A Tip of My Hat: Conté Pastel Pencils

Conte pastel pencils

I don’t have enough experience with pastel pencils to review this set from Conté. Indeed, I still have ambivalence about all pastels – the same dusty mess that I can’t stand about charcoal and other traditional materials that create beautiful results. And yet I keep trying them because
I appreciate their opacity and ease of application.

The reason I am showing this set is just because of how the pencils looked when I first opened the brand-new tin: every logo facing up! I have to assume a human was involved in filling this tin – not just an automated machine.

All logos face up!

Among all the many tins of pencils I have purchased, I have only ever seen this a couple of times – most memorably and beautifully, my set of Uni Mitsubishi Hi-Uni graphite pencils. It’s nice to see evidence of a company that has some pride in how its products are presented. Conté pastel pencils are still made in France, too.

Maybe most consumers wouldn’t appreciate this touch, but I do. A tip of my hat to Conté. 

2/16/23 Conte pastel pencils in Uglybook (Earthsworld reference photo)