Pastel Review...Mount Vision Tropical Set

'Paradise'          5x7         pastel         ©Karen Margulis  $45 buy here

 New Pastels!  Is there anything better than opening up a new box of pastels?  I love to just admire the colors in a pristine new box. So much so that I have a box of Richard McKinley pastels that I haven't touched in 2 years because I can't bear to get them messy. (to be fair I keep them to show students who are looking to buy new pastels)

I haven't bought any pastels in awhile so I decided to treat myself to a new set. I thought that a set of tropical colors would be fun to take on my cruise next week so I chose the Mount Vision Tropical set of 25 pastels.  They arrived this week and today I had a chance to try them out.  Here are some initial thoughts.

Mount Vision Tropical Pastel Set

• Mount Vision pastels are always a good value. You get a nice size handmade pastel stick that can be easily broken into three smaller pieces which is what I like to do right away. Otherwise they are actually too big for me to use!  This set of 25 pastels cost $74 at Blicks.com but I had a 20% coupon and free shipping. Here is the link http://www.dickblick.com/products/mount-vision-soft-pastel-sets/
• I would consider these pastels to be medium soft. They are a great workhorse pastel in that they are hard enough for beginning layers yet soft enough to get nice effects in ending layers. I can use them from start to finish although I do prefer to use some of my softer pastels for my ending marks. 
• The colors are wonderful!  These pastels really are eye candy! Just look at those bright happy tropical colors!  Of course I like to challenge myself to paint using just the set alone.  The two paintings on this page were done with just the tropical set except I did have to add a light cream in the bottom painting.  I would say that this set will definitely have to be a supplement to my regular cruise travel set.  The colors are bright and vibrant but not enough range in value & color  to use alone for every painting.

'Island Colors'      5x7      pastel 

In conclusion....if you are looking to supplement your pastel collection with some vibrant tropical colors then this set would be a good choice.  I can see these colors to be useful for other subjects such as flowers and even fun abstracts.....ohhh now there's an idea!