Hello! I am finally back to my crafting studio from my family trip and back to my blog to share a new video I’ve created for you. If have been following my Instagram, you know I’ve been experimenting with different kinds of colored pencils from various brands. I am happy to let you know today is the day!
Below is the in-depth video I created to share bits and pieces of three different colored pencil sets. It is one of the longest video I’ve created, so grab a cup of tea, sit back, relax, and enjoy the video.
I won’t go into too much details in writing since above video has all of my first impressions and basic thoughts about them. Below are few pictures I showed in the video so you can see them more close up:
Spectrum Noir Blendable Pencils: 5 Sets available, Each set has 24 pencils and they all carry different colors. So you won’t be getting any duplicates if you get all five sets. They are NOT available in open stock.
Prismacolor Premier Pencils: You can get different sized sets, like 12, 24, 48, 72, so on and so forth. You will get some duplicates if you purchase multiple sets. They are available in open stock.
Faber-Castell Polychromos: Same as Prismacolor pencils, they come in different sized sets and are available in open stock. These are more expensive than the other two.
All three of them blend well, you can used them on their own or blend them using orderless mineral oils like Gamsol. Above picture shows pigment smudges for each pencil brand. Prismacolor and Faber-Castell has more pigment and smudges more then the Spectrum Noir ones.
Below are complete drawings I did using all of the brands. Left ones are blended with just each pencil brand and left ones are blended with Gamsol.
Lastly, these are the results of coloring on dark cardstock. You can see which one is more transparent and which one is more bright and opaque.
I love all three brands, they each carry different advantages for different artists.
– Spectrum Noir is great for beginners because you don’t have to guess which shades to choose for blending. Each color comes in 3 different shades so that is all you need if you are looking for each coloring. They are also affordable and user friendly. Downside is that you cannot buy them separately and they are more transparent than the other two.
– Prismacolor is great because they are soft centered and easy to blend. They also come in very wide range of color choices so you will have more color palette to work with. They too are very affordably priced. Downside is that you can’t put too much pressure on it because it will break on you easily. Also, because they are soft, it is a bit tricky to sharpen them. I recommend using a good pencil sharpener for these.
– Faber-Castell is awesome if you are doing lots of color layering. Because it is oil based, you can layer multiple colors on top of each other without getting any wax blooms like the other two. You will also get lots of color choices from this brand. The only downside is that the price is pretty high compare to the other two. However, I would have to say, this is my preferred brand because they are strong and very easy to work with.
I hope this was helpful! Please comment below to ask any questions, so others can get more information on these. What is your favorite color pencil brand and why?