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I love the Gamsol Magic technique. I have a fistful of Prismacolor colored pencils, but they aren't made the same any more, and I don't want to fork out the $$ for them, anyway. I was cruising the back-to-school aisles at Walmart recently and found a box of 72 colored pencils for around $6.00. I bought them to see if they behaved well with the OMS, and I'm pretty happy with them. They are the CraZArt brand. $6.00 would only buy two or three Prismas... Just thought you might want to know! ;)
Sue - I have a full set of the Prismacolors (they're at least 10 years old, so I think from before the change) and the Cra-Z-Art, and I reach for the Cra-Z-Art at least as often as the Prismas. Now, I am certainly no artist and I'm sure a real artist could tell a difference, but the Cra-Z-Art work just as well for my purposes, they have some colors that the Prismacolors don't, AND I don't feel like I have to wrap them in bubble wrap to take them with me because of the expense of replacing them!
Are the Cra-Z-Art crayons OK to sharpen or do they tend to break all the way through?
Lesley
I am a bad, bad, pencil person and sharpen them all with a battery-operated electric sharpener and haven't had any problems with them. Although the one I tried sharpening with a hand-held sharpener did have some breakage problems.
From what I understand, the leads inside the pencils break when they are dropped - and a pack that hangs on a peg at Walmart seems more likely to be dropped. But, I took the one that was breaking and did the trick in the microwave (you microwave the pencil for 10 or 15 seconds) and it did seem to melt the lead back together.
I love the Gamsol Magic technique. I have a fistful of Prismacolor colored pencils, but they aren't made the same any more, and I don't want to fork out the $$ for them, anyway. I was cruising the back-to-school aisles at Walmart recently and found a box of 72 colored pencils for around $6.00. I bought them to see if they behaved well with the OMS, and I'm pretty happy with them. They are the CraZArt brand. $6.00 would only buy two or three Prismas... Just thought you might want to know! ;)
Sue, thanks for posting this link. I also have a set of the Cra-Z-Art pencils and love them. If anyone has a Walmart close by, you can order these online if you want, and they will send you an email to pick them up at the store. It's really a bargain price for a high-quality product!
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I looked to see if we had them in Canada, but Walmart.ca only has a 50ct box listed. Of course they are more expensive as well here, but they may be worthwhile checking out. I bought a box of Crayola pencil crayons a few years ago and they work just as well as all the Prisma pencils I have. Walmart.ca does have a 100ct box of Crayola listed as well.
Crayola brand pencils work as well as Prismacolors too. I used them for years.
I was told by the owner of an art supply store that pencils are fragile and the lead can break inside the wooden barrel if they are dropped. If the lead is breaking when you sharpen them there is a good chance the lead is actually broken in the barrel causing it to break. He also said always use a hand pencil sharpen and rotate the sharpener not the pencil when you are sharpening a pencil .
Barbara
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
I love the koh-i-noor pencils for the gamsol technique, but I sure wish they made more than 24 colours!
Maybe I will try some of these other ones and see how I like them.
__________________ "You may not have lost all your marbles, but there's definitely a hole in the bag." Grumpy Cat
I love the Gamsol Magic technique. I have a fistful of Prismacolor colored pencils, but they aren't made the same any more, and I don't want to fork out the $$ for them, anyway. I was cruising the back-to-school aisles at Walmart recently and found a box of 72 colored pencils for around $6.00. I bought them to see if they behaved well with the OMS, and I'm pretty happy with them. They are the CraZArt brand. $6.00 would only buy two or three Prismas... Just thought you might want to know! ;)
Thanks for the post! I bought a small set a while ago and loved them! I am excited they have a larger set now!!
I found that my Cra-z-arts (and others) break in an electric sharpener, but I just recently purchased an old-style Dahle sharpener and now they have a perfect point!!
my walmart did not have the 72 pack of craZart pencils. they did have a pack of 100 crayola colors. so between these 2, which is better. and the crayola 100 was $15
i know the Prismacolor/ derwent etc is much much better and i plan to get a set of the high quality ones in the next few months. but for around $10.... i would like to have a cheap set. in case anyone wants to give me an early birthday present [hint, hint], i want the faber castel pencils.
__________________ Creativity is intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein
my walmart did not have the 72 pack of craZart pencils. they did have a pack of 100 crayola colors. so between these 2, which is better. and the crayola 100 was $15
i know the Prismacolor/ derwent etc is much much better and i plan to get a set of the high quality ones in the next few months. but for around $10.... i would like to have a cheap set. in case anyone wants to give me an early birthday present [hint, hint], i want the faber castel pencils.
Don't dismiss the Crayola pencils as inferior --they work great . I have them. I bought a few single Prismacolor pencils to compare them and I could not see the difference between those and Crayola. Both are wax based. Both spread just the same with Gamsol or odorless thinner and both blend dry .
Just be sure to sharpen them with a hand held pencil sharpener and turn the sharpener not the pencil when sharpening.
Faber Castell are oil base and blend a little better when using then dry ---without odorless thinner . They look the same as Crayola when blended with odorless thinner
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
my walmart did not have the 72 pack of craZart pencils. they did have a pack of 100 crayola colors. so between these 2, which is better. and the crayola 100 was $15
i know the Prismacolor/ derwent etc is much much better and i plan to get a set of the high quality ones in the next few months. but for around $10.... i would like to have a cheap set. in case anyone wants to give me an early birthday present [hint, hint], i want the faber castel pencils.
If you go to walmart.com and find the pencils, you may be able to order them online and then pick them up at your store. That is the case with the store in my area, but you need to see if they will do that at your Walmart. I order things online and pick them up at the store quite a lot - no shipping and very convenient because I go to Walmart quite a bit for groceries.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I have post this but you all might be able to help. do you know if the Crayola markers would work for coloring stamps. I am happy to know about the pencil part this really has help me. thanks for all the info.
I have post this but you all might be able to help. do you know if the Crayola markers would work for coloring stamps. I am happy to know about the pencil part this really has help me. thanks for all the info.
I haven't done a lot with coloring directly on stamps with markers. But it's my understanding that you can do this technique with almost any water-based marker, so the Crayola markers should work, since they are water-based.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I have post this but you all might be able to help. do you know if the Crayola markers would work for coloring stamps. I am happy to know about the pencil part this really has help me. thanks for all the info.
Hey, here's a video on using Crayola markers to color on stamps:
so i finally received my Craz art pencils. also decided to buy the PRANG brand of colored pencils too since it was cheap. both are ok. not as soft/creamy as when using faber castel. i havent had much time to really use any of them. here is a link if anyone is interested....
BUT.... while i was researching for reviews on the prang pencils. i came across 2 cute and cheap water color sets. have not bought either yet, but guess what may pop into my next amazon order
one is kohinoor watercolor wheel, other is loew cornell watercolors.
Enabler alert - colored pencils
