Rembrandt Pastels are the world's most popular soft pastel, possessing unsurpassed glow, purity, and intensity. They are made from the best quality, finely ground pure pigments in an extra-fine Kaolin clay binder. The result is a velvety-smooth softness in every colour. Each rich colour is thoroughly blended and uniform, end to end. Rembrandt Pastels contain no hard bits or sharp edges, which could cause shiny spots or scratches during application. Rembrandt Pastels are hand-checked throughout production to ensure artists the consistency in texture, colour, and working qualities that they've come to depend on. Each round Rembrandt Pastel stick has a transparent label printed with information valuable to the artist: the colour name and number, the number suffix indicating whether it is a pure tone (.5), a shade (.3), or a tint (.7, .8, .9), and the lightfastness rating. Lightfastness is especially important when using pastels since they're practically pure pigment and very susceptible to light. About 70 percent of the Rembrandt Pastel line has the highest possible degree of lightfastness. These pastels are harder in consistency than many soft pastels, allowing for more control and definition in your painting. Full sticks measure 2-3/4" long × 7/16" diameter (70 mm × 11 mm). They are paper wrapped and are sold individually.