For the Studio Exploration assignment in my AVT 595 class, I decided to explore Colored Pencils. I find that Colored Pencils are one of the mediums available everywhere so I wanted to test using colored pencils for my students to see what works and what does not.
What I Used:
Colored Pencils used:
Crayola Original Colored Pencils (50 count)- $7.54
Staedtler Noris Club Colored Pencils (12 count) - $5.99
Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils (24 count) - $5.39
Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils (24 count) - $21.88
Papers used:
Strathmore Drawing Paper (9x12) - $7.29
Strathmore Toned Tan Paper (9x12) - $10.76
Strathmore Toned Gray Paper (18x24) - $21.49
Canson Black Drawing Paper (11x14) - $12.01
I had these colored pencil and papers purchased previously from a Micheals Store but have listed direct links to Amazon listings above.
Let's get started!
Crayola Original Colored Pencils
First I decided to use the Crayola Original Colored Pencils because I found these to be the most accessible in terms of how it is available in a lot of stores.
I first tested how the colored pencils worked with variation in pressure by creating gradients. Then I tried making marks like swirls, short strokes, long strokes, waves, and cross hatching. Finally I tested how well I can fill in shapes with the colored pencils
From my test, I concluded that the Crayola Original colored pencils worked best on the drawing paper and not so good on the black paper. It worked okay on the toned papers, except for when using lighter colors.
I also noticed how the Crayola Original colored pencils were very fragile as many of the colored pencils broke a lot while I was testing them.
Staedtler Noris Club Colored Pencils
I chose to test out the Staedtler Noris Club Colored Pencils because of the hexagonal shape of the pencils, which is different from the other colored pencils that I chose.
Similar to the Crayola original colored pencils, I first tested how the colored pencils worked with variation in pressure by creating gradients. Then I tried making marks like swirls, short strokes, long strokes, waves, and cross hatching. Finally I tested how well I can fill in shapes with the colored pencils.
From my test, I concluded that the Staedtler Noris Club Colored Pencils are very similar to the Crayola original colored pencils. The hexagonal shape of the colored pencil made it very easy to grip and it did not roll off the table. The white coating around the pigment made it less fragile and it did not break at all during my test.
Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils
I chose to test out the Crayola Erasable colored pencils because they were erasable, which was different from most colored pencils I have seen available.
Again, I first tested how the colored pencils worked with variation in pressure by creating gradients. Then I tried making marks like swirls, short strokes, long strokes, waves, and cross hatching. Finally I tested how well I can fill in shapes with the colored pencils.
To test the erasable feature of the pencils I decided to erase parts of the filled in shapes. The feature does work but, you can still see some residue.
From my test, I concluded that the colored pencils were somewhat grainy or had a wax like textured similar to a crayons, but were very vibrant. I liked the erasable feature because there are many ways that feature can be used when creating.
I chose Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils because I feel that they are a higher quality pencil in the lower price range compared to other high end colored pencils.
Similar to the others, I first tested how the colored pencils worked with variation in pressure by creating gradients. Then I tried making marks like swirls, short strokes, long strokes, waves, and cross hatching. Finally I tested how well I can fill in shapes with the colored pencils.
I also tried using a colorless colored pencil that Prismacolor offered to see how the colors blended together. On the left two with drawing and toned tan paper, I blended the colored pencils without the colorless colored pencil and on the right two with the toned gray and black paper, I used the colorless colored pencil.
Artwork using all 4 colored pencils
From my tests and the final piece using all 4 colored pencil brands, I found that the Prismacolor Premier and Crayola Colored pencils worked the best. While the Prismacolor Premier pencil worked the best overall, the Crayola original colored pencil was the most accessible in terms of price and availability in stores. The quality is also great as they are very opaque and vibrant.
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