First off, Happy New Year! I hope most are in slightly warmer temperatures then I am tonight in the below zero range. I know there is a ways to go but I really can't wait till mid-spring! Mostly just so I can play in the garden :)
I got around to finishing my piece that I used my new pencils on and wanted to share my thoughts; trying to be as thorough as I could think of.
Since the Bruynzeel design colored pencils are new to me, I wanted to do a review on them. With Prismacolor premier colored pencils being the only other brand I have used, I will be using them for comparison. (I am not counting the Derwent water color pencils or watersoluble pencils into this since I use those with water). When first picking up one of the Bruynzeel pencils, I noticed they felt slightly heavier then a Prismacolor.
First thing I did was make a compare sheet for them. Most of them did not share the same names and I had to sort of eye ball them to get the closest colors. Yet even some of the ones that do seem way off like the light green, so I found another Prismacolor color that was closer.
The Bruynzeel pencils have a very creamy feel and lay down to them. You can see too that the colors are very vibrant. Layering is very smooth and many can go on one another. They also sharpen very well and I do not see any problems of cracking or breaking off of the core in the process; they seem very sturdy.
On the drawing I used them on, the goal was to only use the Bruynzeel pencils. This didn't work out when it came to the golden yellow parts and the nose. Since I couldn't replicate the desired color with the Bruynzeel, I used Prismacolor on those parts. I did not mix the two brands together.
"Shinx"
4in. x 6in.
Colored Pencil on Drawing paper
The light blue and cobalt blue were the most used in this with a little white, black, and havana brown. I loved that it was easy to sharpen them to a fine point so that I could make thin, solid lines. I think the only 'problem' I had was working around the fact that I didn't have extra blues to make shading easier. I am a little spoiled on that with my Prismacolor pencils since I have almost the entire set.
I wouldn't recommend these for a beginner to colored pencils, I did have to work them out a little bit to get the right feel for layering and shading. Also they are a little higher in price and this may be discouraging. (What convinced me to buy them was that they were on sale AND free shipping was offered at the time).
I enjoyed using these pencils and am currently considering whether I want to buy a few more of them or not. Unfortunately they are harder to come by here in the States and I have only seen them online and by a small number of sellers at that. Next I want to try mineral spirits on them, then see if maybe they mix well with the Prismacolors.
If I forgot anything and you have questions, please feel free to ask!
Bruynzeel-sakura website: Site
