There was a question in my last post with regard to what I'm using to color the images on my cards.First, I have this set of Prismacolor colored pencils. I bought them about a year and a half ago and actually owned them for a year before getting around to sharpening more than a half dozen or so of them. I don't know that anyone needs a set this big -120 pencils sometimes seems like too many choices! I did not pay the $169.41 list price or even Dick Blick's very fair $78.99. I picked them up on eBay for $50.
To blend the colors, I use Gamblin Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits, which I believe I did buy from Dick Blick. Odorless is the key with this stuff. Regular mineral spirits would make your card smell like a gas can. Prior to buying the Gamsol, I tried the baby oil that others use without much success. The oil bled through the cardstock, and the colors did not blend nearly as well as they do with the mineral spirits.
The tool I use for blending is a Gray Paper Stump. I think I bought them from Dick Blick, too - two packs of 12 and what appears to be a lifetime supply!
Around this time last year, there were what seems like dozens of tutorials on blogs for using Prismacolor pencils with Gamsol OMS. Here's a good one on the Splitcoast Stampers site. Until very recently, about all I used my pencils for was coloring the owls from my beloved U R A Hoot set. As for having mastered the technique, I'd say I have got a ways to go, but I'm having fun, and the more I practice, the better I get . . . I think.
I don't feel qualified to compare the Prismacolor pencils to other brands with the exception that I know they are considered artist quality. I've used several other, less expensive brands and found that the colors were not as bright, and they couldn't be blended.
About the Copic markers that so many are using, Dick Blick has them, too, and I'll have to admit I'm intrigued by the artwork I'm seeing made with them. However, they are what I deem a considerable investment and one that I don't think my "hobby" warrants, particularly when I think I can have just as much fun with a Dove blending pen and my ink pads or the Prismacolor pencils I'm showing you in this post. Perhaps, if I were to win the lottery, I'd splurge, but right now, I'm just not seeing that my life would be significantly enriched by owning them.
I hope that this provides you with a little information and inspiration to make your own choices.
2 comments:
Thanks so much! I have been looking at the prismacolored pencils...but really wasn't getting the blending thing-thank you for ALL your info-
Thank you for taking the time
to answer-and so quickly! I feel
very much the same way-the copics would cost me a small fortune and
while I love card making and have sold a few - most are made for friends and family and just given away-so it is hard for me to invest that much-when there are sooooo many other things this old crafter needs!!! HAHA I have so much I could craft for years and not make another purchase if I had to....now don't be telling the husband I said that!
THank you again!
Gay
LOL ... because I remember when you posted (last year) about the pencils and I then went to eBay and bought me a set. When we moved this summer, I found all 120 still in the shrink wrap container. Hmm ... last week I went out and got blending stumps - but alas, I forgot to get mineral spirits. So, to make a long story short, I *need* to use (i.e. sharpen) the pencils I just *had* to have.
[Wow - I rambled that one out ...]
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