The Art Gear Guide is your one stop shop for the most recent, up to date, honest reviews on all your favourite art supply products.
The shaft of the pencil comprises of traditional, high quality Cedar Wood, hexagonal and lacquered in a black matt finish. The core of the pencil is approximately 3.8mm with an 8mm barrel, allowing the user a generous core width for laying down graphite
I get asked quite a lot, "what is my favourite pencils sharpener?" which is a really difficult question to give a straight answer to, so as with most things now, I decided to write a bit of a review and make a youtube video to go along with the review.
When I was asked to review these Derwent Pastel Pencils, I was really excited, I purchased my set quite a while back, however, it was the Derwent Pastel Collection, meaning that in the 38 set, there was 19 pastel pencils, 13 pastel blocks, blending stump, needed eraser, sharpener and a sandpaper block. As wonderful as this set is, especially for those looking to get into pastels, I am only concentrating on the pencils for this particular review.
During the time period that I have been writing reviews and creating youtube videos, relating to art products and in particular colored pencils, as well as showcasing my own art; I have been asked by many of you for advice on where to find the best tutorials.
I would just like to start this review by thanking Alyona for asking me to write a review on her new up coming book, "Colored Pencil Painting Portraits". The book is not yet released and so I was incredibly fortunate and excited to get a copy months before the publication date in which to review. According to Amazon, the digital version of the book will be released on the 20th of June 2017 and the print publication is available now for pre-order but release on the 7th of July 2017. I would advise pre-ordering this book as I have a feeling stock will move very fast once released.
A few weeks ago I was contacted, via email, by a company called Chalk Ola, asking me if I would like to review their product, the Chalk Ola Chalk Markers. According to the email, they had seen my reviews and like the format and honesty behind my reviews, so I was absolutely thrilled to be contacted in the first instance and once I read a bit about the products, I was excited.
A little while back, I was contacted by a gentleman called Albert, after a bit of dialogue, Albert explained to me that he had branched out into colored pencils, a kind of subsidiary from his main business. Now, it is his main business and the connection to these pencils that I personally think make them a story in their own right.
There is really no two ways about it, Prismacolor is a mammoth name within the world of colored pencil artists. For many colored pencil artists around the world, but primarily in America and particularly in the 70's, 80's and 90's, Prismacolor were thee pencil of choice for the colored pencil artist. That unmistakably creamy smooth texture of the Prismacolor Premier pencil, was the magic wand belonging to the artist which aided almost every colored pencil MasterPiece.
There is no doubt about it, Caran D'Ache products are expensive, however, never has the phrase "You get what you pay for" been more suited and appropriate for any product. As usual, I have checked the various Amazon sites to give a general idea of pricing, however I am sure if you shop about you may find a cheaper alternative.
Whether you love or hate Prismacolor as a company or their products, there is absolutely no denying that they are a massive hitter in the colored pencil community, especially in America. I've heard many artists talk fondly of Prismacolor Premier colored pencils, remembering them from their youth, perhaps even recalling their parents using Prismacolor.
Before I begin with my review of the Caran D'Ache Pablo colored pencil, I'd just like to say how honoured and privileged I am on becoming the new review columnist for "COLORED PENCIL Magazine". I'd like to say a huge thank you to Sally Robertson, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine for taking me under her wing and helping guide me along this new adventure and also to Sally's husband for his help.
It is finally here, my big surprise for 2017, I have been given the most wonderful opportunity by the Editor in Chief of the finest art magazine on the market in my opinion, COLORED PENCIL Magazine; I am the new Review Columnist.
I wasn't going to do a review of the Faber Castell Polychromos, I simply thought, naively, that everything there was to say about these amazing pencils, had already been said by other artists or reviewers. However, I have been receiving a significant number of requests, one such requester has been leaving requests for me to review the polychromos on all my social networking platforms. However, I discovered this wonderful person is seeking a set for Christmas and is hoping the review will nudge Santa in the right direction.
As always, before reading this review, if you haven't already done so, you can check out my YouTube video review of the Spectrum Noir ColourBlend pencils. I have found over the time of reviewing art supplies that some people prefer video reviews, seeing the products work in real time, whereas others prefer to read the detailed account of a product. So I offer both accounts and let you chose which or both reviews to help you decide.
I must begin with a heart felt apology to all of those wonderful people who have been requesting this review for the past few months as I am only now getting round to completing the review. Of all the big name colored pencil brands on the market, I think this particular pencil has been the most requested for the "Coloured Pencil Reviews" scrutiny.
When I was asked by a viewer of my YouTube channel to review the Lyra Polycolor, I was secretly excited. Of course I knew about the Lyra, well... of their existence, but I had never really considered them as an addition to my already growing collection of fine coloured pencil, so this was an excuse to get them, however, I have since discovered this was an incredibly snooty outlook. This is my review of the Lyra Polycolor Colored Pencils.
As with everything in life, there has to be a best and a worst, although I am very young in terms of my time as a colored pencil artist, even I can tell what the finest quality coloured pencil is, and Caran D'ache Luminance takes the crown.
Quite recently I had been asked by one of the amazing people who visit my channel, if I would review both the Lyra Rembrant Polycolor and the Koh-I-Noor Ploycolor colored pencils. Of course being asked to review anything by people who take the time out of their busy day to visit your channel, makes that review all the more important and so I purchased both requested sets.
The chances are, if you are reading this post, my review of the Caran D'Ache Supracolor Soft coloured pencils, then you are already aware of the Caran D'Ache name, and if not, don't worry, after reading this review you will begin to understand all the hype surrounding the name.
To find out more about Derwent as a company, you can click on the links and either read my own personal review on the company or check out Derwent's own web site. In this post I am going to review the first ever coloured pencil set that I purchased for myself. At the time, I only really knew about Prismacolour, due to the fact I had been watching so many videos on YouTube about drawing, the vast majority of which were American artists.
