There are four different types of pastels, namely, soft, hard, pencils and oil pastels. Each have their own unique application. All pastels range from white through the colour spectrum to black. Pastels are a medium that may be utilized for painting and drawing. Pastels are easily applied to paper as they require little pressure to create a mark on the paper. They may be used to blend one tone into another or the artist may smudge the colours. Many layers of colour may be superimposed. Superior quality pastels should be used to assure light fast colours which will not fade.