Pastels are a drawing medium in the form of square or round sticks made from powder pigments mixed with a base and a binder to form a paste that hardens. Pastels are used in art classes in elementary schools and by professional artists. They are available in four basic forms: soft pastels, hard pastels, pastel pencils, and oil pastels.

Soft pastels. “Velvety bloom” is a phrase characteristically used to describe the look of the soft pastel, and notable for appearing in the C. K. Scott Moncrieff translation of the fifth volume of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, The Captive. Soft pastels have a relatively high pigment to binder ratio, and they are easy to both blend and smudge. Having less binder makes them susceptible to breakage, however. Soft pastels are available in student and professional sets. The student items include classroom sets, with multiple sticks of basic colors, as well as individual, small-to-medium-size sets, and are more affordable than professional sets.

Hard pastels. Hard pastels have the opposite ratio of materials to soft pastels: more binder and less pigment. As a result, they have less brilliant colors but a firmer texture, and – even able to take a point - can be used to create small, tight detail or for outlining.

Pastel pencils. Imagine a colored pencil with pastel instead of lead, and you will have the idea of a pastel pencil. When sharpening, lettering, and outlining are necessary, a hard pastel pencil may suit the job. There are also soft pastel pencils available.

Oil pastels. Oil pastels feature a different binder than hard and soft pastels, which gives them a different texture, often described as “buttery.” Artist Pablo Picasso was involved in developing the oil pastels made by Sennelier. Like soft pastels, oil pastels are available in student and professional sets. They have intense colors, which are more difficult to blend but less likely to break than soft pastels. They are often found in art classrooms in elementary and secondary schools.

Paper. Pastel paper is usually characterized by its “tooth” – it’s ability to hold lots of pastel. Special paper has been developed for oil pastels to prevent seeping or bleeding. One can also purchase pastel vellum and colored paper made specially for pastels.

Accessories. Fixatives are used to set pastels so that they stay as the artist desires, with no further blending or smudging. Stumps and tortillons are spiral-wound gray paper used for smoothing and blending pastels and charcoal. A sandpaper block is used to sharpen pastels if a point is desired. The block is sold as a sheaf of small sandpaper strips stapled onto a handle.