Review on Soucolor 72-Color Colored Pencils: Soft Core Art Supplies for Adult Coloring Books, Sketching & Drawing - Perfect Gift for Beginners, Kids, and Adults by Robert Davidson

This type of watercolor pencils from Kohinoor is not professional, but this does not mean that it is not of high quality! I’m not an artist, I haven’t studied anywhere, I just love to draw, I don’t paint anything of my own, I just find pictures on the Internet that I like and try to copy, something doesn’t work, but something will do for myself :) The most successful watercolors my drawings featured in the IKEA "Mossland" picture shelf review In general, I started trying to paint with watercolors relatively recently, a little over a year ago, before that I was content with just the technique of a simple pencil. Naturally, I became interested in mixing colors and when I saw watercolor pencils, I was surprised that there are such at all and how to use them at all. In the art store, I was immediately offered this particular option, with a verdict that the price-quality ratio is the most optimal, in order to understand whether I need it or not. There were different options in quantity (from 6 pieces and above) and in the form of packaging, that is, in cardboard or metal. I chose the option that seemed to me the most affordable for the budget - 18 pieces (6 and 12 seemed to me quite small, although I would have taken more than 18 then, but the next step in the store was only 72 pieces, but they were already expensive ), On the reverse side is a graphic color sample: The pencils belong to a Czech company, where they were produced. In appearance, these are ordinary art pencils: The stylus is also standard: I started talking about size because we have IKEA watercolor pencils and they are just non-standard, but they are more suitable for small children, but the data is still more familiar to adults and adult children, for some reason after I drew with IKEA pencils for a long time with my son I broke the joint of the thumb (if I'm not mistaken, it's called the carpometacarpal joint), there was no such problem with these. In general, of course, these pencils have the advantage that they can be drawn with both ordinary pencils and turned into watercolors. Moreover, you can draw with them wet (that is, on pre-moistened paper ... but this option didn’t work for me at all), you can also draw with them on dry paper, and then complete it with a wet brush already in a watercolor look, or crumble the stylus on plastic palette, add a little water, stir until smooth and with such a mixture, how to draw on paper with ordinary paints. This option also seemed superfluous to me, since I have an ordinary watercolor with all the necessary colors and there is no need for extra trouble, but if you only have such pencils in your arsenal, then this option is perfect, it’s easier to mix in the palette. Each pencil has a brand name, series number and color: And since this company also produces ordinary, not watercolor, pencils, so as not to be confused, then the data on the body is graphically marked with an artistic brush, it’s immediately clear what’s what :) How they draw. If you are going to use them specifically in the watercolor version, then you definitely need to arm yourself with special watercolor paper, nothing will work on ordinary drawing and even office smooth paper, it is watercolor texture paper that helps dissolve the stylus. Pencils write very softly, uniformly, do not crumble, and most importantly - saturated (but, spoiler, there is a nuance in one moment, which I will not only write about below, but also demonstrate). I read somewhere in the posts that, on the contrary, I don’t like the intensity of the color, which prevents me from creating soft gentle illustrations ... well, as for me (although I’m not an expert and therefore I won’t argue), it’s easier to make the color less saturated (use less stylus and a little more water) than faded saturated :) So, here I figured out a demonstrative palette here, where all 18 colors are shown in their dry form and already dissolved. Paper with a density of 200g: As you can see, they dissolve uniformly, to zero, there are no traces of the stylus. Here's a closer look at the part: Of the minuses - not all colors in the dissolved form accurately convey their dry version, for example, this blue: I would like to get just such a deep, natural dark blue in the watercolor version, but it disappeared into a bright one. And also my personal minus - there is no real red color, it always comes in some kind of unnatural, not natural shade, how much I used to buy for my child, for myself pencils, felt-tip pens, paints, nowhere did I see real red ... or this I'm kind of confused :) I just love natural, natural, dirty shades. How they mix. As for me, it’s very good, but of course some combinations are better friends with each other, some less. But most likely it's just from my lack of technique and inexperience, I think real connoisseurs and craftsmen can easily cope with mixing :) Made a couple of examples: As for me, you can get the color you need, and, as I wrote above, you can use the option with a crumbled lead and palette, so it will be easier for you to get the desired color. So, a small illustrative example of a drawing in several stages, which took me literally 15 minutes. I decided to sketch a gloomy winter landscape. A sketch of the sky with a dry pencil on dry paper: Shade with a brush, everything dissolves very easily: I'm waiting for the layer to dry. It dries quickly if there is not much water, as loose textured paper absorbs and distributes moisture well. Graphically I make a sketch similar to fir trees :))) Blending with a thin brush: There was a snag ... Personally, I did not manage to do a delicate job. Thin black lines did not want to dissolve normally, I tried brushes with synthetic fiber, I tried with natural ... No way ... I was afraid to crumble the paper to holes. And then I resorted to the option - chop the stylus into a plastic palette and dilute it with water (warm water): True, she poured a lot of water, so I had to repaint to get an intense color. The stylus dissolved very well and quickly without pieces, grains, the color turned out to be straight rich black. Try: And here I put the second layer on the Christmas trees: My husband saw it and said not to throw it away in any case :))) It turned out to be a nostalgic drawing for him, he lived all his life in the north near the Arctic Circle, where the taiga is beautiful, he said that at dusk / night the forest looks exactly like this) )) but as for me, they ate too fluffy :) If I knew that I would like the result, I reacted more responsibly, it would be possible to cover the sky with a second layer and make it deeper. Outcome. I liked the pencils, the quality of the watercolor lead is excellent - it draws softly, does not crumble when drawing, sharpens well, dissolves well in water, mixes well. The only thing, of course, was that I personally didn’t succeed in working with thin lines, I didn’t like this moment, which is why I prefer ordinary watercolor, I’m more comfortable with it. That’s why I don’t use watercolor pencils, this technique didn’t quite hook me, but if you don’t try, you won’t know, because there are real fans and craftsmen who don’t need anything other than this option and they create masterpieces! After all, to each his own - for whom a simple pencil is enough, someone loves pastel, someone loves oil, for now I'm passionate about ordinary watercolors. Do I recommend Koh-i-Noor Mondeluz data to you? Yes, I recommend if you have never used it and you are interested, as for the quality and price it is really a great option. And especially if you have children who love to draw, or maybe they don’t like it, and this option will entice them, because it’s interesting! Not only interesting, but also convenient - you kill two birds with one stone :) Also, as I wrote above, we have IKEA Mola watercolor pencils and I had Sonnet watercolor pencils, so there is something to compare, these are really good in their segment. Price. For a box of 18 pieces, you will give around 450 rubles.