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Description
Next best thing to actually getting artwork done with your beloved art supplies? Trying to organize and make up reference charts for them. I'm not great at motivating myself to keep a constant drawing habit; organizing, however, and making sense of supplies is much easier to do and somewhat helps on the motivation front.

I'm not that confident or great with colored pencils, but when I wanted to get back into the practice of drawing, I thought it would be easier than paints. So my first supply acquisitions were a set of Prismacolors and Koh-I-Noor watercolor pencils, which eventually eased my transition to watercolors. The Fantasia pencils were a gift from Ermelin and the catalyst for my renewed interest.

These charts are probably of no great reference to anyone. I was trying out a coloring technique I found out through Ermelin , which involves applying only gentle pressure to the pencils, and this was the only way I could think of trying it out without having to come up with something to draw first. These samples are the result of very gentle coloring and are likely lighter in hue intensity than what the pencils are capable of. So! with that in mind, here are my findings. All were tested on 67lb white cardstock:

Prismacolors Scholars: I got these because, in terms of quality, they are in between the Verithin and Premier lines of the Prismacolors brands. However, I actually wish I had gotten the Verithins instead. I just don't like how soft these pencils are, so I'm glad the higher price put me off the Premiers. It's really difficult to keep a sharp point with these because of their soft core, so they need constant resharpening. Coincidentally, it's also one of the major selling points of this popular brand but just not to me.
I did this chart second and right away noticed how much more pigment these pencils seem to have over the Fantasia pencils. Even with light pressure, a good amount of color laid down. However, for some reason the texture of the paper seems to be more visible with these pencils.

Fantasia: These pencil cores are on the harder side of the spectrum. From other reviews out on the web, they seem to rank pretty high in terms colored pencil hardness compared to the most preferred brands (plus, with surprisingly favorable views in the elitist arena of higher cost = better). But as you can see, they have a very soft look and easily give very even coverage with nice pigments. Just from looking at the two charts, you'd think these were tried on a completely different paper than the Prismacolors, but it's actually even from the same sheet (just cut in two). I know nothing about blending but judging from how they lay down, these seem to have a lot of potential. So far, I do like these very much. But one odd thing I noticed is that some colors are in very close proximity to one another, I wonder why the manufacturers chose to make such subtle color differences.

Koh-I-Noor Mondeluz: These are water-soluble colored pencils. And I have to say that, unless you like the look of pencil work, watercolor pencils will not really help motivate you toward watercolors. Areas that are colored in pencil and then dissolved in water will always have the signs of pencil work underneath the water wash. This isn't clear in the chart above (from left to right: pencil coloring, pencil coloring + water, color lifted through wet brush on core); again, probably because of the light pressure.
I was surprised at how bright the colors were when lifted with a wet brush directly from the core. It ended up being my preferred way of using these pencils . The duality (plus the added potential of it as a solid form of soluble color) of these pencils makes them so versatile, and therefore my default preferred colored pencils.

So, maybe there'll be some colored pencil work in the future.

p.s. Ermelin No wonder it takes you so long to work on your pieces! Coloring this way, in such minute care and small strokes, takes a lot of time!! It probably took me an hour or more to do the Fantasia chart.

Description
Next best thing to actually getting artwork done with your beloved art supplies? Trying to organize and make up reference charts for them. I'm not great at motivating myself to keep a constant drawing habit; organizing, however, and making sense of supplies is much easier to do and somewhat helps on the motivation front.

I'm not that confident or great with colored pencils, but when I wanted to get back into the practice of drawing, I thought it would be easier than paints. So my first supply acquisitions were a set of Prismacolors and Koh-I-Noor watercolor pencils, which eventually eased my transition to watercolors. The Fantasia pencils were a gift from Ermelin and the catalyst for my renewed interest.

These charts are probably of no great reference to anyone. I was trying out a coloring technique I found out through Ermelin , which involves applying only gentle pressure to the pencils, and this was the only way I could think of trying it out without having to come up with something to draw first. These samples are the result of very gentle coloring and are likely lighter in hue intensity than what the pencils are capable of. So! with that in mind, here are my findings. All were tested on 67lb white cardstock:

Prismacolors Scholars: I got these because, in terms of quality, they are in between the Verithin and Premier lines of the Prismacolors brands. However, I actually wish I had gotten the Verithins instead. I just don't like how soft these pencils are, so I'm glad the higher price put me off the Premiers. It's really difficult to keep a sharp point with these because of their soft core, so they need constant resharpening. Coincidentally, it's also one of the major selling points of this popular brand but just not to me.
I did this chart second and right away noticed how much more pigment these pencils seem to have over the Fantasia pencils. Even with light pressure, a good amount of color laid down. However, for some reason the texture of the paper seems to be more visible with these pencils.

Fantasia: These pencil cores are on the harder side of the spectrum. From other reviews out on the web, they seem to rank pretty high in terms colored pencil hardness compared to the most preferred brands (plus, with surprisingly favorable views in the elitist arena of higher cost = better). But as you can see, they have a very soft look and easily give very even coverage with nice pigments. Just from looking at the two charts, you'd think these were tried on a completely different paper than the Prismacolors, but it's actually even from the same sheet (just cut in two). I know nothing about blending but judging from how they lay down, these seem to have a lot of potential. So far, I do like these very much. But one odd thing I noticed is that some colors are in very close proximity to one another, I wonder why the manufacturers chose to make such subtle color differences.

Koh-I-Noor Mondeluz: These are water-soluble colored pencils. And I have to say that, unless you like the look of pencil work, watercolor pencils will not really help motivate you toward watercolors. Areas that are colored in pencil and then dissolved in water will always have the signs of pencil work underneath the water wash. This isn't clear in the chart above (from left to right: pencil coloring, pencil coloring + water, color lifted through wet brush on core); again, probably because of the light pressure.
I was surprised at how bright the colors were when lifted with a wet brush directly from the core. It ended up being my preferred way of using these pencils . The duality (plus the added potential of it as a solid form of soluble color) of these pencils makes them so versatile, and therefore my default preferred colored pencils.

So, maybe there'll be some colored pencil work in the future.

p.s. Ermelin No wonder it takes you so long to work on your pieces! Coloring this way, in such minute care and small strokes, takes a lot of time!! It probably took me an hour or more to do the Fantasia chart.