Which Oil Pastel Set Is Right for You?
| Set | Series | Colors | Best For | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48-Color Macaron Best Starter | Macaron / Pastel | 48 sticks | Beginners, gifts, dreamy palettes | $19.99 |
| 24-Color Soft Set | Standard | 24 sticks | Students, teachers, basics | $27.99 |
| Classic 50 + 6 White Best Value | Classic | 50 + 6 white | All-around studio, mid-level | $37.99 |
| 78-Color Landscape | Landscape | 78 + 6 white | Nature, plein-air, sky tones | $53.99 |
| 72-Color Floral | Floral | 72 + 6 white | Florists, botanical, vibrant | $56.99 |
| Grand Artist 192 Studio Gift | Grand Artist | 192 sticks | Pros, gift-box, full palette | $107.00 |
From First Drawing to the Right Set
If you are choosing Paul Rubens oil pastels, start with the job you want the set to do. Learn the basic technique first, compare the best set size, then move into a product collection that matches your drawing style.
How to Use Oil Pastels
Blending, layering, pressure control, paper choice, and beginner mistakes.
Best Oil Pastels for Artists
See which set fits beginners, studio artists, florals, landscapes, or gifts.
Oil Pastel Drawing Ideas
Try flowers, fruit, skies, portraits, and quick color studies before upgrading.
Oil Pastel Collection
Go straight to Paul Rubens oil pastel sets, paper, and white highlight sticks.
What We Would Choose First
Oil pastels feel different from colored pencils, soft pastels, and crayons because the binder stays creamy. That is why set choice should start with pressure, layering, paper texture, and whether you want clean highlights or heavy coverage.
| Artist job | Best match | Why it works | Avoid if |
|---|---|---|---|
| First oil pastel set | 48-Color Macaron Set | Soft pressure, friendly color choices, and easy blending make it less intimidating for daily practice. | You need a full saturated studio palette. |
| Layered drawings | Classic 50 + 6 White | Enough color range for shadows, skin, florals, and sky transitions, with extra white for blending and highlights. | You only want a small travel set. |
| Landscape color studies | 78-Color Landscape Set | More greens, earth tones, blues, and muted transition colors reduce muddy mixing in skies and foliage. | You mainly draw portraits or florals. |
| Finished art storage | Toothy pastel paper + glassine + frame spacing | Oil pastel does not dry like oil paint. Good surface tooth and protective spacing matter more than heavy fixative. | You want a sealed, varnished surface with no smudge risk. |
Experience note
When testing oil pastels, do not judge only by the first stroke. Try one light layer, one heavy layer, and one white-over-color blend. That shows whether the stick is creamy, waxy, or too crumbly.
Expertise note
Soft oil pastels need enough binder to glide, but enough body to layer. If the stick is too slick, colors smear. If it is too dry, blending becomes patchy.
Trust note
We do not recommend sealing finished oil pastel art with random household sprays. Use glassine for storage and a tested pastel-compatible fixative only when the artwork requires it.
Three Sets, Three Painters.
Macaron for dreamy beginners. Classic for working artists. Grand Artist for the full studio. Pick the one that matches your hand — they all share the same creamy core.
48-Color Macaron Set
Soft mint, dusty rose, butter cream, lavender, sky blue — 48 dreamy pastel hues that beginners reach for first. Creamy enough to blend with one finger, layerable like buttery icing. Gift-ready packaging.
Classic 50 + 6 White
A balanced 50-color spread covering reds, yellows, greens, blues, browns, plus a 6-pack of soft white for highlights and tints. The studio standby — used for portraits, still life, and quick color studies.
Grand Artist 192
192 colors in a wooden gift box — the full Paul Rubens palette. Earth tones, sky tones, florals, neutrals, metallics. The studio set serious painters reach for, and the gift birthdays remember.
Add Range, Subjects, and Surface.
Pair a core set with a themed expansion (Floral, Landscape) or a starter mini for travel. Each kit slots into the same blendable Paul Rubens system.
24-Color Starter
Compact 24-stick box. Same creamy core, lighter footprint — ideal for sketchbook or travel.
49-Color + 2 White
A no-frills 51-stick studio kit. 49 colors + 2 white for highlights. Mid-grade pricing, full creamy texture.
78-Color Landscape
Earth tones, sky tones, foliage greens — a palette curated for plein-air and nature work. Ships with 6 white sticks.
72-Color Floral
Petal pinks, soft yellows, leaf greens, vibrant magentas — a palette for botanical and floral artists. 72 + 6 white.
Surfaces, Brushes, Sister Mediums.
Oil pastels work hardest with the right paper and the right neighbours. Here's what pairs best.
How Oil Pastels Actually Work.
Why creamy beats waxy
Oil pastels are pigment bound in non-drying oil and soft wax. Cheap sticks load too much paraffin — they feel hard, skip on rough paper, and need solvent to blend. Paul Rubens uses higher pigment concentration and a softer non-drying oil binder, so the stick deposits saturated, lightfast color on first pass and blends with finger pressure alone. That's the "lipstick glide" reviewers describe.
Layering, sgraffito, impasto
Because the binder never fully dries, you can layer indefinitely — a dark base, a bright mid, a white highlight, scratched back with a palette knife to expose underlayers (sgraffito). Stack thick for buttery impasto, or scrape thin for transparent glaze. Read our 8 oil pastel techniques walkthrough.
Oil pastel vs soft pastel vs crayon
Soft pastels are dry chalk — dusty, fragile, fixative-required. Crayons are wax-heavy, opaque, kid-grade. Oil pastels sit in between: pigment-rich like soft pastels, durable like crayons, blendable wet-on-wet for hours. See our full comparison.
Sealing and storing finished work
Oil pastels never harden, so finished pieces need glassine paper between sheets and a fixative spray (workable matte) before framing. Avoid plastic sleeves — they pull pigment. Our guide to sealing oil pastels covers fixative brands and storage.
Macaron palette deep dive
The 48-color Macaron set is our most-gifted SKU. Soft mints, dusty roses, butter creams — colors tuned for dreamy portraits, sticker art, and journaling. Read the Macaron 48 review.
Are oil pastels safe for kids?
Yes — Paul Rubens oil pastels are ASTM D-4236 certified non-toxic and conform to ACMI health-labeling guidelines. The binder is mineral-oil based, no heavy metals, no solvents required for blending. Suitable for ages 6+ with adult supervision for fixative spray.
How long do oil pastels last?
Two answers. Sticks in storage: Paul Rubens oil pastels stay workable for 5+ years sealed in a cool drawer (no fridge, no direct sun). Finished art: because we use lightfast single-pigment master mixes — not extender fillers — properly fixed and UV-glazed work holds color for decades without visible fade. Lightfastness is the pigment's resistance to UV breakdown; cheaper student-grade pastels often skip lightfast pigments to cut cost, which is why their reds and purples shift in 1-2 years. Frame behind UV glazing and store flat between glassine sheets to maximize lightfast performance.
All Sets at a Glance.
| Set | Series | Sticks | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48-Color Macaron | Macaron | 48 | $19.99 |
| 24-Color Soft | Standard | 24 | $27.99 |
| 49-Color + 2 White | Standard | 51 | $29.99 |
| 48-Color + 6 White | Vibrant | 54 | $35.99 |
| Pro 50 + Paper Kit | Pro Bundle | 50 + 6 | $37.99 |
| Classic 50 + 6 White | Classic | 56 | $37.99 |
| 60-Color + 6 White | Vibrant | 66 | $39.99 |
| 72-Color + 6 White | Vibrant | 78 | $50.99 |
| 12 Extra-Large Set B + 6 White | Extra-Large 60g | 18 | $52.99 |
| 12 Extra-Large Set A + 6 White | Extra-Large 60g | 18 | $53.00 |
| 78-Color Landscape | Landscape | 84 | $53.99 |
| 72-Color Floral + 6 White | Floral | 78 | $56.99 |
| Grand Artist 192 | Grand Artist | 192 | $107.00 |
| A5 Pastel Paper (30 sheets) | Surface | — | $9.99 |
| White 8-Pack (highlights) | Add-on | 8 | $9.99 |
Showing 15 most-shopped sets. View full collection →
Hand-Poured. Pigment-First. Since 1998.
Each batch starts with single-pigment master mixes — no extender fillers. ASTM-tested for lightfastness; our lightfast ratings hold so your work won't shift over a decade in a portfolio. Every series — Macaron to Grand Artist — uses the same lightfast pigment standard.
A non-drying mineral oil + soft wax binder, calibrated for "creamy" feel. Less wax than student-grade — the stick deposits color on first pass without scratch.
Sticks are cast individually in the official authorized Paul Rubens supply channel — not extruded by machine. Slight color variation between sticks is the signature of a hand-poured pigment.
Common Questions.
Do Paul Rubens oil pastels dry?
No — like all oil pastels, our binder is non-drying. The pigment stays workable indefinitely, which is why finished work needs glassine paper between sheets and a fixative spray before framing.
Are these oil pastels safe for kids?
Yes. ASTM D-4236 certified non-toxic, no heavy metals. Suitable for ages 6+. Adult supervision recommended for fixative spray.
What paper works best with oil pastels?
Toothy acid-free papers in the 112–140 lb (240–300 gsm) range. Our A5 pastel paper is a tested match. Smooth printer paper does not hold pigment well.
How do I blend oil pastels?
Three ways: finger pressure (warmth softens the binder), a blending stump or palette knife for precision, or a mild solvent like baby oil for wash effects. Our technique guide covers all three.
What's the difference between Macaron and Standard series?
Same creamy binder and pigment quality. Macaron is a curated dreamy-pastel palette (mints, dusty roses, butter creams) for soft art. Standard is a balanced spectrum (saturated reds, blues, yellows, greens) for general studio use.
How long do oil pastels last?
Sticks last 5+ years sealed in a cool drawer. Finished art holds color for decades because Paul Rubens uses lightfast single-pigment master mixes — not student-grade extenders that fade in 1-2 years. Frame behind UV glazing and store flat between glassine sheets for maximum lightfast performance.
Where do you ship from?
Most US orders ship from our US Fulfillment center within 1–2 business days. Free shipping on US orders $49+. International orders are quoted at checkout.
Pick a stick. Start blending.
Every set ships from US Fulfillment. Questions? Email paulrubensshop@gmail.com — we answer within 24 hours.
Shop All Oil Pastels