© Charlotte Herczfeld , for The Pastel Scribbler March 2012.

A Review of Henri Roché pastels By Charlotte Herczfeld

Have you heard about the pastels called Roché? Many pastel painters know about them, but are

reluctant to try them because they are priced as luxury items. The question we all tend to ask is: are

they really worth it?

La Maison du Pastel in Paris has a long and respectable history dating back to 1720. In 1887, M. Henri

Roché became the head of the firm, and it has stayed in the family since. Today, Isabelle Roché keeps

up the tradition of making these handmade pastels using the old equipment and methods. (Read

more about the charming history at http://www.lamaisondupastel.com/en/history )

The sticks I’m testing are indeed pure

and vibrant in colour. A yellow, an

orange, deep red, violet red, deep

blue, blue green, and a pale peachy

colour (picture 1). What immediately

strikes me is that although the Roché

sticks feels to be on the hard side, they

release the pigment very readily, and I must take care to apply only a light pressure. The pigment is

quite granular and rough, as you can see in picture 2, where the upper rows of swatches are of the

Rochés, with their interesting play of light and shadow, and the lower are of the likewise handmade

UK brand Unison. These marks are made on ordinary printer paper.

Picture 1

Picture 2

© Charlotte Herczfeld , for The Pastel Scribbler March 2012.

One of my favourite pastel papers is the

Fisher 400, as I layer a lot and normally

need the tooth it provides. I rarely use

fixative, as usually it “melts” the

pigments together in a way that

destroys the shimmering effect of

overlapped and adjacent marks. I use

paper with a deep tooth instead. So my

first sketch was made on this paper

(picture 3). The aggressive tooth of the

paper really “eats” the pastel sticks at a

rate which is frightening with this

expensive pastel. When I continued

layering with the sides of the sticks, the

Roché pastels deposited less and less

pigment – it felt as if the sticks were

rolling on the granular pigments already

down on the paper, as if on ball

bearings. That was interesting, and got

me thinking about the glow of old oil

paintings, when the pigment particles

were larger than today’s.

Next sketch is on Clairefontaine-Rhodia

Pastelmat (picture 4). This paper

normally acts as if one was painting on

the sticky side of tape and a pastel mark

will not move until there are several

layers under it. The Roché pastels are

the only ones I have tried (of some 10

different brands) where the first marks

actually could be smoothed out and into

the paper, and where the second layer

could be blended into the first. The

marks went down in an uneven way, and

if I pressed too hard there was a lot of

loose granular dust. Now I’m starting to

see a trend for these pastels, and the

light bulb turns on!

Picture 3

Picture 4

© Charlotte Herczfeld , for The Pastel Scribbler March 2012.

As Edgar Degas used the Roché pastels, what would happen

if I used papers and methods similar to his? He worked on

papers without special tooth, used fixative liberally to keep

the strokes from blending too much, and laid down the first

layers flat and then switched to hatching marks creating an

optical blending in the eye.

The Roché pastels release their pigments beautifully on a

simple pastel paper of the Ingres type. I work similarly to

how Degas did his first layers, and I stopped sketching at the

point of picture 5 as the paper was too full with pigment. I

used a very good fixative which I know makes minimal

changes to single layer colours, but tends to melt together

layered colours of other pastel brands. In other words, this is

a tough test. I applied four light layers of fixative, and

allowed them to dry completely between applications. The

fixated painting is in picture 6. To my surprise, there is no

spotting where droplets have fallen. The colours stay pure

and separate – even the light yellow marks on top of darker

pastel only darken very slightly. I’m deeply impressed!

The rougher texture

of the fixated layers

works beautifully as a

toothy ground and

would allow me to put

on as much pastel as

before fixating, but

I’m content with

touching up the

sketch just a little bit

more. There is no

visible difference

between the fixated

layers and the new

pastel pigment.

(Picture 7.)

Picture 5, above, before fixating Picture 6, below, after fixating

Picture 7

© Charlotte Herczfeld , for The Pastel Scribbler March 2012.

I find I really like how the Roché pastels make uneven marks, allowing previous layers to peek

through without my having to make the marks separated or very small. The marks have a look much

like scumbled oil paint, which is difficult to achieve with soft pastels, but the Rochés perform just

wonderfully in this respect. I find I love the vibrancy and painterly look which is so easily made.

I’m amazed at discovering how Degas made it work for him. It wasn’t a special fixative, it wasn’t

secret methods he took with him to the grave – it was the beautiful performance of the Roché

pastels working so well with fixative. The “secret” was in the pastel sticks all the time!

The price range for a single full stick is between €16 and €20 (VAT included). That is about seven

times more than what my machine-made “workhorse” sticks cost. However, La Maison du Pastel

now offer small sets with half-sticks, for half the price, which is a good option for trying them out.

Are the Roché pastels really worth it, then?

That is the question. There are other brands with high pigment content and brilliant colours. I

couldn’t in good conscience recommend the Roché pastels to a beginner because of the cost, but the

more seasoned painter would get an additional variation of expression in their toolbox. My personal

opinion is this: What makes the Roché pastels so special are their comparatively temperamental

nature in how the strokes go down in a lovely varied way, and how excellently the layers take a high

quality fixative, allowing for a truly impressionist manner of painting. The rougher granular texture

lets the light and shadow play in every stroke, truly adding that special sparkle which makes a pastel

painting so unique. If that is what you dream of for your paintings, then an investment in Roché

pastels would be worth it.