Sennelier is renowned for creating professional quality grade artists paints, pastels, inks and powdered pigments. Sennelier was founded by Gustave Sennelier, a devoted chemist back in 1887. His legacy for quality and producing colours that only contain the highest quality pigments is still upheld today. Artists then and now regard the Sennelier palette as the ultimate standard of quality. 

Sennelier has been in operation for 135 years and has created artists' materials for famous artists such as Sisley, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, to name but a few!

The traditions with the innovations

"Sennelier has become the 'reference' brand that it is today for artists because it has always been able to combine the traditions of the old masters with the innovations provided by modern chemistry."

Below we list some of the great products created by Sennelier;
 oil pastels, oil stick, iridescent and metallic pastels, soft pastels, acrylics, watercolour, tempera, India ink, and oil paints.

Sennelier Oil Pastels

In 1949 Sennelier started developing a range of artists' quality pastels for the famous artist Pablo Picasso. Picasso was looking for a pastel with intense colour that could be applied directly and freely to a wide variety of surfaces. 

As a result Sennelier created an oil pastel with a soft creamy quality with all the intensity and vibrancy of conventional oil colours. However unlike oil colours, Sennelier oil pastels are made using a unique combination of non aggressive oils and waxes so they can be used on almost any surface, including paper, without cracking or affecting the substrate. Oil pastels do not ever completely dry and remain heat sensitive it is therefore recommended that oil pastel works are sealed with an oil pastel fixative.

To achieve the best results oil pastels should be used on a heavy weight paper with a slight texture. Senelier has created the best solution in a 12 sheet pad especially for their pastels. Size 24cm x 32cm. A heavyweight paper with a slight texture and interleaved with crystal paper. 340gm(160lb). Sennelier Oil Pastel Pads

Sennelier Oil Sticks

This material allows oil painting to be approached differently. It extends the artist's freedom of expression, allowing a greater degree of spontaneity, of "expressionism".

The Oil Stick is a composition of oil paint. A proportion of the oil is substituted with a neutral mineral wax, resulting in the stick appearance. These colours are of perfect quality: pure pigments are ground into vegetable oils (siccatives), selected for their low degree of yellowing with time. The choice and high concentration of pigments enables excellent light resistance to be achieved. These colours are applied discreetly to conventional oil painting supports (oil-proof or universal) and demand quality background preparation.

• Sennelier Wooden Box Oil Stick/Bar 38ml 
• Sennelier Oil Sticks Basic Set
• Sennelier d'Artigny Fixative for Oil Pastels 400ml

Supports: canvas, canvas boards, laminated panels, paper. Solid oil paint should be applied in a relatively thin film (no more than 1mm). Layers can be overlapped, in the same manner as paste oil paint, and can, if necessary, be thinned with petroleum or turpentine. Before use, the surface film should be removed. This latter will re-form after a few days of non-use. Paint applied dries within 2 to 5 days depending on layer thickness and atmospheric conditions. A clear medium is available allowing transparency and glazing effects to be achieved.

Solid artists' quality colours are available in opaque or transparent shades, depending on the shades of the pigments used. The product may be stored for extended periods of time and requires no special attention, apart from avoiding heat sources that may damage it. Once dry, the paint may be varnished like conventional oil paint, after a minimum drying period of 6 months, using an oil paint finishing varnish.

Sennelier Soft and Extra Soft Pastels

Sennelier Extra Soft Pastels consist of high quality, finely ground, pure pigments combined with a natural binder. The comprehensive range starts with a pure single pigment in each grouping of colours followed by shades that have a balanced graduation towards white.

It took over three years, around the end of the 19th Century, to formulate the Sennelier range of Extra Soft Pastels and thus to create one of the worlds largest chromatic pastel ranges. This range has evolved over the years, but the heart of its design remains unchanged. The exceptional brightness is the result of the pigment and of the natural mineral fines discovered by Sennelier in 1905 and that have been used ever since.

Sennelier Soft Pastels were first made by Gustave Sennelier for Edgar Degas in 1900, and they were subsequently used by Cézanne, Gauguin, Monet and Modigliani. 

Now as then, they are given the very best treatment: Hand-formed from the highest-quality pure pigment and the finest chalk with a natural transparent binder. Air-dried in moulds rather than compressed. Wonderfully soft, outstandingly bright, lightfast and water-soluble

To achieve the best results with these soft pastels, Sennelier has created Pastel Card360gsm in two sizes 24 x 16 cm and 32 x 24 cm. Sennelier Pastel Card 360gsm Features include : pH neutral finely ground vegetable fibres on a 360gsm pH neutral board slightly abrasive, but not too aggressive texture pigment adhesion is so greatly enhanced that fixative use is dramatically reduced. Contains 2 sheets of each of 6 colours.

For longevity and to prevent smudging, it is advisable to use a Soft Pastel Fixative such as SpectraFix Degas Pastel Fixative on completion of your painting. Also because of the nature of soft pastels and oil pastels it would be wise to wear an apron. 

Sennelier Oil and Soft Pastels Iridescent and Metallic

mIridescent and etallic oil pastels are great for those projects which require a more ornate touch. You can apply colours directly or mix colours by layering them on your substrate, before blending them with a rag or your finger or blending stump or by using Sennelier Set of 3 Blending Brushes Colours can also be blended and diluted with mineral spirits or turpentine, use a soft brush to create gradations of colour or blend to create seamless transitions or new colours. Seal the paper first with gesso if necessary, to strengthen the surface. Iridescent and metallic pastels can also be used in mixed media, applying over watercolour, oil or acrylic paint. Colours may be sculpted with a pre-heated palette knife. 

• Sennelier Iridescent Artists Quality Oil Pastel Sets
• Sennelier Extra Soft Pastel Selection (24 Iridescent / Shimmering Colours)
• Sennelier Set of 3 Blending Brushes
• Sennelier d'Artigny Fixative for Oil Pastels 400ml

Sennelier Acrylics

Innovative, elegant, handy and just feels right.

Highly pigmented for rich colour with superb coverage, smooth buttery consistency with enough body to hold brush marks and peaks makes this the perfect paint to use in the studio, out in the field or straight from the pouch in your hand.

The paint is kept safe in a sturdy, flexible, plastic pouch which features a screw-top cap so no spills and no split tubes or cracked pots if dropped or stepped on. The plastic pouch has been designed so it prevents air getting back into the paint and drying it out, so your paint will last longer. You can also squeeze the very last drop of paint out of these bags by folding them towards the opening.

The clear window in the pouch makes it easy and quick to know at a glance what colour you’ll be using and what it’ll look like before it hits the palette. Permanent and water-resistant when dry. 

Sennelier Watercolours

Sennelier Ink

Sennelier inks are likened to Indian inks, and are available in a large selection of high quality colours. We stock the Black ink which is extremely rich and is manufactured with shellac gum, providing a unique brilliance, brightness and vibrant hue under the light. The ink can be applied with a brush or ink pen and give a satin to brilliant film depending on the thickness of application. They dry rapidly and display a high degree of water resistance, without being indelible. Great for calligraphy, quill drawings, washes, mixed media and illustrations. They can be protected with a pencil fixative in order to increase its light stability. 

Sennelier Oil Paints

Sennelier's passion for colour chemistry and focused pigment research led to the development of a distinctive oil colour manufacturing process that has been employed for generations. Sennelier gathers only the finest natural and inorganic pigments from around the world. The pure pigments are ground very slowly with extreme care to an extra-fine consistency. They are then combined at maximum concentration with an archival safflower oil to yield the highest possible tinting strength and a lustrous satin finish. The sensuous pigments have a unique buttery texture, a consistency originally developed for the expressive style of the Impressionist painters who frequented the Sennelier store in the 19th century. Sennelier's meticulous work, his vast knowledge of pigments, his talents as a colourist, and collaboration with Cezanne and other Masters gave rise to a palette of oil colours that quickly became the standard of quality. Favoured by some of the greatest artists (Monet, Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso, Bonnard, Modigliani, Chagall, Ernst, Hockney), Sennelier oils hang in the world's most prestigious museums. Today, Sennelier's classic palette is expanding with 50 new, original shades that encompass contemporary trends and tastes. These colours, still as smooth and luminous as ever, offer an updated texture with a firmer body to accommodate the requirements of 21st century artists.

Today, Sennelier's classic palette is expanding with 50 new, original shades that encompass contemporary trends and tastes. These colours, still as smooth and luminous as ever, offer an updated texture with firmer body to accommodate the requirements of 21st century artists.Utilizing the time-honoured, exacting methods perfected for over one hundred years, the new paints are produced under the watchful eye of Dominique Sennelier. At Sennelier, tradition meets the needs of today's artists and the innovations of modern chemistry. Sennelier proudly introduces the next generation of oils, a collection of professional, extra-fine colours that reinvents your palette and redefines quality.

Rive Gauche fine Oil

Sennelier began in Paris in 1887, opposite the Louvre and just a stone’s throw away from the École des Beaux-Arts, which is the world epicentre for arts and is located on the Left Bank (‘sur la Rive Gauche’). From the Latin Quarter to Montparnasse, this symbolic riverside area has proven to be one dominated by artists, intellectuals, musicians, professors and students. Being proud of its origins, the name ‘Rive Gauche’ consequently seemed a natural choice for Sennelier Fine Oils.

Dries twice as fast : Whilst retaining the key characteristics of oil painting, Rive Gauche fine oils dry twice as fast as classic oils. The outcome of this is a shortened drying time that does not restrict an artist's possibilities of working with fresh paint.

Oils that yellow two times less Safflower oil are used to make the 60 colours. It is characterised by its low level of yellowing (50% less than linseed oil) and its excellent compatibility with pigments.

High-performance cadmium substitutes! Rive Gauche fine oils use new pigments, which are high-performance cadmium substitutes that offer opaqueness and luminosity properties that are almost equivalent to real cadmium-based oils.

With Rive Gauche, Sennelier has placed the colours of Paris into tubes so that artists from all over the world can experience the pleasure of using them.

Sennelier Pigments

Jars of ground pigment powder from only the highest quality sources. These pigments have been carefully selected for consistent quality and purity. The Sennelier Artists Quality Pigments selection includes both traditional and modern pigment groups. Sennelier binding mediums can be mixed with raw pigment to create artists quality colours.Each pigment has its own opacity and lightfastness ratings.

Egg Tempera

Sennelier Egg Tempera is an authentic formulation of classic egg tempera as used by artists since the Renaissance. Egg tempera is a semi opaque water soluble and permanent painting medium wonderful for fine art painting, restoration and icon painting. Its archival characteristics are excellent as it does not age or yellow like oil paints.

Pigments are bound with a centuries old egg emulsion recipe, giving a satin-matt finish that is water resistant when dry. It is not recommended to use egg tempera in thick application.

Hopefully knowing a little bit more about one of the most famous brands on the planet will inspire you to go on some great painting adventures. Don’t forget to tag us and share your work with us. Under, #colouringthenation or tag us on Instagram and that would be great, we would love to see all your Artwork!

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