I recently made some Caran d’Ache Neocolor II swatches and wrote about them in a previous post. I used Color Combo stamps from Waffle Flower to print the layouts and spent about 2 hours coloring them in.
If you aren’t familiar with Neocolor II, they are highly-pigmented water-soluble crayons. You can use them dry or activate them with water.
Finished Neocolor II swatches.
I love making things with my manual die cutter and I have a steel rule die from Waffle Flower (obviously one of my favorite suppliers) that I use to make tags. I decided to use some of these swatches to create a bookmark.
First, I cut out the swatches I wanted to use. Then I glued them to the tag. As a finishing touch, I added a tassel.
I was so pleased with it that I decided to start on another one! It was an easy project when using the right tools.
Prismacolor Premier colored pencil swatch on Canson XL paper.
I’m going to use Caran d’Ache Luminance and Faber-Castell Polychromos to do the other two swatches.
I just wanted to share some pretty pictures I took of the Finetec Pearlescent Flip Flop Colors. They are so beautiful and fun to play with! They are only available in the 24-set of the pearlescent colors so it’s a good excuse to upgrade!
FinetecPatina Flip FlopSide angle of Patina showing the chrome effect. A splat of Patina over Mission Gold Sap Green.Finetec Twilight Flip FlopTop view of Twilight.
Caran d’Ache products are the crème de la crème of art supplies. Any item they manufacture – whether it be colored pencils, water-soluble pencils, graphite sticks, etc. – is a shining jewel in an art supply collector’s studio.
I was introduced to the brand while meandering through my local art store and stumbling upon a giant open-stock display of Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastels. At the time, I had no idea how to use them, but the vibrant colors beckoned to me. I picked up a tin and went to my studio.
There was a bit of a learning curve. Actually, I’m still learning different techniques. Today, though, I just felt like coloring, so I did some swatches.
I used Arches Rough Watercolor Paper which turned out to be an excellent choice. Because the paper is so toothy, I only needed to make a light pass to get adequate coverage for filling in the squares.
Eventually, I’m going to cut these out and put them in my scrapbook.
Full disclosure: I love every single Stonehenge paper product I’ve tried. They are perfection, plain and simple. The Aqua Cold Press is no exception.
Available in pads, blocks, and sheets.Closeup of textureSheet thickness
In Part 1 of my search for the best colored pencil paper, I described the differences between the 4 brands of colored pencil I’m using in my test: Caran d’Ache Luminance, Caran d’Ache Pablo, Faber-Castell Polychromos, and Prismacolor Premier Soft Core. The differences between the properties of pencils affect the way they will perform on the paper, so it’s worth a quick read if you aren’t familiar with the pencils.
Before I did a more methodical test, I just wanted to play a bit with gradients of my two favorite pencils: Luminance (wax-based) and Polychromos (oil-based). They both preformed exceptionally well, however Luminance applied more smoothly. It’s worth noting that the scraps I used were trimmed from the edges of a watercolor I was working on and, despite being banged up, they still easily accepted thick layers of color.
Left: Caran d’Ache Luminance; Right: Polychromos
Then I moved on to test all four of the brands I mentioned above. From left to right, the colors I used are as follows:
Polychromos – Rose Madder Lake
Polychromos – Skyblue
Prismacolor – Lilac
Luminance – Spring Green
Pablo – Orange *
Luminance –Anthraquinoid Pink
Luminance – Light Malachite Green
Pablo – Lemon Yellow
Prismacolor – Non-Photo Blue
Polychromos – Dark Cadmium Yellow
*I snagged the paper with a sharp pencil point on the 5th square. Despite it looking like a total mess right after it happened, I was able to use some Gamsol mineral spirits to smooth out the color.
The Verdict
Stonehenge Aqua Cold Press is an excellent choice for both oil and wax based colored pencils. I slightly preferred the wax-based pencils to the oil-based pencils, because they allowed a couple more layers of coverage. The application is velvety-smooth even after several layers of color have been added. There was virtually no wax bloom to speak of. This paper is at the top of my list for both watercolor AND colored pencil projects.
Here is a 🟢 BONUS DOT 🟢 showing 1) light, 2) medium, 3) heavy, and 4) burnished Polychromos application.
Testing, testing!Front of boxNib diameter (back of box)
I did a line chart of an 8-pack of black Pitt Artist Pens so I can quickly choose the pen I need. This little set is well-rounded and will suit your needs if you are traveling lightly.
Sorry about the fuzziness on the left hand side. My scanner wasn’t cooperating with me. I also blurred out my last name in case you are wondering about the the triangles and such.
I have a seemingly endless pile of color-test scraps in my studio that I couldn’t bring myself to throw away. They are so bright that it would be a shame to see them in a trash can.
Papercrafting is one of my other favorite hobbies so I decided to assemble a scrapbook comprised primarily of literal scraps.
A tiny selection of my mountains of scraps
I chose a Ranger Dylusions Flip Journal because the pages are made of thick cardstock that will accept water and ink. I haven’t tested it yet, but I’m fairly certain that it won’t buckle or bleed based on the thickness and texture of the cardstock. I also liked it because it has a thick outer sleeve with an envelope attached to the inside. My only complaint about the journal is that the right-side corners are rounded which makes it difficult to put a decorative border on the edges.
I wanted to put a bright border on the inside and outside covers, so I painted ROY G. BIV squares using my beloved Sennlier L’Aquarelle paints on a long piece of Strathmore watercolor paper. I didn’t want to use thick cotton paper because I wanted to be sure the covers closed correctly.
Highly-pigmented, smooth, gorgeous Senneliers.
After the paper dried, I cut some 1″ wide strips to glue on the edge of the covers. It’s not perfect – I blobbed glue too heavily on one of the strips – but, despite the glue disaster, it turned out well.
Glue splat: lower left corner of the strip. *facepalm*Inside cover.Close-up of the inside cover. No glue blobs. I learned my lesson.
I’m probably going to put a few more things on the cover, but this was a fun Saturday project. Stay tuned for my progress!
The Color Chronicles 