Multicoloured Instruments

I've owned multi-coloured pens and pencils and crayons before.

I was surprised how fun it was to play with a multi-coloured twistable the other day.  That's probably bias on my part- I never actually got what the big fuss about Twistables were, having not been particularly impressed. 

And my boyfriend went to a museum in Japan where he bought these beautiful crayons, which I keep preciously in a box and have not yet tried. 

You can make your own multi-coloured crayons with baking moulds.  These are very popular party favours.

Wait until they have cooled before removing from the mould, or they will be too soft and lose their shape.

Sometimes I feel like I haven't had a childhood- I didn't have access to super-awesome Lego moulds..

I shouldn't say that. When I was a kid, I had one of these without the pencil grip.

I remember they were pretty to carry around in my travel art pack or pencil case, but they weren't a huge part of my childhood memories.  They couldn't be sharpened.  They didn't last long.  When the lead got dull, there was no more use of that colour.  I think I preferred the small packs of short colour pencils instead. 

I have one of these too, bought from Singapore.

They are old school.  I've seen Japanese ads for them from (?) 1960's. 

Really easy concept: The coloured leads are stored in the transparent pen body.  Pop the colour of the lead you want to use into the nib. 
I don't have good things to say.  I found them really fiddly to change coloured lead.  My cap broke at the end, breaking the special gold coloured lead along with it.

I paid what I thought was quite a lot for a Pentel multicoloured mechanical pencil a few years ago. I decided that I had to buy spare lead refills too because they were a unique thickness. They are popular with Bible students because they can highlight words without bleeding through thin Bible paper.  I waited excited for their arrival by post. I have not used them ONCE.  

Mont Marte Multicoloured Pencil Review

I do love colours.  Recently the blogosphere introduced me to some pretty amazing sketches done with multicoloured pencils.  

By Jennifer Lawson

So I really was itching to buy a multicoloured pencil to do some funky drawings.  They can be found easily - I saw them in plenty of museum shops and book stores.  

Koh-i-noor sells boxes of amazing pencils.  Some places sell them individually too.

Lyra also does some funky ones.

But they don't come cheap! I owned a multi-coloured pencil as a kid, so I'm sure they were more affordable that AUD$5 each. That pencil still is around somewhere at my brother's place.

Anyway, in comes 3 jumbo sized Mont Marte Multicoloured Pencils.  

The packaging was made of that plastic that's impossible to get things out of.  

The pencils are hexagonal with a glossy marbled finished.  They won't roll off the table.  The coloured leads are arranged in a checked-pattern.  Each pencil contains 3 colours.

Red-yellow-blue pencil: Fun.

Orange-yellow-pink pencil: Vibrant.

Red-white-blue pencil: I felt cheated and had a serious gripe about this one.  It looks just red and blue!  It didn't occur to me at the time to try it on toned or black paper, which might show up the white better. 

They can be erased a bit.

Some suggestions on use:
-Write with them. Short notes, lists, memos, letters
-Use a blender pencil to increase the subtleness of the line

Now I need to get a special jumbo pencil sharpener...

Mont Marte Ultrasoft Colour Pencils review

Mont Marte Ultrasoft Colour Pencils 

Sturdy pretty tin.
Cheap. 
Pencils are pretty and smooth and round (and will roll around table tops).  They are pre-sharpened. 
The pencils included have very similar colours to each other, despite having unique Australian-inspired names.  I find the names adorable.

The pencil is soft.  Some feel waxy, especially the light colours.  I have heard some rave reviews about Mont Marte pencils.  The reviewer was from USA.  He said they were hard to obtain outside Australia.  He also said they performed to artist quality, despite being student grade.  I am not sure if he was talking about these pencils in particular or another line of Mont Marte pencils.

Verdict: 
I'm not as inspired by these pencils as I was with the Watercolour ones.  But they are very pretty and I intend to keep my box.

Pencil sharpener

Sharp instruments are important.

-Determines the line thicknesses and the marks you make.

There is no perfect sharpener that will last forever.

-Cheap sharpeners work until they get blunt. 

-Expensive sharpeners work until they get blunt.

Handheld sharpeners:

-Some experts on sharpeners (?!) insist that better made sharpeners angle the pencil in a certain way within the sharpener, but also agree that eventually the blade gets blunt.

-There is a correct way to sharpen: Rotate the sharpener in your dominant hand around the stationery pencil.  This does not feel intuitive.

Hand cranking sharpeners: 

-Some say this will destroy pencils.

-Some swear by it.

-They all say the lead (pigment) in colour pencils is different and will jam up pencil sharpeners so you have to grind a whole graphite pencil through to clean and lubricate it. 

Electric sharpeners:

-Again, some say this will destroy pencils. Some say it won't.

-Some amazing model of electric sharpener that used to be made by Derwent isn't sold anymore.

-They're battery powered. 

-Same problem above of waxy buildup from colour pencils

So after all this.. 

I bought a cuttle little switchblade from Daiso. It was cheap (AUD$2.80). It came with 5 replacement blades.  The biggest reason I use this is I'm cheap and can't stand "wasting" pigment that's been sharpened off.  

Pros:

• They work! You know those pencils that you sharpen and sharpen and just when you think it's nice and sharp, the tip completely falls off. You know that frustration?  Well, all those pencils that were driving me crazy and sharpened to an inch of length but were still broken, are now finally sharp and usable!
• You can conserve pigment by just cutting off the wood and not the pigment.  They don't look as nice and smooth and pretty as when they came out of the boxes.
• You can sharpen ANYTHING: pencils, crayons, charcoal, graphite..
• They are multi-purpose: you can cut open boxes, you can cut hightlights out of watercolour pictures.
• You can determine the shape of the tip: flat and wide, chiselled, pointed. Sand paper to make them sharp.  A steep point = breakage = FRUSTRATION.  A short point = less breakage but, more sharpening.  Having said this, there are some art schools which teach students to desire and extra long lead point. 

Faber Castell Watercolour Pencil review

Faber Castell SV Watercolour pencils.

SV Bonding is a Faber-Castell trademark and all Faber-Castell pencils are SV Bonded. SV is short for the German word "Sekuralverfahren" meaning secural bonding or secure-all bonding. It is a process of gluing the lead to the wood on both sides and the full length of the pencil. This is meant to result in a strong lead that resists breakage and is able to be sharpened to a fine point.

I have to press harder to get same colour.  It felt/looks shiny and waxy and streakier.

"Remember the time Faber Castell made good art supplies? 
... 
Me neither."

Mont Marte Graphite Earth Tones Review

Mont Marte Graphite Earth Tones 

Mont Marte supports Australian artists.  They used the actual product to make packaging.
Environment- friendly paper box. 
Quality assurance seal. 

The pencils themselves are pretty, round and smooth, so they will roll around.
The pencils are identified by the colours at the ends, otherwise they are uniform in appearance.  There is no pencil name or number.  The lead is presharpened. On inspection, I think the lead is not central within the wooden casing.  But I'm not totally sure.  It's not far off and the lead is very thick.

They cannot be bought open stock. They are not lightfast. There is no yellow version.

They performed better than I expected.  They are coloured pencils in muted shades. The greyed colours make them a good addition to a regular line of watercolour pencils (like the Inktense) which often contain many bright colours and fewer of the near-neutrals. They apply soft but are harder than Derwent (Derwent is supposedly 4b). Their special effect occurs when they get wet. If you don't get them wet, they are not very exciting. Some colours are easier to dissolve (black was hard). Once dry could not dissolve again, I believe this is the same as Derwent. 

Suggestions for use include: 
-fantasy / morbid art (withering plants, skulls, creepy aliens, gothic rose patterns).  This takes advantage of the eerie sheen of dry graphite. 
-fur
-landscape studies (deserts)
-shading cartoons / webcomics
-scrapbook illustration 

-Apply them wet. 
-Use steam instead of directly wetting.  One artists reports that only the green changed into a more vibrant colour. 

Some related ideas from artists: 
-Mix watercolour with soluble graphite for an eerie sheen. 
-Lay down a graduated strip of watersoluble graphite pencil, then colour over with watercolour pencils. Then wash with a wet brush. In this manner, you can get a look like G-tints, except it also works with bright colours.

Mont Marte Watercolour Pencil review

Mont Marte Watercolour Pencils

Just wanted to try them since I was bowled over with previous Mont Marte products.
Cheap. $7.50 for 12.
Difficult to peel off quality assurance sticker.
Mont Marte supports Australian artists. The cover art is drawn by an Australian artist using the watercolour pencils. That is honest of them. It is proof of the quality of the product.

As with any watercolour pencil, it brightens with water.

Verdict:
I am afraid I an not SO impressed by these pencils. They are scratchy. The colours are not vibrant. Despite this, I am using them a lot. I wouldn't throw them out, but I am looking for some kid to give them to. 

Mont Marte Watercolour Sticks review

Mont Marte Watercolour Sticks review

As with all Mont Marte products, the art on the box is made using the product, by an Australian artist.  

The paper box is adequate for its job, but flimsy.  Most people might consider that a negative, but I consider it light weight and portable.

The back of the box displays a realistic sample of the colours the product is able to produce.

Each individual stick is wrapped in blue paper.  There is no individual colour names or labels for the sticks, so they have to be identified by appearance. 
Feels heavy in the hand like an extra long crayon.

Lines of different thickness can be drawn.
Crayon / pencil texture.

Vibrant when wet.


Supposedly, they melt, so don't leave it in the glove compartment or near a radiator. 

Verdict: 
I really enjoyed them! Another ridiculously cheap quality product from Mont Marte!

Mont Marte Ultrasoft Watercolour Pencils Review

Mont Marte Ultrasoft Watercolour pencils 

Cheap 

Sturdy tin

Supports Australian artists

The artwork on the cover was made using the product

Fresh smell of wood and wood paint
Beautiful, round, smooth pencils
Australian names of colours

Soft and creamy and lays down good colour.
Once dry could not dissolve again

Cons:
Some artists complain when a colour pencil brand cannot be bought open stock.  Personally, that doesn't bother me.

Verdict: 
Very impressed. For this price, you should totally get a set or 3. Great gifts, especially for overseas artists because Mont Marte products are hard to get outside of Australia.  Because of this set's quality, I went out and bought loads of Mont Marte stuff.