i learn so much about art supplies from you. i really appreciate how much you understand about the materials. i tend to just grab anything and hope for the best, but this doesn't always work out haha :) thanks for the tips. they make me consider new things when selecting supplies.
You just earned a subscriber... Great info, and love how you presented it. I was skeptical about the brand, but I'll go right ahead and give it a try. 👌🏼👏🏼
I had a polychromos set which was almost played out. Then I went to one of famous art stores. Salesman came to me and asked me what I want to buy. I told him wanna buy something like prismacolor, lyra rembrandt polycolor or cretacolor karmina. I also stated I've left my job recently. He said I shouldn't buy anything as expensive as prismacolor premier becoz of my financial situation. He showed me a russian brand is named master-class. I tried them and lyra polycolor. Both were actually the same and I was surprised coz they had different price strategy. Lyra was way overpriced compared to cretacolor and master-class. Also cretacolor (ausstrian brand) was pricey than russian brand . He said master class pencils are oil based but it's not something else like polychromos which has a little bit oil. These pencils easily blend. But u couldn't blend polychromos without a blender pencil. So we had came to terms. I bought 36 pencils pack for 23 bucks. However, pencils have disadvantages. Firstly they easily break like prismas. The second one is the white pencil doesn't work well. I got cretacolor white lightning pencil for blending. Pencil works better than lyras splender colorless blender pencil. I bought apsaras glass marking white pencil for white strokes and painting white areas.
I'll definitely have to look into those russian pencils and I think my next pencil purchase might just be the cretacolors. Lyra did take me a bit of getting used to using but I'm glad to say that I have a few pages in my sketchbook using the Lyras. I almost always prefer a waxy soft white pencil over the oil based ones. Even so, the oil based white pencils are a nice alternative to blenders I found. Color pencils are just these wonderful instruments that allow each individual artist to build their own unique relationship with. I love to hear about what pushed people into certain proclivities/purchases over others. Thanks so much for sharing.
@@Prismagirl17 I'd rather wax based pencils than oil based one. However, you can barely find a budget wax based pencils. There's no alternatives on the market. Last time I heard spectrum noir pencils are budget wax based pencils. I wanna try them. Thanks for ur comeback 🙏🏻
@@thomastesla9107 I've been looking at those too. The spectrums. However I always find a review that convinces me not to try them.😆SO if you try them PLEASE let me know! Have you tried Arteza? They're wax based with a little hardness to them so they won't break as easy as prismas. Although their pricing is relatively the same as prismas with a slightly smaller color range.
@@Prismagirl17 I had been looking for artezas colored pencils until I bought the new pencils. But I just heard Arteza's oil based. I didn't know they're wax based. Also I couldn't find Arteza art supplies in my country
@@thomastesla9107 ahh I see. I'll try and see if I can try some cretacolor's sometime soon. They only sell the mega color pencils. The Karmina's are a little hard to come by over here in the states. Arteza is definitely a softcore/wax pencil. It's slightly harder than a prismacolor but doesn't come close to a lyra or polychromos. I use them more often than any other pencil currently. Happy drawing!
I have Lyra Polycolour & Faber Castell Polychromos and find I have to sharpen Lyra more than Polychromos. My Lyra is actually softer, but yes drier. Closer to a powdery dry since they are still softer and not as good for fine detail as FC Polychromos. My main medium is watercolor and a real pigment nerd so appreciate lightfast pigments used. Thanks for sharing. I've had Lyra 3 years before I dug them out. They react very well to Meltz color blending fluid from Holbein. Meltz is totally non toxic. Much safer to use than OMS.
Hi there thank you for doing a review about these pencils. I have these pencils but I found they dont look nice on normal smooth paper. I have tried them on paper with more of a tooth and it picks up the pigment better looking more vibrant.. I would like to ask what paper do you use for these Lyra pencils and which would you recommend that would be the best paper for these that is still accessible. I stay in south Africa and there isnt a huge variety of paper here compared to other countries Would appreciate any comments, Thanks!
Hey there! So in my honest opinion and taking into account that lyra tends to be on the harder oiler end of the color pencil spectrum, I agree they'll perform best on paper with tooth. Hot or cold press watercolor papers seem to be the best in that they have a range of tooth/textures as well as the strength and layers to take a beating! If you're highly detailed oriented then watercolor papers are the way to go. Check both sides of the paper, one side will be more textured than the other and you can experiment which side you prefer. Color pencils aren't necessarily a "quick" medium so a slow and steady start is the best. As far as brands go, I think you should try a variety of whatever there is available in South Africa. Fabriano, canson, and arches are big watercolor paper brands here in the US but I'd love to know whats available in South Africa. Always cool to see how different supplies influence art. I hope this helps and that you're doing well today.
Hey there, Thanks for stopping by! Lyra Rembrandt pencils are extremely hard and have more oil in them. They won’t blend like a prisma color at all. The larger set does come with a blender pencil which works fine but in this video I used liquid turpenoid for blending. The pigments are strong in these pencils. And with them being harder they won’t develop wax bloom even with use of the blender pencil.
