Tried and True or Something New?

Good morning, Blog Friends! Today is my wonderful husband's 54th birthday! We don't have any big plans until the weekend because our 33rd wedding anniversary is on Saturday! And even then, the plans are small. Things are still pretty closed down in my area of California, making getting away a bit of a production - which as you may know is NOT my jam! I think  we are looking ahead to a big anniversary trip for our 35th in 2022! 

Anyway...I have a fun post for you today! I finally had time to finish my Power Poppy project from last week! I did not have time to get the NEW Aloe and Oranges image ready for you until now!

Once I got going with this image, I decided to create TWO projects, this one using Copic markers with a little Prismacolored pencil, and then another, larger project using some NEW pencils I purchased (see below). 

For this project I printed the image onto white cardstock, using the no-line version. I only printed a partial image, and sized it to fit a 4" x 6" card. (I was in a hurry, remember?!) I added a sentiment from the Sunflower Power digital set.

Then I did my thing...I colored the image with Copic markers, and then added a bit of detail with Prismacolor pencils...just like always! 

I confess to being not entirely happy with the result, plus the full image is so stunning that I really wanted to color the whole thing.

Well, I recently purchased another set of pencils. This brand is marketed as Wanshui but the name printed on the pencils is Brutfuner. I think Brutfuner is the manufacturer and they allow various companies to re-brand the pencils. They come from China, so who knows?!

I know, I know! I like to try different things....and really, 168 pencils for under $30?!?! These are marketed as "oil-based" pencils and since the cream of the crop oil-based pencils are super expensive, I decided to give these budget guys a try! (I got my pencils from Amazon, HERE.)

I printed the image at 8 1/2" x 11" using the no-line version again. Ok, this is BIG. Especially for using pencils only. But, you can really practice your details when the image is larger. Trying to fiddle around with a card-sized image can be difficult, especially when learning new techniques. 

I really love using the larger images as prints rather than making cards. (Yes, my paper craft stuff is still in time-out! I am only interested in my coloring art right now! Call it COVID brain!) I am a huge fan of botanical prints, and think that coloring these larger images in a realistic manner is sort of like coloring your own botanical print book!

How did the new pencils perform? I had some mixed results. The paper is very smooth, so it was not the best for pencils. But, a lot of my adult coloring books are printed on smoother paper, so I wanted to see how these pencils performed on a similar medium. (I will be sharing some of my coloring book pages soon!)

I have to say, the oranges and yellows went down beautifully. I was able to layer and layer and layer the color! Since these pencils are oil-based, they do not blend together the way that Prismacolor pencils do. You need to do a lot of light layers to build up color. Which is a learning curve in itself!

But...the greens? They did NOT go down very well at all. They would only layer a little bit and then turn streaky and crumbly! I ended up putting a layer of Copic on the remaining aloe leaves before adding the pencil (which really did not help very much). I kept working at it, but at a certain point nothing was happening! 

I will try the pencils again on different paper and see how they do. I will also see which colors perform well, and then check to see if they will play nicely with my other brands. This set has some wonderful yellows and purples, colors that are under represented in other brands.

At one point I was ready to give up, but I decided to soldier on! I am happy I did! It was such a fun experiment, not to mention a great learning experience!

I think some parts of the image came out beautifully and others...not so much. But, all in all, I am pretty happy with it! The pencils are a nice quality and sharpened like a dream in my electric sharpener. They hold a nice, sharp point for a long time!

I decided to NOT add any sort of background color because I really was not sure how the pencils would behave and did not want to ruin what I already finished! You will also notice that the pencils leave a shine on the paper, which blows out the camera! In person you can't see the shine as much under regular lighting. 

Which is your favorite, tried and true (Copics and Prismacolor pencils) or something new (Wanshui pencils)? Would you like to see more product experiments? 

At the end of the day, it was $30 well spent on the new pencils. I am sure they will do fine on paper that has a bit more tooth...at least I hope they will.

In other fun news, Marcella has introduced the NEW Power Poppy team! Check that out HERE.