WCIF Art Supply for Soft Pastel?

[loaker]

We're planning to move to Taiwan in a few months. My husband is an pastel artist who uses brands such as Art Spectrum, Mount Vision, Sennelier, Rembrandt, Schmincke. Does anyone know if we can easily find them in Taipei area? Thanks in advance.

[Dragonbones]

Hi loaker, and welcome to Forumosa!

I don't know for sure what brands they carry, but there is [url]a professional-level art supply shop in Taibei, near Shi-Da University called Ba Da[/url] (Ba1 Da4, 八大) which I have posted about numerous times. In other media (e.g. acrylics, watercolors, oils etc.) they tend to carry at least several top global brands so I would expect them to have at least some suitable pastels. There are also a few smaller shops near it which tend to carry some global brands and some cheaper stuff, generally oriented toward high school to college age students IMO but with some things suitable for pros, and then there are ubiquitous stationery shops throughout the island which generally carry only very low-end stuff for elementary and secondary school students.

The address is 龍泉街 87巷 6號 Long2quan2 St., Alley 87, #6. Take He2ping2 Road to Shi-Da University. Turn left on Shi-Da Road, then left again later followingthis map. Call 23639307 or 23922802 if you get lost, or to confirm they'll be open before you go. You could call them long distance to ask (in Chinese) whether they have your brands, or wait to see if one of the other Forumosans knows better what they carry.

[loaker]

Great information! I did see the ubiquitous stationary shops when I was there last, and you're right: it was mostly kid-grade stuff. For that reason, I may stock up on some of my favorite brands/colors before I move. I'll check out the URL for Ba-Da. Nice to know where to look! Thanks for the quick reply!

[lupillus]

I've seen Rembrandt, but don't know about the others. The art stores do stock some alright stuff, but it might be pricey since all of it has to be imported.

[Dragonbones]

I've seen Rembrandt, but don't know about the others. The art stores do stock some alright stuff, but it might be pricey since all of it has to be imported.

Some stuff is priced quite reasonably. Ba Da's price on fabric dye pastels is well below anything I've seen in the States, about 50NT, versus $6-7+ in the US. The acrylics at Ba Da are ok, price-wise, and cheaper than buying at a discount place in the US and having it shipped here. Anyway, pastels aren't bulky so to be safe I'd still advise stocking up at home and bringing it with you just in case.

[lupillus]

I've seen Rembrandt, but don't know about the others. The art stores do stock some alright stuff, but it might be pricey since all of it has to be imported.

Some stuff is priced quite reasonably. Ba Da's price on fabric dye pastels is well below anything I've seen in the States, about 50NT, versus $6-7+ in the US. The acrylics at Ba Da are ok, price-wise, and cheaper than buying at a discount place in the US and having it shipped here. Anyway, pastels aren't bulky so to be safe I'd still advise stocking up at home and bringing it with you just in case.

Yeah...but that's not really high quality stuff, is it? I know the fabric dye pastels you're talking about, but they're really more like toys. Fun though. I've always found prices for higher end stuff prohibitive.

[Dragonbones]

The fabric dye pastels are a unique craft item; I don't mean to compare them to professional soft pastels in quality. They are completely different in purpose as well. They are good quality in that they perform exactly as advertised, and are very permanent. The color range is limited and toy-like, unfortunately, and the physical characteristics of the pastel sticks are not high end. You can treat them as a toy or take them more seriously and do some pretty nifty stuff. You may have seen some of my tees.

On prices at Ba Da, I posted some here after a similar request a few years ago, although I was focusing on acrylics:
http://forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph ... 26#p760826
My main point on prices of professional-level acrylics was that they are cheaper than the combination of US price plus shipping to Taiwan. You're still better off buying in the US if you can bring it yourself. I assume this would apply to the pastel prices too.
I see that I posted about their pastels: "in pastels they have Van Gogh and a number of other brands." I didn't check the prices.

[loaker]

Yeah, the brands I use most are Mount Vision, Art Spectrum, Sennelier, and some Rembrandts and Windsor Newton. I also use NuPastels but they're pretty hard so they dwindle slowly. I'll stock up, one way or the other. Thanks to everyone for the info!