I recommend that new students  purchase a set of at least 72 assorted colours of any good brand of pastels.  Unison has a set this size sold as a Starter Set.  NuPastel, while not quite as nice a pastel to work with as Unison, is more reasonably priced and has a set of 96 that makes a great starter set.  Both sets are good quality pastels.

Any starter set of pastels NEVER has enough darks so you will at some point be looking to purchase some additional dark sticks.

Terry Ludwig Pastels has invited me to put together a set of dark pastels to be marketed under my own name.  Terry has excellent pastels and I love his darks.  I have used them now for over 5 years.  I personally hand picked these colours because they are ones that I use all the time and are not available in any other sets.

This new set has 60 colours as seen here.  On occasion Terry substitutes the odd stick with a similar one if he is out of stock but this seldom occurs.    I usually have some sets in my studio for sale.  The price when converted to Canadian funds is dependant upon what the Canadian dollar is currently trading at.   If picked up at my studio, there are no shipping charges however, Terry often has pre-Christmas sales when you can get a great deal direct from him.

This is not intended to be a starter set but a supplement to your existing pastels.  If ordering from Terry...just ask for the Dianna Ponting Dark set.

Feel free to contact me if you wish to purchase a set or have any questions.