Description

About Sennelier

Founded in Paris in 1887 by chemist Gustave Sennelier, the House of Sennelier began as a small colour shop on the Quai Voltaire, opposite the Louvre. Through meticulous pigment craftsmanship, Sennelier earned the trust of the great artists of the era – Cézanne, Gauguin, Picasso, Modigliani, and Degas all worked with Sennelier colours. More than a century later, the company remains family-run and continues to produce fine art materials according to traditional methods, guided by close collaboration with working artists.

Sennelier Pastel Pencils

Sennelier’s history with pastel is inseparable from Edgar Degas, for whom Gustave Sennelier developed his celebrated À L’Écu soft pastel range in the late 1800s. Building on this expertise, in 1905 Sennelier conceived an innovative semi-soft pastel in pencil form – a format that bridges the gap between traditional pastel sticks and pencils.

The modern range continues that legacy. Each pencil is wood-free, formed entirely from pure pastel pigment and binder into a solid 7.5 mm core, meaning the entire pencil is usable colour with nothing wasted. The semi-soft formulation sits between a soft pastel and a hard pastel pencil: creamy enough to blend and layer richly, yet firm enough for hatching, glazing, and controlled line work. The colour palette was curated in collaboration with professional pastellists and drawn from the most essential shades of the À L’Écu soft pastel range, ensuring outstanding pigmentation and lightfastness across the spectrum. The pencils integrate seamlessly with Sennelier soft pastels – ideal for adding fine detail and finishing touches to pastel paintings, or for complete works in their own right.

Usage & Care

• Shape the tip with fine sandpaper or a rasp rather than a conventional sharpener – the wood-free core allows custom point shapes.
• Work on textured paper designed for pastel to hold the pigment.
• Fix finished work with a pastel fixative to prevent smudging.
• Store pencils flat or tip-up in a dry place, protected from knocks – the solid pastel core can break if dropped.