Schmincke - Pastel, 60 colours, multi-purpose, 77 601 097, cardboard set with 60 half pastel pencils, handmade pastels, brilliant, velvety matt, highly lightfast colours

Working with Schminckeâs finest extra soft pastels will give you a completely unique drawing experience. They have an incredibly high concentration of top quality pigment powder held together by the absolute minimum amount of binding agent - just enough to ensure that they remain a stable compound. Unlike many pastels on the market, they also do not contain chalk or additives which helps keep their colouration pure and consistent throughout each pastel. This stripped-back recipe results in such soft pastels that Schmincke had to design a costly and time-consuming manufacturing process to stop them from breaking. Each lump of pre-kneaded pastel dough is rolled into rounded skeins which are sectioned by hand and laid onto a sheet. The skeins are then cut by hand with a wire-strung frame and transferred onto wooden palettes where they are left to dry for around 2 weeks. By this time they are so soft that they need to be wrapped by hand and gently placed in their foam packaging. Each paste