In 1925, Sakura Color Products of Osaka, Japan, formulated Cray-Pas oil pastels with premium quality pigments, wax and oil. Today, the finest elements continue to make up the Cray-Pas family of oil pastels. Cray-Pas Expressionist oil pastels are the standard by which all other pastels are measured. The Expressionist color range allows students, hobbyists, and professional artists to achieve a range of painterly effects. Expressionist oil pastels are extremely smooth to apply, can create broad strokes, and allow the user to blend colors to build texture and depth. The unique Cray-Pas Extender is a colorless oil pastel, further extending any Expressionist color for the continuation of hues.