RembrandtSoft Pastel Micro Set, 5-Piece Half Sticks, Earth Reds

Lovely colors,smooth application

I was looking for a good mini-set to help round out my landscape set. Unfortunately this misses the mark.The colors are basically value gradients of the same dark magenta color. Not particularly earthy, and not great quality.

I am new to pastels so I am not going to comment on the pastel itself although compared to some other brands I use, it seems considerably harder than some of the soft pastels, leaning more to the hardness of the prismacolor hard pastels. They do offer depth of color, though it can be hard to differentiate between some of the darker pastels. The packaging is not good. I bought two of the Rembrandt pastel micro kits only to find that some arrived broken despite the sponge holder. And it is a pain in the rear to try to put the sponge holder containing the pastels back in the case. Not easy at all.

I don't do desert or "red earth" pictures. These reds are great for subtle,rosy effects in landscapes. Thought I didn't need this range of colors but I will definitely re-order.

Colors are much more “brown” than the photo. I was hoping redder reds. Despite that, good colors.Good quality pastels, I personally like the half-stick size.