Caution:Artist at Play-Artwork by Shana Rowe Jackson

Please Note: This post is not sponsored by Spectrum Noir in any way. This is just my personal experience with this product.  PROS: Affordable  120 Colors available Easy to blend Pre-sharpened  Little breakage Comfortable to hold Wood casing is lightweight yet durable Color coded ends Each Pencil is labeled with color name (unlike previous lines from this company) CONS:  Very waxy White is not very opaque Colors on color coded end not very accurate Can be difficult to get a fine tip Not available open stock Some colors feel a bit scratchy  Thick leads make it harder to get fine detail GENERAL NOTES: The company says these pencils are lightfast but does not provide specifics on each color. I have not been able to find definitive lightfast ratings for these pencils. These pencils are very transparent which can be a pro or a con depending on favored techniques. Because these are wax based pencils, layers can build up quick which can help make the drawing

 " Nature's Confetti " in Blick Studio Artists' Colored Pencils- "Nature's Confetti" 8"x10" Blick Studio Artist's and Black Derwent Drawing Colored Pencils on Canson Mi Teintes (Pearl) Paper. My own reference photo. © Shana L Rowe Jackson 2016 Before reading- please note that I am in no way sponsored by Blick, nor did they ask me to review their product. This is just my personal experience with these colored pencils. First Impressions: Pencils come in a tin case and are organized by color (They also offer a wooden cased set that costs a bit more.) Pencils have wood casing that are color coated to match lead Come pre-sharpened The butt end of the pencil is open which is great for checking if the lead is centered. Good range of blues, greens, grays and browns (These are the first colors I check for) Wax based 72 count set (largest set they offer at this time) From Blick’s Website- “Blick Artis

As an artist I am faced with many choices of tools with which express myself. New mediums become available frequently, each with their own set of unique qualities. I love experimenting with new mediums and incorporating what I have learned into my work. In order to grow as an artist, I think that it is part of my job to study techniques and mediums to see what works best for me. While I get some information from “how-to” books and by speaking to other artists, I find that nothing compares to good old fashioned hands on experimentation. Two of my favorite mediums are oil and acrylic; oil, being known in the art world as “The medium of the Masters” has been around for centuries, whereas acrylic is fairly new in comparison having only been around since the late 1940s. Oil paint is often the preferred medium among professionals, because it has a long history to back up its quality and many of the famed artists such as Claude Monet and Leonardo Da Vinci once painted their masterpi