Artist Lisa Ober Reviews Mungyo Soft Gallery Pastels

New Year, New Reviews!

Happy New Year! Recently, we gave Pastel Artist Lisa Ober a 200 Piece Set of Mungyo Gallery Soft Pastels to try out and she gave the world an amazing piece of art in return! The deluxe set of 200 we gave her features every color of Gallery Handmade Soft Pastels in a deluxe finished wood box with 2 trays to hold the entire range of colors. For a professional pastel artist, this set is the perfect indulgence. Because of their hand-rolled softness, they are great for subtle blends, laying down rich colors and lush layering which can create some absolutely stunning works of art like Lisa’s:

Lisa’s Review:

Lisa tried out the Mungyo Gallery Soft Pastels Set of 200 and here is what she had to say about them:

“The full set of 200 is an excellent starter or base set with a wide variety of color choices packed into a beautiful sturdy and classy box which is perfect for travel. The set that I received was perfectly intact without a single break (I don’t like broken new pastels). The colors are nicely arranged and AP non-toxic. Each pastel is about the size of a woman’s thumb, very similar to Unison Soft Colour Pastels. For me, the size is perfect.

The quality of each pastel was consistent across the range of colors I used. The pigments are pretty rich...at least the blue/green colors that I pulled out for this piece and I assume that is true for the other colors.

Gallery Handmade Soft Pastels have approximately the hardness /softness of something between Rembrandt Pastels and Unisons. They are only slightly less blendable than the Unisons for this reason. The option to subtly shift tones in additional layers is excellent but for some, to significantly change a color with subsequent layer would require a softer pastel such as Unison, Mount Vision, Townsend, or Schminke. This also may depend on the surface you prefer and how much pressure you apply when painting. Still, they are good for blending and layering and are a great base set for professionals and students.

The gallery’s handled very well on UART Sanded Pastel Paper (600 grit) which is my favorite surface so far. I imagine they would be good on any professional pastel surface. My overall impression of these pastels was excellent and even more impressive when one considers the value. The full set is priced at $624.99 but on sale through Jerry’s (available on sale 1/30/2014, but available for pre-order now) for $499.99, you really can’t beat the price at all for the overall value. I’d love to hear your thoughts or any questions you have but I hope this helps. Happy painting!”

-Lisa Ober

And here are some of the images Lisa Captured of the Mungyo Gallery Handmade Soft Pastels.