I have been working with colored pencils as a serious art medium for about 25 years now, starting out with a small box of Bruynzeel pencils, a Dutch brand who still produce a good quality artist range of pencils. Trying to find the perfect tool for how I want to express myself, and having tried the more traditional media such as watercolour, oil and pastel, I decided that for the visual stories I wanted to tell on paper, colored pencils are the absolute right medium with a high level of control over every aspect of the artwork. Not for the impatient, but the results you can achieve when you use the right pencils with the right paper, is stunning.
I have worked with many different brands, including the more recent pencil ranges such as Caran D'Ache Luminance and Derwent Coloursoft which are UV resistant and do produce some amazingly intense results. I have put together a collection of reviews of all the different brands that I work with. This list will take you to a seperate page for each brand of pencil including information on where and how to order them singly or in sets. If you want great results, do invest in artist quality pencils and avoid the cheap school / student grade pencils that you can pick up anywhere, as they will most certainly disappoint and discourage you from using colored pencils again.
- Faber Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils
- Caran D'Ache Pablo Colored Pencils
- Caran D'Ache Luminance Colored Pencils
- Prismacolor Colored Pencils
- Derwent Artists Colored Pencils
- Derwent Coloursoft Colored Pencils
- Derwent Graphitint Pencils
These pencils are best used on heavy paper with a fine tooth, choose at least 300 grs. weight, more if you can get it. My favorite supports for colored pencils work are etching papers such as Aquarelle D’Arches Satin and Vinci etching paper if you can find these, as well as the US brand Stonehenge Paper and the more recent sanded pastel supports of which my favorite is Clairefontaine Pastelmat Card.
Complement your pencils and paper with a good quality electric sharpener and some pliable putty rubber and you are set to create stunning works of your own.
Hope this is useful to all of you who are interested in the materials that I use to create my artwork and if you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me any time.
