Wednesday, July 21, 2010

colored pencil comparison

Just thought I'd share a visual comparison of the pencil brands I have in my collection... it's not exhaustive, but for those who are curious what's out there and how a few different brands compare in coverage, blendability, etc.... here ya go.

These are colors I purchased 1) to see what else is out there and 2) to fill in holes in my collection where I felt the Prismacolor line was lacking. Each swatch was colored right to left (I don't know why I did that other than that I'm left-handed...), then blended with a stump and odorless mineral spirits on the right. The brands I have right now are:

Derwent Studio - I have just a few of these, and learned after I purchased them that I should have purchased the Coloursoft ones - the Studio line has a harder lead and they do not blend well. So... I know for next time.

Blick Studio Artists' Colored Pencils - I'm actually impressed with these as far as coverage and blending. Great price too - 79 cents apiece. 72 colors in the line.

Caran d'Ache Pablo - I love these ones... the ones I have fill in a lot of yellow and green spaces in my collection that I felt were missing. The pencils aren't as waxy/creamy as Prismacolor but they blend well. They have another line called Luminance that looks interesting too!

Derwent Graphitint - these are a little bit thicker lead and all gorgeous deep earth tones. Great for shaded areas and blend beautifully. I'd love to have more of these!

Prismacolor Premier - My pencil of choice, obviously! I have the full set of Premier pencils and the full Lightfast line as well. Excellent coverage and blend well too.

Hope this info is helpful to someone! If you have questions, or if you have info to add, let me know!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

4 comments:

  1. oh, now I really want to color something. I'm so bored right now sitting in a hotel w/o my colored pencils. Which ones do you think are closest to Prismacolors?

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  2. This is wonderful!! I have wanted to "infill" my Prismacolor collection but have been fearful of trying other brands, especially as in the store you would have to purchase a whole set. I will echo Jacki's question - which did you feel were closest to Prismacolors? I am impressed with how the Dick Blick pencil looked - does it have a similar waxiness? THANKS so much for doing this!

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  4. Dina, I have visited this post dozens of times! It's the best colored pencil comparison I have ever seen! I'm a colored pencil fan and have been researching different ones. I'm partial to the oil based ones that blend at once as opposed to Prismas that often take layers of pencil. You have done us a great service by evaluating not only the wax based ones but also the oil based! Thank you so much for doing this. I'll be back again no doubt to read and reread! I'm looking to expand my meager collection of 400 pencils and oddly, it's never enough!

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