I got more (I havenât worked at Dick Blick, but I worked as a colour pencil / ink artist for over a decade):
Coloured pencils can be very waxy and leave a crayon-like waxy residue behind, which you will notice most when burnishing (pressing down very hard). Prismacolors are famous for this, Derwent Studio does it among the least (Derwent Artist does it more, Derwent Lightfast is oil based and Derwent Procolor is a Prisma dupe). If you tried expensive coloured pencils and didnât like how they felt or looked, the waxiness might be the issue! You may love it or hate it, try lots of different kinds. You almost never need Caran D'ache unless you have money to burn or youâre a professional artist re: pencils.
Soft pastels are among the most pigmented mediums there are other than straight pigment. If you buy Schmincke and drop it on the carpet and step on it, especially a carpet, you will have to buy a new carpet. Only use high quality soft pastels in areas where the surfaces donât matter so much if they stain!
Not all ink felt-tip markers are made equal. Micron is superficially waterproof, but will not stand up to repeated heavy washes of water or brush rubbing. Artline Drawing System can stand up to several washes of water. Donât trust whether it says waterfast, water resistant, or waterproof outright, test it based on how you want to use it.
A malleable eraser is your best friend if you ever work with any kind of pencils, pastels, charcoal, graphite etc.
Cheap coloured pencils will sometimes have inclusions in the lead that will literally scratch your paper. Often what makes some of these cheap is often the wood quality, which means the pencil lead will crack more often as a result.
If you ever want to experiment in sketching with lead pencils, HB to 6B+ indicate the darkness/creaminess of the graphite! 2B is a very nice place to start with sketching, HB is excellent for technical sketching, and 6B is fantastic for deep black work but terrible for fine detail. Pacer/technical pencil leads often come in HB, B and 2B! Make sure you buy a lead density that you need. I prefer 2B in my technical pencils for thickness. Technical pencils also come in different lead thicknesses! You can create a lot of different drawing experiences by changing it up (and red leads can be fantastic too).
Good pastel paper will always have decent tooth on one side. Donât bother with cartridge or worse, lithograph paper for something like soft pastels. Shell out for something with tooth. You will see the difference immediately.
Tortillons (and blending stumps) are smudge sticks for smudging soft pastels (some pastels still use toxic pigments and while we all smudge with our fingers sometimes we really shouldnât do it all the time). You can buy them from the store, but you can also make your own by rough-tearing the edge off a piece of printer paper, or thinner watercolour paper, and then rolling it up and taping it. If you roll it very tightly, it behaves more like a tortillon. If you roll it more loosely so thereâs a visible hole in the middle, it behaves more like a blending stump! These are great for blending in fine details.
Pencil extenders cost about $10-20 for two, and will extend the life of your coloured / graphite / pastel pencils until theyâre nothing but nubs, while making them extremely comfortable to continue using. Derwent make two that suit all their range, but you should be able to find many kinds. Trust me, if youâre a heavy pencil user, itâs worth it.
You will almost always run out of white coloured pencil faster than any other colour, this is why many art stores will make it very easy for you to just stock up on white pencils. Do this if youâre getting into coloured pencil work!
Experiment with different coloured paper!
Acrylic pens should never be stored point down, but on their side. Black felt-tip pens like Microns should be stored pointing down, or on their side, but never pointing up. Make sure you know the best way to store your art pens!
If youâre working heavily with soft pastels, and have asthma or respiratory issues, mask up around the dust. Most soft pastels donât use heavy metals anymore (but not all! Iâm looking at you, Schmincke), but even so, inhaling dust is not a good idea. Make sure if youâre working on soft pastels youâre not blowing the dust away. If youâre not working with your paper upright, then tap the dust off if necessary.
