Loisaida
Meedens are the Best & Nearest to Sennelier
Meeden Oil Pastels are my favorite brand. You'll have to try different brands to decide your preference. Every artist is different. Meedens are very soft and blend-able. I use blending sticks and my fingers. Please remember to wash hands, dry them, & use a barrier cream like Artguard or Skinsafer to protect your skin. Pastels can be hard to wash off & may enter your pores causing irritation; the barrier cream helps pastels wash off easily. Meeden oil pastel sticks show a level 3 lightfastness for every color right on the label. Other brands say nothing about lightfastness (how they will stand up to time without fading). The box is very sturdy with the spongy cover over the pastels. They are so reasonably priced and the colors are varied and vibrant. The sticks are a nice size & thick. Meeden is probably the closest you'll get to Sennelier, the most expensive brand and the standard for oil pastels. They are very soft so you might want to sketch with a harder oil pastel initially, like Pentel oil pastels, and fill-in/lay over your drawing with the Meedens. I used a dark Prismacolor pencil to outline some pastel flowers myself. Prismacolors are soft and are great for that purpose. The chances of matching colors are great. If you're doing a portrait, Prismas are good for eyes or other features then you can fill in & blend around with the Meedens. Use oil pastel paper like Canson mi Teintes or Strathmore XL (reasonable prices). Black and other shades may mute the colors but they have whites and off whites. Pastelmat (sandier) and Sennelier (smoother) papers are the best papers; they are expensive but you can apply lots of layers and the results are excellent. The Sennelier oil pastel pad has glassine between the pages of a ring-bound pad so your pastels don't smear; worth the price. I used this Sennelier pad with the Meedens and it looks great. You can also use toothy paper when you use oil pastels for good results and ease of use, etc. Cold press 140-300 lb watercolor p