Stabilo CarbOthello Pastel Pencil, Caput Mortuum Red

I have FC Pitt pastel pencils and Koh I Noor Gioconda pastel pencils and I would rate this lower than both of them for the pigment. But there is really not a lot in it. They're all pretty similar.It does lay down nicely though and sharpens well. I actually had an issue on the first sharpening with the lead snapping. But on further sharpening it turned out to be fine.It's definitely nice to use and as my first of this brand it has certainly ensured that I will be buying some of the other colours.It's on a par with the Pitt and Gioconda and far better than the Creta. In my opinion.

It was advertised as a 'pack of 12' and yet only one arrived. With P&P quite pricey for one pencil (£4.20). I tried using the pencil to emphasise a small dark area on my latest picture and yet it doesn't appear vibrant but very flat and muted despite putting on the correct under layers of pastel so had to buy another brand at a fraction of the cost but to excellent effect. All in all not a good purchasing experience and would not recommend this make of black pastel pencil

Really expensive and it's a nightmare to sharpen. Much thinner than other pencils, crumbles so easily. Not the brightest white either, won't go over anything very well. I used it for blending. Very powdery. I bought expensive pastel sharpeners, desk top ones etc. None work for this pencil. Wish I'd returned it.

Arrived quickly, perfect as I was part way through a picture when the one from my set just got too small to use. These chalk pastels are really easy to work with and blend very well. I like to sketch out my drawings with this colour instead of using pencil as its easy to see on the paper and blends well into the colours without altering them with just one layer, yet when used over the top of colours stands out well

This pencil is regularly in use as it provides a brilliant white coupled with a degree of hardness that is not to be found in soft pastels. It is an essential element among the range of coloured pastels that I use, enabling me to provide fine detail as well as covering wider areas with colour when needed.