Speaking of Art Blog

Earthberry Pastels Review

https://earthberrypastels.com/

by Mary Ann Pals

GLPS Exhibition Chair

When I asked my assistant, Marchelle Brotz, to start contacting art merchandise companies for soliciting award donations for this year’s Great Lakes Pastel Society members show, I mentioned a new-ish pastel company to her – Earthberry Pastels.  Marchelle contacted them and they not only were eager to donate a set of pastels for an award, but they went the extra mile and mailed us a set of their Wildflower pastels for GLPS members to “play” with at our opening reception on June 7 at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort MI.  How fun!

Marchelle, Deb Van Leen and I set up a play table at the gallery, and several artists tried out the pastels during our reception.  We displayed posters with questions for artists to answer about their experience.  I heard back from some of the artists and I’ve pooled their answers here.  I’m also including images of the resulting artwork from artists who shared their work with me.  BTW, I told everyone that they could supplement with any pastel brands from home to finish the artwork.  The Earthberry Pastels company wanted our feedback on their product, so I have shared these survey answers with them.

Survey Questions/Answers:

1. What surface did you use?

            Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, Wallis, Pastelmat, UART, Colourfix.

1. Do you like the size/shape of these pastels?

            Yes.  But one person wrote that their size and shape do hinder adding fine details.

1. Would you consider these pastels hard, medium or soft?

            Medium, medium/soft

1. What kind of coverage do you see on the surface – heavy, medium, or light?

            Medium to heavy coverage

1. Much dust?

            A little dust

1. Do you like the colors included in this Wildflower set? Anything missing? Too many of any color?

            Beautiful subtle tones, but some colors need to be added, namely more greens and bright pinks with less blues.

1. What other pastel brand(s) does this brand remind you of?

            Great American, Blue Earth, Roche, Mt Vision, Rembrandt, Yarka

1. What is its texture like – gritty, smooth, rough, cake-like?

            There were somewhat different answers here, but the one descriptive word that everyone used was gritty. 

            “These pastels are somewhat creamy, yet gritty with a slight pumice-like feel”. 

            “They feel like 220 grit sand paper with a fine silt-like dust”.

1. Do you have a favorite color from this set?

            Light periwinkle blue, muted light yellow-green, dark violet-gray.

            “All the muted jewel tones”

1. Overall rating (1-10 with 10 highest)?

            (average) 8

Some comments that did not fit neatly as an answer to a specific question:

“Why didn’t anybody think of this pastel shape before?  I love the shape. I will be purchasing some in the future.”

“I really appreciate that these pastels are eco-friendly and non-toxic.”

“The materials used for packaging these pastels feel earthy, like the pastels themselves. And I love that they include images of all the wildflowers that inspired each pastel color in the Wildflower set.”

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So, there you have it.  Those are some pretty wonderful comments, don’t you think?  For more info about Earthberry Pastels, follow this link:  https://earthberrypastels.com/

And thanks to Earthberry Pastels for letting the GLPS play with their beautiful pastels.