Earlier this week I shared an overview of Gamsol, an odorless mineral spirits used for dissolving the wax in colored pencils so that you could blend and shade them the same way you can with oil paints. Naturally, though, my curiosity got the better of me and I wondered if better (artist-grade) colored pencils really had an edge over cheaper, student-grade ones. And did the paper really matter? Well, I set out to answer those questions!
I tried five different colored pencils for this experiment. I’m listing them in order of price, lowest to highest, and you’ll find that these are affiliate links if you’d like to purchase them down the road.
- Liqui-mark Colored Pencils
(I found mine at the Dollar Store!)
- Crayola Colored Pencils
- Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils, Assorted Colors
- Crafter’s Companion Spectrum Noir Blendable Pencils
Derwent Colorsoft Pencils
On Amazon.com, the Prismacolor pencils are less expensive than the Spectrum Noir ones….and Spectrum Noir ones are about the same as the ColourSofts. But at my local art store, the ColourSofts went for about $1.50 a pencil, Prismacolor went for $1.17 a pencil, and the Spectrum Noir were under a buck. So really prices vary greatly, so see what you have in your area.
Now on the the information!
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=4K3TXL-H56M
At the end of the day, I think that it’s pretty subjective. I like the looks of all of them- but I found that the more-waxy the pencil (read, cheaper) the more I needed a paper with some tooth to lay down more color so that I had enough pigment to blend once the wax was dissolved.
Either way, I love colored pencils (now MUCH more than my markers!!) and I can’t wait to color some more!
Do you have any questions? Have a preference for one pencil brand over another? I’d love to hear from you!
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Thanks for checking this out!!!
I love Prismacolor pencils ….I have lots of different brands but these are the ones I pull out…
Thanks for the Gamsol tip , I’m now obsessed with using my pencils instead of my markers!????
I know, right, I have several different brands also.love the neon Crayola’s. I keep the mineral spirits in a pump bottle designed for nail polish remover,a new plastic one is about 2$ at target, and I buy the mineral spirits at a home store, about 12$ a gallon. I have also found several vintage nail polish remover bottles at thrift stores,pretty
G- make sure you are very careful with those mineral spirits. One of the things I learned about Gamsol (from the art department guy) is that Gamsol is less likely to be absorbed through the skin than regular mineral spirits. Stay safe, crafty friend!
You do the crafting world a great favor with your wonderful, wonderful reviews. And this is certainly not the exception! Some crafting and artist supplies are just so expensive these days that you have to wonder….Crayola also makes a very fine water mixable oil pastel that is great for coloring. Blends like a dream. Have you tried these also? It’s the Portfolio line. Thank you again, Jenny!
BTW, on a lighter note, and with laughter in my eyes: I am still not convinced about the 3D doodler.
I’ve used my Derwent Inktense pencils more just because they look less like pencil when you add water. Nice to know gamsol is an alternative for the pencils.
I use the Derwent inktense and faber castell pencils. But sometimes I use regular color pencils for projects that my get thrown away and they look great too. Thanks for your demo.