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.
Around this time last year, Derwent released their brand new Lightfast pencil and it was met with amazing reviews from so many colored pencil artists. However, at the time Derwent announced the release of these outstanding pencils, they mentioned a 12 set, 24 set, 36 set, 48 set and 72 set with rumours of a 100 set being released
The ink quality inside the Arteza Everblend markers is absolutely fantastic, there is no blotchiness at all which can sometimes occur with the cheaper lesser quality inks. As always I completed a piece of art work to help demonstrate the markers.
I completed my usual testing on the pencils, layering and blending; from the images below you can see that the layering with the Rijks Museum pencils was excellent. Blending also was excellent and as previously mentioned, I completed this test both dry and using odourless mineral spirits.
A short while ago I asked the question on social media, “If anyone wanted me to do a Copic Marker review?”. Quite a lot of people said yes and a few said no, for the same reasons I was initially hesitant, as so many artists have completed Copic Marker Reviews.
The Schpirerr Farben Colored Pencils are quite new to the scene, comparatively speaking, there has been quite a hype surrounding the brand and in this review I aim to answer the questions everyone has about the pencils and see whether or not the hype is justified or undervalued.
The first thing to note about the Arteza Watercolor Pencil is the barrel shape, with the Arteza Colored Pencils they sported a nice round barrel, however here we have a hexagonal barrel. A lot of colored pencil artists much prefer the hexagonal barrel based of the less likelihood
When I first seen the markers advertised, for some strange reason and it is strange, I thought the markers had three different nibs; a chisel nib, brush nib and bullet nib. However all the nib types are the same and it is the colors that are different enabling the artist to create flawless blending.
Recently however, Caran d’Ache have added to the range new sets of water soluble graphite with subtle pigments added to the graphite, allowing the graphite artist to ever so subtly add a splash of something different to their work
The Derwent Artists pencils, were the pencils that really helped me make my mind up when it came to referencing pencils as wax or oil based pencils. The reason for me was really quite simple, when you mention that a pencil is wax based,
The first set of pencils Albert loaded onto us all was the Black Widow colored pencils, they came in a small cardboard box and looking at each iteration of pencils since the beginning, it is clear to see the development of both pencil and packaging. Next came the Scorpion colored pencils and the Black Widow found their new tin packaging. After the Scorpion came the Cobra, another beautiful set of pencil,
As with the Winsor & Newton Colored Pencils, I loved using their Watercolor Pencils and I think that comes across in my painting of the Lemons. I think the speed painting and still images illustrate the strength of the pigments and smooth coverage.
So I decided, especially given the price of this item, that I had to purchase one for review purposes, I felt it was very important to show all viewers and subscribers of The Art Gear Guide the features of the sharpener and try to determine if it is worth the large expense,
It is without a doubt, such a shame that pencils from Japan are not more readily available here in the UK, US or Europe. Given the explosive growth of colored pencil sales, colored pencil artists, adult coloring book artists and artistic crafters, I really think these companies would do well. almost every Japanese pencil
So in this review I will take a look at the Caran d’Ache Pastel pencil and as always, I have full real time demonstration of the pencils in my YouTube video review as well as a speed painting video of my first ever pastel landscape art. If speed videos are not your thing,
For those of you familiar with the White Nights brand, perhaps the most talked about feature from the company is that their paints are still manufactured in Russia, but the White Night watercolour pencils were not, remember this as I will be referring back to it further into the review.
I spoke to an incredibly helpful and professional lady at Winsor & Newton about the new line and asked for some information on the products, only to have this wonderful lady offer to send the sets out to me for review.
As I briefly alluded to at the beginning of this review, I had my own expectations of how the Van Gogh pencil was going to perform and monumentally got it wrong. After a very short while of testing and using the pencils, they were slowly slipping into my favourite pencil selection.
It’s that time of year and trying to find the perfect gift for the loved one, friend or family member can be challenging at the best of times, never mind if they are artists. So, in true Art Gear Guide Style, always trying to help out, I have compiled a list of affordable, yet highly desirable girts for the artist in your life. Check out this article for some cracking ideas to help make your Christmas or Holidays be a memorable one.
