MUNGYO Soft Pastel 64 Color Set Square Chalk (US English Version)

So I am just getting into pastels. I thought I would start with a really cheap set. So I bought a set from the two remaining craft stores the M and the HL. They were really cheap and dusty and only moderately pigmented. I wasn’t very happy so I looked at Amazon and ordered another cheap but highly recommended brand Mungyo. This brand is a little more pigmented and fairly creamy. It is a little dustier than the higher end pastels but for such a cheap price for 64 color box, it performs very decently. I have no idea how to paint with pastels and I am just now borrowing books from the library. So this box came and I decided to just use cheap oil pastel paper to make something. It was 100 small sheets for under six dollars so it’s just a little bit of texture but not really any tooth like you get with a sanded pastel paper like UArt or Pastelmat. I have uploaded the picture of what I made. It is only my second attempt at making a pastel painting. It was really difficult to layer these pastels on this paper as it doesn’t hold the pastel pigment very well, I blended a little with my finger and tried to do the best I could. I really had no reference, but I was surprised at what I was able to create in about 20 minutes on 5” x 8” piece of paper. There are 72 colors in this set so it is easier to pick out a color I need. I have a lot of learning to do on how to blend colors so that they don’t become a muddy mess or just how much to apply in each stroke but the wonderful thing about cheap pastels is that I can try a lot of stuff and learn in the process. I have also been trying to learn watercolor, but that medium is hard because I have to bring water with me and have to have decent brushes. It’s not always possible to have those. Pastel colors I just need a set of pastels and my finger and a piece of somewhat textured paper. Sometimes I have a short break in between meetings and I want to do another activity to relieve my tired brain. This is the perfect thing. It’s very tactical medium, and that really helps relieve stress. I am hoping to get good and learn how to Leeor, but I am not afraid to experiment like it would be with a much more expensive box. The colors when they arrived were a little beat up in the box but pastels get dirty anyway, and have to be cleaned off. None of the pastels were broken. A couple were chipped, but that’s OK. I considered sending it back, but I was too eager to use it, and so I did. That was a good decision. The pictures I have uploaded are the two stages of the landscape I made in one I laid down a base layer, and then I added more pastel on top to finish. I wanted to do more, but the paper was just not holding any more pigment. One day I will invest in better paper. I have uploaded both photos of mid way and completed art so you can see the difference. Remember, I am a completely untrained person making their second pastel painting, so if you’re on the fence, just go ahead and order this.

These are awesome! I'm a pastel artist and in my area it is really difficult to find good pastels for a decent price in both the colors and hardness/softness that I need. There are Rembrandt sets which are great pastels, but they are brittle and very expensive. The cheapest set of Rembrandts I can find near here are about $60, or $5.50 per stick individually. General's are another brand sold locally, and while those have the multiple shades of browns and grays that I need, the sticks are far too hard to lay down color with, and much better suited to sketching and hatching. Even the generic pastels from Hobby Lobby are better than General's, but they don't have sucha color variety, are thin, and not as vibrantly pigmented. Alphacolor are good, but still more expensive than this, and they don't have all the different color variations in one pack. These pastels were the answer to all the problems I've had with other brands. They are soft enough to lay down large surfaces of color. They are super vibrant and blend really well. They are slightly brittle, and the corners may break a bit if you press too hard, but they do not crumble and break in half like Rembrandts or some other brands of soft pastels. And the colors are amazing! The 4 in the top row are all neon. I haven't tested to see whether or not the glow under a blacklight, but they are bright enough that I assume they do. There are 4 shades of gray (not including black or white) about 5 shades of neutral brown, plus red, green, yellow, and orange tones of brown. There are deep reds and beautiful purples, and hot pinks that are so gorgeous I want lipsticks to match. And the only describes about half of the set! The set says there are 64 pieces. They are about half-stick size, but there are also two bonus skinny sticks in black and white. Also, of the 64 colors, it appears that 2 of them are pure white, so there are actually only 63 colors, but it's always useful to have extra white. The sticks are small, but for the price and the variety, they are totally worth it. I was shocked by the quality. These are pigmented enough to stain clothing, linoleum, etc.

This is a lovely set of soft pastels for the beginning pastel student or the seasoned starving artist on a tight budget. The colors lay down fresh and vibrant. Of course there are better, higher quality pastels but they come with a price. You can do a lovely pastel work with these and each pastel goes a long way. Cheaper pastels have more binder and less color. More Expensive pastels have more color and less binder. Still, the quality of these pastels surprised me and I'm not at all disappointed. I'm able to use the Mungyo Pastels along with my pastel pencils as they blend and layer well. I've got a mix of pastel pencils from 4 different brands and they all work equally well. My pastels arrived well packed and none were broken. Even if they were broken, they're still usable and sharp edges can be used for better line work or to add color to small areas. I found Strathmore 500 Charcoal paper worked really well with these pastels as the paper gripped the color with each stroke allowing me to to blend and layer with excellent results. I tried the pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes pastel paper and the pastels were pulverized as I laid them down and I had pastel dust everywhere. To blend, I use my fingers and blending tortillions/stumps; Use a spray fixative after you finish to keep the pastel from smearing and to also keep it on the paper. If you want to use an inexpensive fixative for children's work or work you don't plan to keep, hairspray will work but won't preserve the art for the long haul. If your child does a piece of art you think you'll treasure for years to come, spring for the artist spray fixative. If you want to spray a fixative over your art and be able to use pastel on top of that so keep the color separated and fresh, use a workable fixative. Workable fixative as more of a tooth, grip, to it than regular fixative. It can also be used as your final coats of fixative. You probably want 2 or 3 final coats. Be sure to allow the fixative to dry completely before adding another coat. Use spray fixatives outdoors or in a well ventilated area.

These are the very best student grade pastels set that I've ever used. I recommend these for anyone who wants to try the medium. The color range is excellent and includes a number of necessary colors not always found in smaller student sets at a good price. The small half sticks are very convenient. The texture is excellent. That said, they are student grade and NOT LIGHT FAST. I was going to give them five stars but realized that might confuse artists new to using pastels. These are not permanent lightfast art materials for art to sell. They're perfect for Illustration, if the photo of the work is the final version they're a great bargain. They're great for sketchbooks and preliminary studies. They're perfect for students who may not want to spend a dollar a stick for half sticks to get a good range of permanent artist grade pastels. Cheap pastels like this the bright colors are done by dyes on a binder or filler like talc or chalk. They're brilliant but fugitive. Use them as such and there's no problem. Anything that comes out well enough for permanent wall art, do the painting again on artist grade paper with a more lightfast pastel like Cretacolor Pastels Carre' or Rembrandt or the upper end pastels by the same manufacturer such as Gallery Mungyo Artist Soft Round or Gallery Mungyo Artist Hand Rolled or Gallery Mungyo Semi-Hard pastels. The company calls these "Standard" grade but that means these are the cheap student ones. Their quality is good on alll levels of the range and the priice goes up through four levels of artist grade ones. For a start to the medium or for preliminary sketching these are fantastic. They are also perfect for outdoor drawing. The packaging is sturdy and the box fits easily in a pack or bag for painting outdoors. Sturdy packaging matters in pastel painting and storage. The box is reasonably heavy with a styrene tray and outer cardboard sleeve that keeps it from falling open. This is important! I'm planning a class for new pastelists sometime in the middle of 2015 and intend to use these as the introduction set for new painters. They can try the different expensive brands later by getting samples, as each of the artist grade brands has its own texture, colors available, feel in the hand and look on the paper. Student grade pastels are more consistent. They are also good for party posters! The set includes a few fluorescent colors. Those are not lightfast by definition, but if you take a black poster board and sketch on it with fluorescent pastels you'll have a poster that screams in black light. Non toxic and safe for children. Nothing against and everything for them. They just aren't the artist grade.

great set - vibrant colors for sketching and shading. many colors to choose from, too.

Nice, vibrant colors, easy and smooth to blend. Highly recommend pastel paper to get the best results if using for art.

I just received these today. I swatched them on black paper and did a partial painting on white watercolor paper (Fabriano Studio, 25% cotton, 140 lb. cold press--student grade). I've posted a photo of the partial painting. I have quite a few pan pastels which I love, and a large set of Prismacolors Nupastels which are considered a hard pastel. I realized that I needed softer pastels but didn't want to invest much money until I was sure I would use them. I also have a few Rembrandt pastels which are also considered medium in terms of softness and generally get good ratings. The Mungyos seem to be at least of equivalent quality. The only negative thing I have to say about them so far is that although they go on black paper (Mi-Teintes pastel paper), the nice bright color almost disappears with any attempt to blend them. I have included another photo of this. Since this paper is intended for pastel, including multiple layers, I also tried to add layers and then blend, with little success. I also added a couple of swatches of pan pastel for comparison of it's fine coverage without the need for blending. However, the color of the pan pastel is not as vibrant as the unblended Mungyos. The bottom line is that the Mungyos are quite vibrant on black paper, but only if unblended. Perhaps multiple unblended layers would solve some of the problem. On the other hand, the Mungyos blend beautifully on white paper. The last point I'll make is that there is at least one YouTube review on this product. One of the key conclusions is the type of paper they're used on makes a significant difference. Bottom line is that, although on the small side (one of the things that keeps the price so low for the quality), these pastels are an outstanding value, especially for beginners and those, like me who don't want to spend money on something you're not sure you'll need, but are of good enough quality to yield nice results! UPDATE: I wanted to do a bit more experimentation with the Mungyos on black pastel paper, so I did. Bottom line, they work best over a Pan Pastel underpainting. See the photo with notes!

Note I haven't use these yet. I will update my review one I have. So I bought these and they arrived, the outter package was in good condition but when I opened it up it was a mess. (see photos) Pastel dust everywhere and I knew it was going to take a while to clean up. But I messaged Amazon anyway because this is really ridiculous. They refunded me without requiring me to send these back to them and said they are going to look into this iusse. (yes ok not like anything will come of it but whatever) then I started the process of cleaning these pastels. Cleaning pastels is pretty easy but it takes a rag or two, a few hand washings and about 40 minutes of your time. So turn on the TV. Start with white and work your way through from light to dark and wash your hands once you are getting to much pigment on your fingers. Take one rag and rub the Pastel gently back and forth till the layer of multi color dust comes off, don't forget the ends. And the set aside on another rag. And repeat till you are done. Make sure you clean up the box too. Take out the black tray there will be a pile of dust and bits underneath it. Wipe it out. You can wash the black plastic tray with mild soap and a scrub brush (like one for your nails) to get the residue out of the corners. Let dry over night, don't wash the box it's paper. Once the black tray is dry put the tray back into the bottom of the box and put your pastels back in the box. This is an insane about of effort to make these usable but the color pigment is nice and vibrant and I can't wait to try them.

They were really dirty, I think i got a return one but I clean them and they are really good, the only bad thing is that is very small, small box=tiny pastels But I love the colors

Son los pasteles, mejor comprados, sus colores se combinan muy bien y su calidad wow. muy buena super recomendables.

Not too good but ok for beginners. They are too dry. Too much dust with them

Très beaux choix de couleurs. Les pastels sont facile à utilliser. Donne un beau fini. Je les recommande fortement

I love to do arts and crafts and drawing I love to do especially! But I'm new to chalks and wanted to try a few drawings wih them. (I like to draw Disney characters!) These are definitely the right ones to start with. I thought for a beginner they were brilliant! Just what I needed to use. They have loads of colours to choose from which I like. And such a fantastic price too! I would with a doubt recommend these to someone who wants to try chalks!