A short time ago, a reader sent me an email asking about finding colored pencil tools that work well together. It was, as far as I could remember, the first time I’d been asked such a question.
That’s a tough question to answer in one post because there are a lot of tools currently on the market for colored pencil artists. It seems like there’s a new brand of pencil every few months, some artist quality and some not so much. There is also a host of accessories from sharpeners to blending tools to fixatives. How do you know which tools work well together and which do not?
On the other hand, I have only one answer for this question from personal experience. That makes it easier to answer, though you may not find the answer all that pleasing.
Finding Colored Pencil Tools that Work Well Together
From Personal Experience
The best way I know of to find tools that work together and which do not is to try them.
The reason this option is the best is that every artist is different. Your preferred paper and pencils may be the same as mine (Pastelmat and Faber-Castell Polychromos) or it may be totally different.
You may love Pastelmat but hate Polychromos so your choice of pencil differs from mine.
Pastelmat may not work for you at all, but Polychromos are your favorite pencils.
Or you may prefer some other paper and some other pencil.
You can already see that the possible combinations of paper and pencils are nearly endless, even if you use either my favorite paper or my favorite pencils.
Consequently, the tools that work for me when I use Pastelmat and Polychromos may work for you but not as well as they work for me. They may not work at all for you.
What if you use neither? The possible combinations expand almost beyond imagination.
That endless list of paper-pencil combinations makes telling you how to know which tools will work best for you impossible.
And we haven’t even considered drawing methods, drawing styles, or any of the other options that factor into knowing which tools work well together and which to avoid.
That’s what makes trial and error—trying various tools for yourself—the absolute best way to figure out which tools work well together for your drawing methods and drawing style.
But I can suggest one other idea that will help you cut through the long lists of tools and accessories, and go for the combinations that are most likely to work for you. What is it?
Finding Colored Pencil Tools that Work Well Together from Artists’ Referrals
The personal experiences of other artists is the next best way to find the tools and accessories that might work well together for you. Here’s what to do.
Step 1
Look for artists who work in a style similar to yours and who draw subjects similar to the subjects you like to draw.
Let’s say you like to draw horses (as I do.) Look for other artists who draw horses.
Then look for artists who draw horses in a realistic style if that’s your style. If you prefer drawing horses in a photo-realistic style, narrow your search to other artists drawing in a similar style. The same applies if you prefer a hyper-realistic style, in which you literally draw every hair and every eyelash, or if you like a looser style.
You will end up with a list that may still be a bit long, but it’s likely to be much shorter than if you looked at every artist who uses colored pencils.
Step 2
Go through your list again. You’re now looking for artists who use your favorite paper and your favorite pencils. These are the artists whose recommendations are probably going to be the most helpful to you.
If you cannot find any, then look for artists who use your favorite paper or your favorite pencils. These artists will have good information for you, but you will have to do a little more testing on your own, too.
Step 3
Study each artist. See how they work and what tools they use. Make a list of the tools and how they work, then start trying those tools.
You have a much better likelihood of finding tools that work well together for you if you follow this process than if you just browse the shelves of your local art store. For one thing, you can see how other artists use each tool, and the results they get. So you can choose tools that are likely to give you the same results.
The Bottom Line
A third way to find colored pencil tools that work well together is by reading or watching product reviews. Many companies publish videos showing how the tools and accessories they make work.
Artist reviews are also a good idea. Many of them share what they didn’t like as well as what they did. Knowing the disadvantages or shortcomings can be more helpful than knowing the advantages.
But I repeat that the absolute best way to find out which colored pencil tools work well together for you is by trying them yourself. There really is no substitute for personal experience.
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Interesting! Not an artist but do color with pencils on some of my greeting cards and these tips will help to get a smooth and lovely finished product. Thanks so much.
You’re quite welcome, Patricia.
And you ARE an artist! Don’t kid yourself that making greeting cards is not artistic. They are very artistic!