Which are the best colored pencils? I wanted to find colored pencils that would work well over watercolor and on 100% cotton paper watercolor paper. I also preferred that the colored pencils were lightfast and felt smooth not scratchy. I was using Polychromos which I love but needed something a bit heavier bodied for using over watercolor. I did a bit of research, purchased and tested several brands to find out what would work best for me. The most useful thing I did was test pencils with my eyes closed (I called it a blind test) and evaluated how they felt on the paper. I also did a blending test that helped me understand how they would work for me and my sensory issues.

✏️ Pencil Brands Tested:
Faber and Castel Polychromos
Lyra Farb Riesen Color Giants
Caran D’Ache Luminance
Derwent Lightfast
Derwent Drawing Pencils
Caran d'Ache Supracolor Soft Aquarelle
Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor
Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Magnus Watercolor  

🔎 Some of My Research Links:
http://www.theartgearguide.com/art-su...
https://www.carrie-lewis.com/old-pris...
https://lisabeckers.nl/research/light...
https://cpsa.org/about/astm-standard/
http://www.drb-mattech.co.uk/uv%20blu...
https://lachri.com/polychromos-vs-lum...
https://fabercastellusa.reamaze.com/k...
https://fabercastellusa.reamaze.com/k...

🌳Find Me On:
Instagram
@heather.inde.art
@heather.inde.photography

🌈Mentioned:
Stephanie Law (2022 October Challenge: Undying Tales) https://www.undyingtales.com/
Lisa Lachri https://youtube.com/@Lachri?si=C6NQjw...
Leigh Ellexson    / @leighellexson  

🎼 Music:
From Epidemic Sound

0:00 Hello
0:36 Colored Pencil
1:19 First Colored Pencils Exploratory Shopping Trip
2:34 Back in the Studio
4:15 The First Unboxing: Prismacolors
4:45 The First Unboxing: And Lyra
6:00 Philosophizing About Cheap vs Expensive Art Supplies
7:42 Testing The Prismacolors and First Reaction
8:09 Wax vs Oil Based Debate
10:00 Finding Out My Prismacolors Aren’t Lightfast
11:38 Disappointed
12:17 Did a Lightfastness Deep Dive
13:45 Pointlessly Creating Lightfasntness Labeld For the Prismacolors
14:30 Colored Pencil History Deep Dive
15:40 Jackson Art Unboxing
16:37 Quick Caran D’Ache and Derwent Testing
16:49 First Blind Test (Checking to See if I can Guess Which Pencil Belong to Which Brand)
18:09 Second Artist and Craftsman Trip
19:20 Blick Art Supply Trip/Haul
20:54 Second Blind Test With More Colors (Which Brand is the Really the Smoothest?)
22:53 Blending Test
23:39 The End of the Story
23:50 First Solving the Changing Light Mystery and Last Unboxing
25:33 Final Thoughts and My Final Decision