Hand-to-Hand Soft Pastels

In the hills of Northumberland, England, an artist makes pastels, mixing pigments in the same equipment a baker would use. He lightly hand-rolls the dough, then allows the sticks to air-dry. No other pastels flow so smoothly onto the tooth of the paper. In fact, these exquisite pastels are a work of art before you ever use them, a rapture of texture and color.

Out of a frustration with the pastels available, British artist John Hersey began making his own pastels by hand. Developed to be superior in color, texture and response, Unison Soft Pastels are unlike anything else on the market today. John Hersey developed his own unique color formulations over a decade of experimentation, creating intense, vibrant colors that are blended almost exclusively from pure pigment and water. In his handmade process, the pigment hardly gets pressed at all, ensuring that each stick is silk smooth, richly pigmented and yields extremely vibrant results. These large pastels measure 2" long by 1/2" wide.