Paul Rubens 6-pack White Soft Oil Pastels

This is a selection of white soft oil pastels sticks (with cylindrical tip, not bullet tip)  to complement any Paul Rubens (Haiya) set. White is the colour that I use the most (in backgrounds, to mix colours, as highlights), so having an extra supply of them at an affordable price is essential. These sticks are creamy good-quality soft oil pastels that remind me of Sennelier's, but at a fraction of the price. They spread, mix and blend well. They're opaque and cover any surface without gaps or see through spaces, easily. They can be blended with tissue paper, my fingers, or a stump. I use them for layering, sgraffito, mixing, lighting and toning different colours. They are covered in fine paper that can be easily removed when needed. They work well as accents on the final layers of mixed-media projects. 

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Paul Rubens (Haiya) 8-pc Oil Pastels (Black)

This is a selection of black soft-oil pastel sticks to complement any Haiya set. This is one of the colours that I use the most; so, having an extra supply of them at an affordable price is paramount. Otherwise, I would have to replace them with other brands' sticks, which might or might not have the same properties or qualities. 

 

These oil pastels are buttery soft, like a lipstick, and very good quality. They spread, mix and blend well, but aren't as loaded with pigment as professional brands like Sennelier. Yet, one can't expect this to be the case due to the price tag. They can be blended with tissue paper, stumps, or my fingers, and can be used for layering and sgraffito. They're also great for finished touches in mixed media projects. I use fixatives on anything I put them on to prevent smudging and favour durability. 

 

The wrapping is around each stick should be re-designed. It looks good, but the information on them is barely visible or readable, like the opacity and pigments used on them.  I have learnt from artists' tests on YouTube that most of the Paul Rubens soft oil have great lighfastness, but I cannot see this reflected on the packaging leaflet or on the sticks wrapping paper info.

 

They come in a beautiful box, which makes them great for gifting.

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Paul Rubens (Haiya) 60-pack Soft Oil Pastels Set

Paul Rubens (HAIYA) Oil Pastels have been a discovery for me an have reignited my passion for this medium. I cannot afford Sennelier oil pastels, which are my favourite in the whole world, but also uber-expensive.  However, this Haiya set has many of the qualities I love in Sennelier minus the price tag. These pastels are really creamy and the colours are vibrant and beautiful. There is a large selection of browns, greens, blues, aquas, purples, reds, oranges and yellows, with a black and white added. On the contrary, there is a lack of pastel colours (another Haiya's set has those), grey and beige tones, and warm whites. They can be blended with tissue paper or my fingers, and used for layering, sgraffito and layering purposes. 

The opacity of the colours is shown on the stick wrapping. However, it is in diminutive size and I had to use a magnifying lens to see it properly. Some of the sticks and colours are opaque, others translucent, and others semi. The pigments used for each stick are also displayed on the wrapping. As my set most of it written in Chinese ain't sure if the lighfastness is mentioned in Mandarin. There is no indication of it on the accompanying leaflet. However, I've browsed the web and there seems to be an agreement among artists that these pastels have a good level of lightfastness. 

 

THE TEST

I tried them in two rough sketches I did on two pre-gessoed craft tags (not on pastel-purpose paper) just to check their pigmentation and blendability. These pastels are a pleasure to work with. The creaminess is not only yummy and satisfying, but it also favours colour  spread and mixing. I used simple average tissue serviettes as blenders and they did the job really well. The colours are gorgeous, but they lack a bit of more pigment in them, something that's understandable due to the price tag.  The pointy tips really help drawing an outlining. The colours mix well with each other. I used them to make a clean image and a impressionist textured one and worked well in both cases. I will try them on pastel paper and will edit this review in the future if necessary.

 

I used a permanent fixative when I finished the sketches and, before that, a workable fixative to allow me to keep working on them without the fear of smudging what I had already done.

 

Overall, a wonderful set of good quality pastel oils that are good replacement to Sennelier if you cannot afford the latter.  

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