Conte a Paris makes a variety of pigment products for artists; the Conte Crayon is perhaps their most well-known. This slightly waxy square stick is an artist's staple and used to come in only a few earth-tones, black and white, although it is now available in a full spectrum of colors.

Conte also makes an open-stock series of pastel pencils, which are harder than soft pastels, but more portable, less dust-producing and great for sketching.

But one product line they offer that is difficult to find in the US (and I don't know why) is the Conte soft pastels set.

This is my set of 48 Conte soft pastels; it has been well-used and well-loved.

They are among the hardest of the 'soft pastels', so they're ideally suited to being the first color you put down on paper. I often start a painting with these sticks, after the initial sketch is up. They're great for blocking in color and they aren't so soft that they 'clog the pores' of the paper.

The feel is smoother than the Conte brand pastel pencil, which feels kind of 'scritchy' on the paper, but isn't the butter-silky feel of the truly soft brands like Daler-Rowney or Unison. These sticks are round instead of Conte's usual square, and can be used wherever you would use NuPastel or other of the harder, smaller sticks.

They have one feature that makes them preferable to NuPastels (or indeed, any of the soft, non-pencil pastels) for plein air painting - they have a glossy coating on them that doesn't interfere with their application on paper, but that does prevent them from coating your hands with pigment. If you are out of doors, on a hillside far from running water, this feature can reallyl save wear and tear on your hand-wiping rag.

They also travel extremely well in the case they come in, and don't need special padding other than the thin foam in the case lid.

Conte soft pastels are a great 'starter' set for a beginning pastel painter, although they aren't the be-all and end-all of pastel supplies; softer sticks will still be needed to create the depths and highlights of a full range-of-contrast painting. But for quickly sketching in details in as close to studio colors as possible, nothing beats Contes.

I sure wish someone would make them available in the US.