Soft pastels are the traditional form of pastels and are also the most used. Soft pastels normally come in stick form and are made from pure pigment with the addition of a sturdy binder to give them their shape. Unlike oil pastels, they do not require any sort of solvents for clean-up or blending purposes. Pastel is a dry medium, the colour of pastel is the closest to the pure colour of any of the painting mediums. Many excellent artists around the world are using soft pastel as their primary painting medium..