Home Forums Explore Media Pastels Soft Pastel Talk Which have you used the most?

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  • #992384
    AnnaLisa
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        Hello

        I found out that I start to like Terry L pastels. First I didnt like it because all
        my fingers had a lot of pastels on them. I have the Cobalt 10 set, I had it in the drawer and didnt use it.

        But now I have started a painting and I know now better how to hold them, handle them and I just loooove them!!!

        I have ordered the 14 violet set and I have been waiting for some time, hope they will arrive soon.

        Now, I am tempted to order more. But since you can only buy sets accept for Terrys site, I am now unsure what set to get.

        I am thinking of buying a 30 or 60 set.

        Which set of yours have you used the most, which set is most useful for you??? Of course it depends on if you paint a portrait or landscape, but I
        mean generally. I looked at the McKinley set but that contains 5 blues that I already have in the Cobalt set.

        Which set can you not live without? You probably say the dark sets but maybee there are other sets you can not be without?

        There is also a cool green set, that is maybee better than a grey set? I would
        need some blue-grey middle tone but I Think I can find that in unison.

        #1213842
        Nick7
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            :) what about the full set? ;)

            "Persistence, and practice will get you where you want to be, even though you will go through some 'dark' stages"

            #1213786
            Barbara WC
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                Anna Lisa- Terry Ludwigs are my “workhorse” pastels.

                You can order individual sticks at Terry Ludwig’s site directly. The sets do save you money, but since you now have the cobalt and violet sets, you will start finding that there is duplication among sets.

                I started with the Maggie Price Basic Values set and highly recommend that set, but it will have a couple of the violets in your set, and maybe a couple of the blues.

                Terry Ludwig’s darks are among the best across brands. His darkest darks are darker than any of the Unison colors. His darks are not grayed like some brands, they glow. I think he pretty much uses pure pigment in his darkest darks…

                Check out the Terry Ludwig site. Since TL is my favorite brand, I have the color chart, and used it to order colors that are most useful to me. The website is good, but the color chart is of course the most accurate. At over $4 a stick, I wanted to be sure to get the best choices for me…

                Edited to add: I find the gray set has too many similar value sticks- and not any good darks. I bought some of the grays open stock, and picked out every other value (if that makes sense?)

                Have fun :)

                #1213784
                water girl
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                    I use TL’s Intense Darks II most often.

                    [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Karen, IAPS/MC, PSA WC Moderator-Pastels

                    web site , Getting started in soft pastels., What you need to know, Critique Guide Lines

                    #1213799
                    AnnaLisa
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                        Haha Nick7, after looking at the different sets I found out that it is better to buy a 60set than a 30 set because you get more pastels for the Money.
                        And then I was curious to see how much the whole set costs….I was then
                        thinking about how much freight cost to add to the total and then the
                        custom charges of 25%.
                        So I rather quickly changed thoughts:) But it would be nice to have it:lol:

                        Barbara, are they your working horse? Wow, you must paint with the very soft pastels then, if you layer others over the TL.

                        I have been a couple of times to TLs page and its easy to spend some time there…

                        I will have to check what the minimum order is there. A set or 2 would be nice to buy from Another store, more pastel for the Money and then later pick open stock from Terry.

                        One of the dark sets have many reds so I am not sure which of the dark sets
                        I would pick. I will have to look what colours it contain, if there are several violets and blues so I will not have duplicates. Since I have Heard that people here really are happy with the dark sets, I will buy one set.

                        I really understand that you need a chart if you pick several from open stock.

                        A set of 60 sticks costs 57$ less than if you pick 60 from open stock from Terry. But when you need colours that is not in a set, its really nice to pick those you really want. I will do that later on, for sure.

                        I wonder if it is difficult to paint portraits with the TL. I will first use the ones
                        I first bought, for animals and landscapes.I really need to learn landscapes.

                        So I guess you have collected many TLs by now.

                        #1213800
                        AnnaLisa
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                            Hello Watergirl,

                            that sounds good. I will have to check out the sticks in that set tomorrow.
                            It starts to get very late here..

                            Do you use it for landscapes or are they useful for different subjects?

                            #1213795
                            SAS Designs
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                                As a beginner, I couldn’t yet justify the expense, so I went with the Great American half sticks, and the Sennelier Paris Collection – over a base of Pan Pastels & Rembrandts.
                                I know people love the TL’s – would love to compare the darkest (what Rob says is blacker than black) with the Great American Merlot.
                                Maybe some day, if TL does 1/2 sticks, I’ll try them.

                                #1213780
                                allydoodle
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                                    Edited to add: I find the gray set has too many similar value sticks- and not any good darks. I bought some of the grays open stock, and picked out every other value (if that makes sense?)

                                    Have fun :)

                                    Funny, I love the gray set with its subtle value changes. I don’t use it for darks, so that’s not an issue for me. I like them for backgrounds in my still life and portraits. I’m sure they would be great in landscapes as well, I just haven’t tried them for that yet.

                                    I think it depends on what subject you are painting. Each set has its advantages …. The Liz Haywood Sullivan sky and water set is great for skies and and water…. I would think the Maggie Price value set is good for just about anything. I have a lot of sets and they all have their uses… The dark set is fantastic…

                                    Chris - WetCanvas Guide, Pastel Forum

                                    #1213785
                                    water girl
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                                        I use the TL Intense Darks II in most of my painting, still life or landscape, where i need my darkest darks. I agree that the Maggie Price set is wonderful as well.

                                        [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Karen, IAPS/MC, PSA WC Moderator-Pastels

                                        web site , Getting started in soft pastels., What you need to know, Critique Guide Lines

                                        #1213838
                                        julieindvik
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                                            Nick…you are so funny! Let’s all order the full set!

                                            Water girl thanks for the recommendation for the Terry Ludwig darks II. My Doug Dawson workshop this weekend just got cancelled so I will comfort myself with a new box of jewels!

                                            #1213787
                                            Barbara WC
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                                                Anna Lisa– I didn’t realize you were from Sweden! Ordering a set from Dick Blick or other online retailer makes sense!

                                                What subject are you most wanting to paint with your TL’s?

                                                You can’t go wrong with either of the intense dark sets, I think TL darks are among the best among the brands. Since you mention portraits, TL portrait sets are really nice- I don’t have either per se, but between the Maggie Price Basic Values set and the open stock I’ve collected, have most of the colors in both portrait sets. With the portrait sets, you wouldn’t have any duplication with your violet or cobalt set (I think). Whichever set you are considering, you might look at the set contents at the TL website to see which have the violets and cobalts you already have…

                                                I tend not to paint with many layers, especially my portraits from life. I attend a weekly portrait/figure painting group, and need to finish a portrait in under 3 hours usually- not a lot of time to fiddle! I have painted portraits exclusively with TL pastels, but my current method is to use Unisons to block in rough shapes and values (very rough) for my first layer. Then I use TL’s throughout most of the painting, with a few Giraults. Recently discovered Great Americans and am enjoying those too, but TL remains my favorite! Here is a link to a portrait I did recently in the gallery, mostly with TL’s on Pastelmat- https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1363423&highlight=opera (second picture is more true).

                                                Chris– I guess we must work differently :) I do enjoy the TL grays- they are pretty unique- but I wish instead of having such a tight value range, the hue ranges went a couple of steps darker and lighter…

                                                SAS Designs– you’ve mentioned the GA Merlot before, so I thought I’d take a photo of the two darkest GA’s that I have and compare it to the famous Terry Ludwig V100 for you (so hard to photograph darks, and the V100 is more beautiful in person!) That middle one is the GA Merlot…

                                                #1213764
                                                robertsloan2
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                                                    I would get the 60 Maggie Price Basic Values hands down. That set is organized perfectly for a beginner and as a compact range to paint anything. It’s got all the hues and values necessary and they’re organized well in a balanced palette, not leaning way over toward red-browns or something with gaps. The greens are a bit muted though. There are saturated greens but they’re spread out through sets with a lot more muted greens.

                                                    I could customize it a bit now that he’s got the Vibrants, especially if I did get his color chart. I know I’d like more saturated greens in it and don’t think o the grays as essential, so I could put cool grays up by the blue end and warm greens where they are (but more saturated). Also the cool red might be brightened up from the Vibrants (purple cast red and its tints).

                                                    But that’s tweaking – as it is that set would handle most subjects, I’d just need to do more mixed greens.

                                                    I don’t worry too much about duplications. It might cost me more to do a custom set working around the violets I already have than to just get the set and enjoy it for what it is and piece in some favorite others.

                                                    Purr thanks for showing the GA Merlot and V100 together! I thought so, Merlot would be more of a deep dark red and good with it. That’s one thing about GA’s, I think they have got saturated greens.


                                                    Robert A. Sloan, proud member of the Oil Pastel Society
                                                    Site owner, artist and writer of http://www.explore-oil-pastels-with-robert-sloan.com
                                                    blogs: Rob's Art Lessons and Rob's Daily Painting

                                                    #1213843
                                                    Nick7
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                                                        AnnaLisa, yeah I know how you feel :)
                                                        Would you share the price for shipping when you know it? I have read something about 50 dollars :( I know that I had paid 150 dollars once for a heavy box (not pastels). And then there is 20% VAT and maybe even customs.
                                                        I wonder why American manufacturers don’t want to deliver to European shops. It would be fun to try many of the US pastel brands.

                                                        Oh, an check the TL’s Vibrants :)

                                                        "Persistence, and practice will get you where you want to be, even though you will go through some 'dark' stages"

                                                        #1213841
                                                        jakertanner
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                                                            As a beginner, I couldn’t yet justify the expense, so I went with the Great American half sticks, and the Sennelier Paris Collection – over a base of Pan Pastels & Rembrandts.
                                                            I know people love the TL’s – would love to compare the darkest (what Rob says is blacker than black) with the Great American Merlot.
                                                            Maybe some day, if TL does 1/2 sticks, I’ll try them.

                                                            I couldn’t imagine TL making a half stick of such a small pastel to begin with. As comparison,a half stick GA is about as big as a full TL

                                                            Pastels rule!!,

                                                            :music: Jake

                                                            #1213844
                                                            Nick7
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                                                                Nick…you are so funny! Let’s all order the full set!

                                                                Water girl thanks for the recommendation for the Terry Ludwig darks II. My Doug Dawson workshop this weekend just got cancelled so I will comfort myself with a new box of jewels!

                                                                Oh, Julie, but haven’t you bought a gorgeous full set recently? Greedy, aren’t you? :D :D
                                                                Maybe dreaming about the purchase is better than having it home already :) And that’s why I have been putting off the 72 Unison set… But no more. I want to be greedy too :D

                                                                "Persistence, and practice will get you where you want to be, even though you will go through some 'dark' stages"

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