Art Supplies for People Who Use Soft Core Color Pencils

 Colored Pencils

Colored pencils are a wonderfully dynamic medium that are highly beloved past artists and hobbyists alike considering they're so piece of cake to use—plus they're a lot cleaner and require virtually no set-upwards compared to virtually other art mediums!

Whether you're completely new to colored pencils or looking to learn more well-nigh this versatile medium, in this commodity I'll help you figure out which colored pencils to buy by covering such of import topics as quality, consistency, type, permanence, brand, and what I consider to be the best colored pencils. Read on to learn everything you lot need to know near colored pencils!

If you're brusque on time and just want to read almost my recommendations, y'all can spring straight to the Best Colored Pencils section.

Colored pencils have been widely used in classrooms for many decades. You lot probably used them when you were a kid—remember those hard, gritty sets that were given out to students, with colors that were besides pale or likewise tiresome to be satisfying? For this reason, colored pencils were long seen equally juvenile (in much the aforementioned way that markers were overlooked every bit a art medium).

Even when high quality colored pencils emerged in the 1930s, they were mostly used by apprehensive illustrators or graphic designers. Fine artists sometimes used them for sketching and planning, merely not for creating finished artworks. This mental attitude began to shift from the 1960s onwards, as fine artists began to embrace colored pencils for their versatility and ease of expression. These days, they're considered a legitimate fine art medium, and are likewise hugely popular with colorists.

Why colored pencils are and so popular

Photorealistic drawing I did with colored pencils

Colored pencils are capable of rendering art styles that are expressive and abstruse, or detailed and photorealistic. While they're slow to use compared to moisture media like pigment (in terms of laying down color), they're almost unparalleled when it comes to control and detail.

Because colored pencils are partially transparent (also known equally "semi-opaque"), y'all by and large work from light to dark, gradually building upwards your colors. Colored pencils, like watercolors, are famous for their translucent quality, which can give your artwork a striking luminance, especially on textured paper. If you don't press too hard, tiny crevices or valleys in the grain of the newspaper are left untouched by pigment and allowed to shine through. For an instance of what I mean, check out this colored pencil cartoon by David Suff.

With that said, the versatility of colored pencils also allow the application of bold, opaque colors, either past pressing harder or past layering and blending. For instance, check out this colored pencil painting by Alyona Nickelsen, the writer of the book "Colored Pencil Painting Bible". Note on terminology: colored pencils are mostly associated with drawings, but if they cover the whole support/surface they are called paintings, and you can see why… they really exercise look similar paintings!

In add-on to their versatility, colored pencils are also practical and hassle-free! They're lite and portable, so you can travel with them and describe on location. They'll besides terminal a long time; you don't accept to worry near them drying out like you practice with paint or markers. Colored pencils also don't require a bunch of extra accessories that y'all'd demand for a medium similar oil pigment, for example: you tin can can attain a lot with but a uncomplicated set, a sharpener, and a humble sketchbook.

While I besides enjoy using other art media, similar acrylics, few are every bit relaxing as colored pencils considering you don't have to worry about making a mess, inhaling something toxic or staining your clothes, and afterwards in that location's nothing to wash or clean-up. With minimal equipment or preparation you can settle in and lose yourself in a frenzy of inventiveness!

Colored pencils can be composite to create smooth tonal gradations. This tin be done easily with layering or burnishing, or with the aid of solvents, blender pencils/markers, and even babe oil. You can create blends and so smooth that the end outcome looks like an oil painting!

You can create new hues and tones by layering colors (called optical color mixing), just because you tin can't mix new colors directly (like y'all tin can with paint by mixing 1 colour of paint directly into some other color of paint), many artist-grade colored pencils are available in a wide range of colors that can usually exist purchased individually.

Blending example

Colored pencils can besides be combined with other media, such every bit graphite, markers, gel pens, watercolors, crayons, pastels, and gouache! My favorite combination is to use markers to lay downwardly lots of vibrant colour, then describe on top with colored pencils to add detail and give the artwork a more than organic experience.

Colored pencils are generally easier to remove than paint or markers, simply less so than graphite or watercolors. The paint does lift off, just some color will remain. If you press hard (burnish) or have applied many layers of colored pencils, and so the pigment will be more hard to erase and will likely non erase completely.

You tin can get erasable colored pencils, such as Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils (affiliate link), if your mode requires a lot of erasing. They're likewise useful for drawing construction lines and base sketches.

Quality

When purchasing colored pencils, there are many different considerations to keep in mind that we'll hash out on this page, only the most of import decision you'll make is whether to go "educatee grade" or "artist grade" colored pencils (those are Blick affiliate links).

If your budget allows, my recommendation is to always favor artist grade pencils, which are noticeably superior. They do cost more, merely that's because they contain a higher proportion of pigment, which yields richer, bolder colors.

Artist grade pencils are also more lightfast (discussed below), and unremarkably softer, which makes them easier to utilize and blend. They will also avowal a wider color range, and you lot'll be able to buy them individually as needed (referred to as "open up stock").

Consistency: Soft vs hard

One of the biggest factors that will affect your enjoyment of colored pencils is the consistency of the "lead". This can vary across brands and pencil types, depending on the particular combination of ingredients the manufacturer used.

In general, a colored pencil is just a long circular "atomic number 82" – fabricated upward of pigment, mucilage binder, filler (chalk or clay) and wax – that'due south encased in forest (commonly cedar). Manufacturers tweak this recipe to produce pencils that all perform somewhat differently.

I drew this cockatoo with Prismacolor Soft Core colored pencils

Soft colored pencils are preferred past many artists, including myself, because they lay downwards color hands, and alloy well. Some soft colored pencils are polish and creamy, while others might be crumbly and grainy.

Almost artist form pencils are on the softer side, which is partly because they incorporate less folder and filler, and more paint, resulting in bolder, more vibrant colors. One downside with soft pencils is that they won't agree a point as well and they'll demand sharpening more often.

Hard colored pencils can be sharpened to a very fine point that won't crumble, allowing fine lines well-suited to detailed artwork and certain textures (like pilus and fur). Most educatee grade colored pencils are hard because manufacturers cut costs by calculation more than filler/folder and less pigment, which produces tiresome colors. Hard colored pencils can besides be less fun to employ, considering it takes more piece of work to apply colour, blending is more than difficult, and they make yous desire to press harder, which can damage your newspaper and possibly cause hand fatigue.

But hard doesn't always hateful junior. For those artists who need hard colored pencils that don't sacrifice color quality (in other words, difficult colored pencils that are still artist grade) there are products like the Prismacolor Verithin colored pencils (chapter link).

In the image below, you can see a side-past-side comparison of an artwork colored entirely in soft pencils (left) and a piece of work-in-progress using only hard pencils (right). With the soft colored pencils it was piece of cake to press difficult and achieve rich, bold colors. When using the hard colored pencils, I utilized a lighter affect to achieve subtle ombrés and shading.

In summary, your preferred consistency partly comes down to personal preference and the style of art you savor. Nigh people, especially beginners and colorists, will enjoy a soft colored pencil that lays downwards vibrant color smoothly and easily. Some might prefer a firmer, more than versatile pencil that won't crumble every bit much and is capable of beingness sharpened to a decent signal when needed.

Types of Colored Pencils

There are three principal types of colored pencil: wax-based, oil-based, and water-soluble. You tin as well get color sticks and woodless pencils, which consist of the same "lead" material. I'll also briefly accost pastel pencils, but they belong in a split category.

Note: you tin mix these different types of colored pencils in the aforementioned artwork. They aren't like oil paint and acrylics (which don't mix), then you don't need to worry about committing to a specific brand or pencil type.

Wax-based Colored Pencils

Almost colored pencils are wax-based. The right corporeality of wax gives the pencil a polish texture which helps the pigment flow beyond the surface. The wax too helps the marker adhere to the surface or to other layers of pencil, which means that you can put downward multiple layers without having to worry about smearing or adhesion (a common issue with pastels).

Wax-based pencils are bachelor in a broad range of consistencies: from the hard pencils made for students, to the soft varieties designed for professionals. Considering wax-based pencils are so common, there'southward likely to exist a detail fix that fits your required combination of cost, quality, and consistency.

I drew this rooster with wax-based Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Example of wax bloom

The only downside to wax-based colored pencils is wax bloom, which is a natural oxidation procedure that tin cause the wax to ascension to the surface of your artwork, leaving a pale brume. Information technology can take hours or days to appear, but information technology usually doesn't occur unless you apply lots of heavy, dark colors, like in the example you see here from one of my artworks. When I first laid downward the colors, I made the groundwork a consistently dark violet-black, but over the years wax bloom has lightened some of those dark areas, as you can see in this pic, resulting in a "splotchy" look.

Don't fret though! If you lot see some wax bloom, you can wipe the affected area with a clean, dry out cloth earlier applying more colour. Once the artwork is finished, you tin seal it with a fixative, which will forbid wax bloom from returning.

Depending on your way, wax bloom may never be a trouble for yous. Only artists who employ lots of dark colors and heavy layers should consider oil-based colored pencils, which don't suffer from wax bloom.

Oil-based Colored Pencils.

Oil-based colored pencils use oil to demark the pigment and distribute it on the surface (merely they still contain some wax). What this ways in practise is they have a slightly different consistency and they don't endure from wax blossom.

Most oil-based pencils are medium soft: a bit firmer than many wax-based pencils, but still softer than student-grade pencils. Although still quite smooth, they won't lay downwards color equally quickly every bit the Prismacolors, for example, but they're ameliorate at holding a point and arguably more versatile. The firmer lead also means that they're less probable to break, and won't demand to be sharpened as oft. Some artists adopt a more restrained application of colour, considering information technology gives them more control.

Oil-based pencils do accept a few drawbacks, though. They're more decumbent to smearing, and are harder to erase. They likewise tend to be more expensive and may have a more limited color range (depending on the make). Despite the bump in price, oil-based pencils are not inherently better or worse than their wax-based counterparts.

I personally don't detect much difference between creative person quality wax-based and oil-based pencils. When it comes to practical concerns, such as blending and color vibrance, I can happily work with both types. I've plant other factors, like grade, make, and consistency to be more noticeable than whether wax or oil was used in the binder. As if to illustrate this point, most manufacturers don't arrive obvious if their pencils are oil-based, indicating that it isn't a crucial departure.

Unless you're worried near wax blossom or prefer the consistency of oil-based pencils, I recommend a high quality wax-based colored pencil that will probable offer a better combination of price and operation.

If yous brand a purchase via the links beneath I receive a modest commission, at no extra cost to you, that helps support this site and keep it free!.

If you're looking to try them out, the Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils are hugely popular cheers to their competitive cost and huge color range. Caran d'Anguish's Pablo Colored Pencils are likewise outstanding oil-based pencils, but they're a bit more expensive.

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Water-soluble pencils (also chosen watercolor pencils)

Although there isn't a whole lot of deviation between wax and oil-based pencils, that is not the case with watercolor pencils! They tin exist used dry, only like regular colored pencils, only the binder they contain is a water-soluble gum that allows the pigments to be thinned out with water. Artist quality water-soluble pencils are essentially dry out watercolor paints in pencil class.

In practise, this means they are fully capable of producing watercolor paintings past combining them with water and a brush or sponge to alloy colors or create washes. Other effects are also accomplished by cartoon on wet paper or dipping the tip of the pencil in h2o beforehand (creating very soft strokes). Many artists besides apply them in combination with regular watercolors and other media (including regular colored pencils). They tin exist difficult to get used to, but if you're fond of watercolors yous should definitely give these a endeavor.

If you brand a purchase via the links below I receive a small committee, at no extra cost to you.

Just like with other colored pencils, quality differs greatly between brands, with wide swings in cost, even when you limit your search to artist class products. The very best would have to be the Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle Pencils, but they are expensive ($4 each!) and overkill for all but the almost serious artists. Faber-Castell's Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils are professional quality and meliorate value for money (but all the same around $two.50 each). They offer an impressive 120 colors and a range of sets. Derwent Watercolor Pencils are a piffling scrap cheaper, but nevertheless offer outstanding quality from a reliable brand. They accept fewer colors (72), but that's more enough for most artists.

The three brands discussed so far are notwithstanding pricey when you consider how cheap student grade pencils are. If yous're on a tight budget, Faber-Castell Goldfaber Aqua Watercolor Pencils are non quite artist form, but the quality is fantabulous for the price, and they boast 48 colors that can be purchased individually as well every bit in sets. They're a great identify to start if you want to experiment with the medium. You tin can pick upwardly a set of 12 for less than $15.

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Color Sticks and Woodless Pencils

Colour sticks and woodless pencils consist entirely of the core you'd discover in colored pencils, handy for artists who like to lay down a lot of color! They offering even so benefits of their woods-encased cousins, such as their ability to be used in combination with other art media.

Prismacolor Art Stix resemble crayons, only contain the same paint mix of 48 selected colors from Prismacolor's Premier Colored Pencils. They're useful for laying down more color with broad strokes, but the edges tin too be used for lines and some details.

Koh-I-Noor's Progresso Woodless Colored Pencils are shaped more like regular colored pencils, and tin be sharpened and used in a similar way. The barrel is wrapped in a lacquer blanket, then they can't be used as freely (from all sides) as color sticks, simply they utilise paint more than easily than regular colored pencils.

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Pastel Pencils

Instead of forest encasing a lead of wax and paint, pastel pencils contain the same same stuff you'd find in pastel sticks. The only difference is that the pastel core is made a bit harder so that the "lead" doesn't intermission or crumble.

Pastel pencils, despite their outward advent, don't actually fall into the aforementioned category as colored pencils. While the latter are known for their transparency (discussed above), pastel pencils are opaque and therefore used very differently. It's far more mutual for artists to utilize pastel pencils in combination with regular pastels, which is why they're discussed in more detail in my Guide to Pastels article.

Color

Because you tin can't mix colored pencils equally hands as other media (like paint) to create new hues and tones, most artist grade colored pencils come in a broad range of colors.

I generally like to purchase as many colors as I can get, simply information technology's likewise easy to go overboard. You don't desire to end upwardly ownership pencils that you never use. I recommend starting off with a 24-pencil set and then buying boosted pencils individually every bit you need them.

Once yous have your pencils, it'due south a neat idea to make a color chart. This will assist enormously when you're creating fine art. The nearby image is the color nautical chart I made for my 120 Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

I didn't blueprint that color chart myself. Y'all can discover free, blank color charts that other artists have created by searching in Pinterest or Google Images. Some manufacturers, like Faber-Castell, also provide blank color charts that y'all can use.

Permanence

All art media can fade over fourth dimension as light and humidity break down the molecular bonds of the colors. The ability to resist this process is called "lightfastness" and information technology'due south a major concern for fine artists who want their work to terminal.

If you're using artist grade pencils, and you lot're not a professional artist, I wouldn't worry about lightfastness. Because colored pencils use pigments (every bit opposed to dyes which fade more easily), creative person grade colored pencils will exist sufficiently fade-resistant for most artists, especially if you plan to digitize your artwork for the web and/or print (which is where near of my work ends up these days).

If you lot're especially concerned about permanence, be aware that it doesn't just vary across brands, but also amidst pencils of the same brand, depending on the specific paint used for each colour. For this reason, about artist grade brands provide lightfastness ratings for each pencil. For example, here's the Prismacolor Premier Lightfastness nautical chart. Some brands, like Faber-Castell Polychromas, list the rating right on the pencils themselves. If you lot're actually serious, check out the Colored Pencil Lodge of America, which conducts their own lightfastness testing.

This Faber-Castell Polychromos pencil has a rating of *** (very low-cal-fast)

Mediums

If you make a purchase via the links beneath I receive a small commission, which helps support this site.

You lot don't really need to utilize mediums with colored pencils (except for water if you lot're using water-soluble pencils).

Some artists similar to apply a fixative to their finished works, such as Winsor & Newton Fixative, to forestall smudging and wax bloom, while others don't exercise this at all. I e'er use a fixative, for the reasons higher up, and because it creates a pleasing sheen that I like.

It basically comes downward to personal preference. Be enlightened that using a fixative, which often come in gloss and matte varieties, can modify the look of the artwork by intensifying the colors. I tend to like this event, but you may non, and then it's a good idea to test your fixative on a typhoon artwork. Because of the fumes, I always spray outside.

Bank check out my Colored Pencil Tools article to learn about other accessories you lot can apply to heighten your colored pencil art. I encompass sharpeners, erasers, fixative, blenders, and more than!

Brands

When comparing brands, you'll detect that they all have a unique combination of toll, consistency, permanence, colour range, and pigment concentration. Some brands are objectively amend than others, only when it comes to the leading brands, much of the difference comes down to personal taste.

In general, my favorite brands are Prismacolor, Caran d'Ache, Faber-Castell, and Derwent. They have proven rail records and offering high-quality creative person class products.

Because different colored pencils of every type can exist used together on the same artwork, you needn't feel pressured to option a make and stick to information technology. Information technology'south a practiced idea to buy a few individual pencils from dissimilar brands, and so that you tin endeavor them out and see what yous similar. Once you discover a detail brand that y'all adopt, it may be worth the investment to buy a set.

Best Colored Pencils

I've provided links below to the relevant products and then that yous tin can hands find them on Blick Art Materials, my favorite art supplier. If you make a purchase subsequently clicking on one of these links, I'll receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Read my disclosure statement to acquire more.

When buying fine art supplies I prefer to shop from Blick because you know y'all'll go authentic products from respected art brands. Ownership from Amazon can sometimes be a mixed bag because many products are sold past third-party sellers who might sell imitation products of questionable quality or even counterfeit products bearded as proper name brands. Thankfully that'due south never a problem when buying from an established art supplier like Blick!

My overall selection are the Prismacolor Premier Soft Core Colored Pencils, which represent the best combination of price and performance for almost people.

I own and enjoy numerous brands of colored pencils, merely I've been using Prismacolors the longest: 25 years! I accept the 132-pencil set and they are what I attain for most ofttimes when creating art with colored pencils.

Prismacolors are among the softest colored pencils y'all tin can purchase, and I beloved their creamy consistency. The huge range of 150 colors, which can be purchased individually or in sets, are vibrant and blend easily. They're also cheaper than many other creative person course pencils and are widely available in stores.

Merely they're non perfect: their softness means they won't concur a point likewise as harder pencils, which can exist an annoyance for artists who enjoy detailed piece of work. To counter this problem I also have a fix of the Prismacolor Verithin pencils that piece of work well with the Soft Core pencils whenever I need a sharp point for details. Nonetheless, as proof that you can still achieve amazing detail with soft Prismacolors, check out this artwork past Morgan Davidson that she was able to create with just a 12-color ready!

Another gripe with the Prismacolors is that their softness means y'all'll have to sharpen them more often, and they can be decumbent to breakage, so care for them with intendance. Their lightfastness too isn't as expert as more expensive brands (similar Caran d'Ache), likely a effect of Prismacolor's such competitive prices (the best pigments are expensive!).

My selection for best oil-based colored pencils are the Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils. I have the complete set up of 120 pencils and they're a joy to use. They exceed the Prismacolors in several areas (permanence, immovability), merely cost quite a fleck more. Bank check these out if you're worried nigh wax blossom or the Prismacolors are also soft for your liking.

My upgrade pick are the Caran d'Ache Luminance Pencils. These wax-based pencils are arguably the best colored pencils yous can buy, but as well the most expensive. In render for their higher prices, you become higher quality pigments that are more lightfast and wonderfully vibrant. They're not equally soft as the Prismacolors (but even so quite shine and creamy), and they suffer from less wax bloom. Unless y'all're a professional person artist or blessed with a bottomless budget, these are overkill, but I couldn't help mentioning them as la crème de la crème.

My upkeep pick are the Prismacolor Premier Soft Core Colored Pencils. As discussed higher up, these pencils are not without their flaws, but the value for money they offer is hard to beat. I haven't discussed prices much in this commodity because they tend to fluctuate (and Blick e'er has sales), but at the fourth dimension of writing, you can get a set of 24 Prismacolors for between $xx to $25! Given what yous tin attain with these pencils, that's a deal!

Newspaper for Colored Pencils

After you purchase your colored pencils yous'll need to effigy out what kind of paper to buy. Shopping for paper can be maddening because there are then many similar paper products on the market! For that reason, I've created a separate article to guide you through everything yous demand to know: Best Paper for Colored Pencils

Colored Pencil Tools and Accessories

My Colored Pencil Tools article will assist you discover the best sharpener and erasers for your colored pencils. I also swoop into optional tools, like blenders, that tin really upgrade the capability of your colored pencils to express your creative vision!

Colored Pencil Tutorial

Join me in this detailed step-by-stride colored pencil tutorial every bit I evidence you how I colored in the whimsical nature scene below from my Woodland Mandalas Coloring Book!

Level-up Your Colored Pencil Skills!

Make the nearly of your new colored pencils with these easy-to-follow video lessons from Skillshare! Go instant access with a 14-day free trial or utilise our code, ARTISFUN30, to get xxx% off annual membership! As a Skillshare affiliate I go a small commission that helps back up this site.

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Source: https://www.art-is-fun.com/colored-pencils