| It took over
three years, at the turn of the 20th Century, to formulate the Sennelier
range of Extra Soft Pastels “à l’écu” and thus to create one of the
largest chromatic range of pastels. Throughout the century, this range
of tones has evolved, but the heart of its making remains unchanged.
A Sennelier extra soft pastel is composed of high quality pure pigment
grounded with a natural transparent binder.
The high quality composition of “à l’écu” pastels is the result of a
perfect balance between binder and pigment. For gradient shades,
increasing amounts of mineral fines are added, ultimately tending
towards white. The exceptional brightness is the result of the pigment
and of the natural mineral fines discovered by Sennelier in 1905 and
that have been used ever since.
The manufacturing process of the Sennelier cylindrical pastel does not
compress the paste and the pastel dries naturally in open air. The life
span of a piece of work is guaranteed by the quality of the pastel, but
also by the quality of the substrate. If a lot of overlapping is
performed, it is preferable to fix between layers. Avoid, however,
fixing the final layer too heavily, as the original vibration of tones
will be lost.
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