FOCUS GROUP: Colored Pencils

[Anonymous]

My initial thoughts:

I’ve loaded up a few colored pencil products into the product review system. You can check the demo at any time to see what is there, what isn’t, etc. They are under the DRAWING/ILLUSTRATION category.

What we need to do is to continue compiling a solid list of the vendors and their brands If you can find vendor logos/info for vendors that don’t have them yet, product images, product descriptions, etc., post ’em here and I’ll incorporate them into the review system. If you can’t find product images of good quality, product descriptions, etc., or don’t have the time, that’s okay – just post the vendor/brand name here, and I’ll research it.

Also, we need to focus on the rating types for the various colored-pencil-related categories. To get us started, feel free to look at the Oil Paints thread for some ideas, as well as the current list of questions for Oil Paints.

The Current List

Here is the current list (which I will try to keep as up-to-date as possible):

[*] Color Variety
[*] Pigment/Color Quality
[*] Pencil Quality (poorly made or solid stuff?)
[*] Blendability
[*] Stiffness/Hardness of Pencil “lead”
[*] Value for the Money

Cheers.
Scott

[chookbrown]

Product: Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils
Vendor: Sandford Corporation
Website: http://www.prismacolor.com/watercolor.html

Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils give colored pencil artists a new and exciting way to express themselves. Easy to use: just color with the pencils on watercolor paper, brush the drawing lightly with a paint brush dipped in water and youíve got a “painting.”

* Excellent solubility
* Water-soluble colored pencils feature superior lightfastness and professional quality
* Colors match Prismacolor Thick Lead, Verithin, and Art Stix colored pencils
* Laydown is as smooth and rich as Thick Lead pencils
* Use with Prismacolor Thick Lead, Verithin, and Art Stix colored pencils for unique effects
* Made with reforested California Incense Cedar wood
* Available in 36 individual colors and in sets of 12, 24 and 36
* Sets come in a reusable, decorative tin

Colleen

"Great artists are people who find the way to be themselves in their art. Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life alike. "
--Margot Fonteyn.

Colleen Brown Fine Art

[chookbrown]

Product: Cretacolor Aqua Monolith
Vendor: Cretacolor
Website: http://www.cretacolor.com

One of the most amazing products in the CRETACOLOR line is the Aqua Monolith. Its 7-mm diameter is the size of most wood pencils, but unlike wood color pencils, the woodless Aqua Monolith is pure color pigment protected by a thin film of lacquer that matches the pencil’s color. This makes choosing a color as simple as picking up the pencil. Bold and large applications of color can be applied when the pencil point is used on its side, or fine lines can be drawn normally with its point. The Aqua Monolith is available in 72 brilliant and luminous colors that are easily sharpened with a regular pencil sharpener.

Colleen

P.s. Scott, please advise if this is in line with what you want or am I putting this info in the wrong place?

"Great artists are people who find the way to be themselves in their art. Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life alike. "
--Margot Fonteyn.

Colleen Brown Fine Art

[Axl]

Some of the rating-type questions I would like to see in this thread (since I’e just recently taken an interest into Coloured Pencils):
Variaty of colours
Their “Blendability”
Lead Hardness (I definately have been finding that it does not take long for them to go dull!)
maybe the quality of Pigment
As well as perhaps their Coverage/Transparency, although I’m not entirely sure how totally applicable this is to coloured pencils

You’re doing an awesome job, btw (and thanx for seperating the student and proffessional grade paints!!! ;))

axlsart on Livejournal
Etsy
Ebay

[Anonymous]

[em]Originally posted by chookbrown [/em]
[B]
P.s. Scott, please advise if this is in line with what you want or am I putting this info in the wrong place? [/B]

The best place to do it actually, is to use the “suggest an item” feature. That way, it is already in the approval queue, and I can make any last minute edits and approve it.

Looks like you put in the Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils that way – works like a champ.

I’ll add the other one manually, though.

Cheers.
Scott

[chookbrown]

Cool, thanks – just wasn’t sure if the “suggest an item” thing was live or for testing only.

Colleen

"Great artists are people who find the way to be themselves in their art. Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life alike. "
--Margot Fonteyn.

Colleen Brown Fine Art

[Anonymous]

I’ve updated the list at the top … thoughts?

[Elankat]

Scott, a couple other thoughts…

I’d like to see

Packaging options for sets

Available in Open Stock? Yes or No

Diameter and shape of pencil barrel (crucial to know with regard to electric sharpeners)

Oil, Wax or Water based pigment

LeAnne
"What's my greatest work of art? My child."

Fight and you may die. Run and you'll live, at least a while. And, dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance -- just one chance -- to come back here and tell our enemies, that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom! ~ William Wallace in Braveheart

[moo67]

Maybe vendors could be listed in Country Lists as well as Online purchasing as well.
Moo

No one can give you true power. You must take your own power[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Anonymous]

[em]Originally posted by moo67 [/em]
[B]Maybe vendors could be listed in Country Lists as well as Online purchasing as well.
Moo [/B]

In the review system, vendors aren’t typically sellers of the products they make. They are manufacturers, not retailers.

[moo67]

Sorry Scott different words have different meanings to different nationalities.
Moo

No one can give you true power. You must take your own power[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[marilyn h]

Will there be a catagory for “Sculpting/Clays/Mediums” and
“Glass/Supplies/Equipment”

[Anonymous]

[em]Originally posted by marilyn h [/em]
[B]Will there be a catagory for “Sculpting/Clays/Mediums” and
“Glass/Supplies/Equipment” [/B]

It is my hope to encompass as much as possible, so at some point, yes.

[Elankat]

Scott, I’ve noticed that there are a decent number of colored pencils listed, but this still isn’t open for reviews yet. Any idea when we will be able to add reviews to this section?

Also, took a look at the options. I still think that Available in Open Stock and the pigment binder (water, wax, or oil) is critical for this category.

When buying pencils, the main things people want to know are:

Are they lightfast?
Are they available in open stock?
Are they artist, student or scholastic quality?
Is the binder oil, water, or wax?
Are they soft or hard?
Do they smudge?
Do they burnish well?
How do they layer?
Where do I find them?

I think some of the current categories handle these questions, but a few additions and changes would be better. For example, pigment quality, color quality, and lightfastness can be completely different. Prismas have great color quality (saturation) and selection, but the lightfastness can be poor and the pigments have been gritty lately. Value for the money is hard to determine because the prices can vary so greatly. For example, I can find open stock Prismas anywhere from $.89 to $1.49 per pencil in my area. I’ve bought them for as little as $.19 each. It would probably be better to just ask “Overall Value/Performance” instead of value for the money.

My suggestion for the category would be:

Color Selection

Binder material (Wax, water, oil)

Pigment/Color Quality

Lightfastness

Availability

Pencil Quality (poorly made or solid stuff?)

Blending and Layering ability

Stiffness/Hardness of Pencil “lead”

Overall Value/Performance

LeAnne
"What's my greatest work of art? My child."

Fight and you may die. Run and you'll live, at least a while. And, dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance -- just one chance -- to come back here and tell our enemies, that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom! ~ William Wallace in Braveheart

[Anonymous]

I hope to focus back in on the review system soon. Good thoughts – will refer to them before opening up CP for the masses.

[Author]

Posts