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PanPastels' unique format
PanPastels are professional-grade soft pastels packed in a unique pan format. They are packed in a cake-like form, resembling women's makeup pots. This format offers artists a new level of control and creativity. The colours are rich, ultra-soft, and super-blendable, and they can be applied like paint, making them great for painting, drawing, and mixed media. They can be applied using special tools, regular brushes, or even fingers, and they create less dust for a cleaner working environment.
The special qualities of PanPastel colours mean that artists can blend and apply dry colour like fluid paint for the first time. All PanPastel colours are made using a unique manufacturing process requiring minimal binder and fillers, resulting in rich, ultra-soft, and super-blendable colours. The company was formed through the partnership of Ladd Forsline and Bernadette Ward, as they felt that the pastel scene had not changed or improved in the last couple of hundred years.
PanPastel colours are available in an extensive selection of sets and kits in a variety of pre-selected colour palettes. All sets offer excellent value and include free Sofft Tools. Sofft Tools are specially formulated, latex-free, micropore sponge applicators designed for optimal application of PanPastel colours. Each tool has a unique shape and size, based on artists' brushes. They are versatile, reusable, and easy to clean.
PanPastels are lightfast, with excellent ratings. On the PanPastel website, they have provided a colour chart of all the pigments available, and under each colour is printed a star system indicating that particular pigment's lightfast qualities.
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PanPastels' performance
PanPastels are professional-grade soft pastels packed in a unique pan format. They are ultra-soft, super-blendable, and can be applied like paint, making them great for painting, drawing, and mixed media. The idea behind the development of PanPastel was to create a dry colour medium that would respond like fluid paint, thus creating a new space between drawing and painting materials.
The PanPastel range was launched in 2007 by Bernadette Ward and Ladd Forsline, following five years of research and development. The company was formed because the founders, who had both worked in the art materials industry since the late '80s, believed that the pastel medium had been neglected in terms of development. They wanted to create a pastel that functioned like paint while retaining the characteristics that make the medium special, such as its directness and purity of colour.
PanPastels can be used on a variety of surfaces, including Bristol Vellum, Marker paper, Watercolour, PastelBoard, UART Sanded paper, and even canvas. They can also be used in conjunction with other media such as watercolours, acrylics, pastel sticks, coloured pencils, cold wax, and encaustics. The company also developed Sofft Tools, a range of sponge applicators designed specifically for use with PanPastels, which provide maximum control and versatility for artists.
In terms of lightfastness, PanPastels have excellent ratings. They use modern lightfast pigments, and the company provides a colour chart on their website that indicates the lightfast qualities of each pigment using a star system. While some colours may have higher lightfastness than others, overall, PanPastels are considered a reliable and high-quality product by artists.
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PanPastels' uses
PanPastels are professional-grade soft pastels that come in a unique pan format. They are ultra-soft, highly pigmented, and lightfast. They can be used straight out of the pan, with no solvents, mediums, or liquids required, and there is no drying time. This makes them a popular choice for artists, as they can be used for both traditional painting and drawing techniques as well as mixed media techniques such as journaling, collage, altered art, and hand-colouring digital prints. They can also be used with a variety of applicators, such as sponges, plastic palette knives, and spatula, which makes them a good option for artists who don't like the feel of pastel powder on their hands.
PanPastels are known for their rich, velvety colours and seamless gradients, offering artists a high level of control and creativity. They are also very versatile in terms of the surfaces they can be used on, including Bristol Vellum, marker paper, watercolour paper, PastelBoard, UART Sanded paper, and even canvas and wood. Additionally, they work well with other media, such as acrylics, markers, encaustics, inks, pencils, watercolours, pastel sticks, and charcoal.
One of the unique features of PanPastels is the development of Sofft Tools, a range of applicators designed specifically for use with PanPastel colours. These applicators are made from a dense micropore sponge that is durable, washable, and reusable. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes based on brush shapes, allowing artists to create a range of marks from small painterly marks to large washes of colour.
PanPastels are also known for their excellent lightfast qualities, which are indicated on the PanPastel website through a colour chart that includes a star system for each pigment's lightfastness. This information helps artists make informed choices about the permanence of their artwork, especially when creating pieces intended for display or collection.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, PanPastels are lightfast. The company claims that each colour has 40% more material than the average pastel stick, and they perform as the company claims.
PanPastels, Unison, Terry Ludwig and Rembrandts use the most lightfast pigments.
On the PanPastel website, they have provided a colour chart of all the pigments available and under each colour is printed a star system indicating that particular pigment's lightfastness.
PanPastels can be applied like paint and are great for painting, drawing, and mixed media. They can be used on their own or in conjunction with a variety of surfaces and other media such as watercolours, acrylics, pastel sticks, coloured pencils, cold wax and encaustics.
