Faber-Castell PITT Pastel Colored Pencils

Pros:

Great for Fine Details

Not Overly Messy

Nice Packaging

 Cons:

Not Good for Large Areas

Can be Difficult to Get Color on the Paper 

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Faber-Castell PITT Pastel Pencils Review

Updated by Brandon F. on August 22, 2023

The PITT Pastel Pencils are unique offerings from Faber-Castell in that they aren’t oil-based.  Rather, they are a dry pastel they can be used to complement general pastel works or even on their own where more detail is necessary.  Being in pencil form, they are not as messy as conventional pastels and the sharp-friendly point is great for the intricate details. 

The color range is relatively large with choices from singles up to 60-count sets and the available colors are diverse.  The color is generally vivid and blending is quite simple.

Visual Appeal – 3.5/5

The sets emphasized muted shades and earth tones, so that can be a good or bad thing, depending on your desired application.  The colors that do exist show good color if you can get it thick on the paper.  If you are looking for a large, varied blend of a plethora of colors, this might not be the best choice.  The sets will be heavy greens and oranges but are noticeably lacking in yellows and purples.

The largest offering is “only” a 60-piece which is not minuscule but doesn’t hold a candle to some of the 120-piece sets we’ve come accustomed to from Faber-Castell.  Blending will open up a lot of additional colors, but with these pencils being better suited for fine details, it might be better to leave the large blending areas to conventional pastels as it can be a little difficult with these.  A benefit of these pastel-like pencils is that lightfastness isn’t a major issue.

Usability and durability – 3.5/5

Since the Faber-Castell PITT Pastel Pencils come in pencil form, they will be much less messy than conventional pastels.  However, the application process can still be a bit messy.  As with many pastels, the application can be somewhat laborious with a lot of scrubbing and digging to get color on the paper. You literally will have to “work” these in and if you are after a particularly deep color, plan to work quite a bit at it!

The thin core allows for very fine application and makes these a much more viable approach for detailing than regular pastels, but at the same time could make applying it over large areas overly laborious.  There are pastel pencils with larger cores out there just for this purpose.  Performance aside, we encourage everyone who hasn’t experienced pastel-type colored pencils to give these a go just to see what it feels like.

Packaging and Presentation – 4/5

Sets of 12 to 60 only come in the standard tin, which has corrugated grooves for individual pencils. It does an excellent job of protection, and we assume that the attractive wooden case that is optional in other lines isn’t a choice here since there aren’t any sets larger than 60.  The exterior is a colorless wood but the base is color-coordinated to help with color identification. 

The coveted gold accents that exist with the Polychromos and Albrecht Dürer lines are also missing.  It is instead replaced with a simple black stamp that displays the brand name and pencil type.  It is overall a classy look.

Cost – 3.5/5

These pastel pencils will be in the premium price range.  When comparing directly to other pastels this isn’t too out of the ordinary, but you are also getting a lot more “color” with a conventional pastel.  Since the color in these is contained in a relatively thin core, you aren’t going to get nearly as much color on paper as well as traditional approaches, but you’ll also have a lot more control. 

The pencils and container themselves aren’t low quality, but it would have been nice to see the attractive colored exterior included and the option for the wood case available.  This is a good support set for someone who has the means to already have the more conventional Faber-Castell sets.  Think of these as sort of a dessert on top of a great main course.

Overall ranking – 3.5/5

The Faber-Castell PITT Pastel Pencils are an interesting product that does what it is intended for quite well.  If you are looking to work with a larger area or for specific colors this product, especially in the smaller quantity sets, might not fill all your needs.  But for detailed locations of a piece that need to utilize the advantages of a pastel pencil, these are perfect. 

These are also much less messy than conventional pastels but do expect to still have to work the paper some to get the color you want on the paper.  Also, typical of other Faber-Castell products, they do come with a relatively hefty asking price.  We recommend checking these pastel pencils out, but after you already have your foundation set(s).