I don't believe it.....

[Shirl]

Last week I purchased my very first colored pencils, the 24 Prismacolors, and haven't let up for air yet LOL. I was going to start a portrait, but since I do not have the right colors yet, I went looking for an old set of pastel chalks that my Mother gave me "years" ago. Was rummaging through an old chest, I knew right where they were :), and what do I find????? An unopened set of Venus Spectracolor CPs!!! The exact duplicate of what I just bought!!! Haven't a clue where they came from. So now I have duplicates (Arlene:)). Question: Are those good CPs? They sure seem to be.

Oh, and things you all haven't shared: (1) DO NOT sharpen the end of the pencil that has the name of the color (too late!); and (2) darn if those pencils don't roll off the table all the time!! Graphites don't do that LOL!

Need more pencils......need more pencils.....need more pencils.....
going tomorrow.......:D

Shirl (didn't find the pastels either)

[Ivyleaf]

ROFLMAO...Yes, it's much easier to get the color you want when you don't sharpen off the name...LOL. As far as rolling goes, it depends on the brand you buy, the prismacolors I have are round, but I've seen some CP that have the hex-shape to them like graphites. I use this trick: I either keep them in the case they came in, or I line them up on either side of a piece of handi-tack that I've stuck to the table. That way, they can only roll so far :)

[MissMouse]

Wow I did the same thing - sharpened off the color ! Could this be called " The Crying Game" I started a portrait as my first project and it lies under lots of paper as I don't want anyone to see it. Being it is of me I don't care much. What happened to start with something simple, it was a good learning experience! My second was of my husbands parrot Mickey ,he loved it ......like you I have a new love in my life CP I am going tomorrow to get more colors ....

[Lulu]

ROFL! Guess who ELSE has sharpened the wrong end!:o
A reminder about c pencils (especially prismas) falling on a hard surface, they can crumble inside and you won't know until you try to sharpen them:(
Another thing I have learnt, when buying singles, make sure the colour is centred in the wooden casing, I have a few in my set that aren't and it makes for tricky sharpening, the casing on a couple have cracked.
Wonderful find Shirl!

[TeAnne]

Nice find Shirl :) Can't say I have heard of them though.
Someone said that the Derwent Studios were made for students. Not so, I don't think. They were made in the hex thingy to stop the rolling.
Ummmmm I am :confused: why would anyone want to sharpen the wrong end? All my pencils came sharpened. LOLOLOL:evil:

[Shirl]

Ooooooooo I'm feeling so much better! Can't tell you how many times I've grabbed the Indigo Blue (sharpened at the wrong end) for the black pencil. Did that to a couple of others too. And I just knew no one else has done that LOL!! You know the term, can't figure out which end of the pencil to sharpen :D!!

I remember your parrot drawing MissMouse! He's a B&G, and you've had him for 32 years. You must be good people!!

IvyLeaf, how in the world do you keep them in the case? You must be one organized person:). I have them scattered all over my drawing table, rolling off onto the floor (carpeted).

Great tip Lulu, especially since I'm going shopping tomorrow.

Sure TeAnne, uh huh :D.

BTW, I think these pencils might be BETTER than the Prismacolors. They seem softer, and cover more easily. ?? Wished the package had something on it, was just cardboard and plastic wrap. Now I've found a couple of loose ones that have been used. Wouldn't you know that the colors might be the same but they all have different names, e.g., "True Green" vs. "Green Green."

Shirl

[pencils4me]

ROFL!!!! :D


Okay I fess............. yes, I have been known to sharpen the wrong end too, and that may be more recent than I care to admit! After a while Shirl you'll now what they are by the casing.

Spectracolors!!!! My first cp's were spectracolors - except I bought a whole big set at a yard sale for 5 bucks. As I recall someone bought out the makers, and they don't make them anymore - was it when prismacolors changed too??? I even have some nubs left - can't bear to toss them. They seemed to have better greens and some beautiful creams. Hmmm........ I liked them but they seemed the same as the prismacolors to me.... I mixed them alot, couldn't see a diffrence.

I keep mine in cups (10, according to color of course)...... only the ones I'm using are on the table but they seem to be everywhere!:D


have fun buying more pencils!!!!! :D

TJ

[MissMouse]

I also keep my pencils in jars and I try to sort in color. I use a big old meat tray to put the pencils I am working with in. It works great as it has low sides and is wide and long. When outside I weight it down with something. I just purchased some pencils at a little old store in my town, they have stuff from 20 years ago on sale. I got some Berol prisama color, Spectracolor by Venus and Dixon Vividel's for 50 us cents. I really like the old prisma color gold it works great laid ove skin for me. Now about sharpening off the name I don't look much at the color name when drawing but when it came time to buy I was sort of mad at myself.

[Shirl]

Hi MissMouse,

I'd venture to say that the old Spectracolors are the new Prismacolors. Even the printing on the pencil is in the same color/style. Good buy!! I'm going to have to come up with something innovative to keep those pencils in one spot! I did level up my table however :).

Shirl

[bubbleuser]

If you have those Spectarcolor pencils by Venus still...I'd like to buy them. I can't seem to find them anywhere.

[Amira]

Those looking for Spectracolor pencils: take a look at this ebay offer (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8263963775&category=28108)!

Amira

[chocolatyclaire]

Thats just sods law - they always had the intention of hiding until you purchased a set!! :rolleyes:

[Rosa Weitzel]

Wow buried treasure, you can never have to many pencils. I use a small piece of the rubber maid drawer lining on the side of my picture, keeps the pencils from rolling off.
I've sharpened the wrong end, and so I really watch now.

Have tons of fun with all your new pencils.

Rosa

[surob]

I have sharpened the wrong end enough times that I have used a sharpie to write down the color number.

[cindyv4]

I picked up an old trick from the Carol Duvall show, on how she organized her knitting and crochet needles. She used tp rolls. I updated mine.
I use crystal light containers that I have cut down , in half. I use the lid on the top half, and the bottom already has one. I use foil and plastick wrap tubes for some, inorder to get more containers in the basket.
All the tubes and containers are in a basket I set next to my chair.

Cheap, easy to set next to me (mostly in a drawer under the table, next to my chair), and they are all handy, with no rolling.The really long cp's are ones I have glued to the ends of too short ones.(another idea from this site)

pic below
cindyv
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/16-May-2007/85664-p1010002.JPG

[sharcol91]

O.k. Get ready. Here is a picture of my colored pencil collection. I think there may be a thing as having too many! There is a little bit of everything in here, even plenty of Spectracolor from years ago. One night I decided to get every one of them out and take a picture since I had so many. This really put into perspective of how much of a colored pencil collector I really was!:lol:

[jcpope]

Hello All,

I'm just happy to find a few others who have sharpened that number right off of the prismacolors. But here's what I do to "help" myself: I made a chart out of an ordinary sheet of typing paper - just measured and drew a grid with the appropriate number of squares for whichever brand and set you're working with. In my case that was 120 prismacolors. Then I put the pencil number at the bottom of the square and put a dark-medium-light patch of the color above it. Now, not only do I have a color chart, but if I do sharpen the number off of the pencil, I can compare it to my chart. I find that I use this chart very often to determine what colors might work better for a specific image. This does take a while, but you only have to do it once for each brand of pencil that you use.
Got one on black paper too! Very useful.

Jan
www.janpope.googlepages.com

[cindyv4]

sharcol91,
Just get more tubes and baskets...or a really large basket!!!!Say a laundry basket.:lol:
I'm still new to cp, so haven't acquired too many...and now with breakage and colorfastness, thinking of switching brands. Maybe I'll catch up to you someday.:lol:
cindyv