The Dark Side to Buying Full Sets of Colored Pencils.

Today I am going to be talking about why I no longer recommend buying full sets of colored pencils (in certain brands) and how lightfastness plays a role in how much bang you get for your buck.
#coloredpencils

Related Videos:

Lightfastness Information:

Materials (affiliate:)

Regular Colored Pencils:

Water Soluble:

Pastel Pencils:

Please note: Product links used in description are often affiliate links, this means I earn a small profit when someone uses my link to purchase a product. However, there is no additional charge to the person who is purchasing the product.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music:
Piano sound in the beginning is my own.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's be pals, find me on social media!!

[cate]

I think that all colored pencils have their place lightfast or not. Lightfast pencils being significantly more expensive, I believe some would prefer to save those for the professional work only and use the non-lightfast for coloring books, sketch books, experimentation or just practicing- as in the work that generally gets put away and is not for display. I don't think it is necessarily a waste; it's only a waste when the pencils don't get used at all. That's my take.

[loati]

Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a full set and remove the not lightfast pencils than buying open stock the amount of pencils you want. For example I sometimes can get the full set of stabillo carbothelos for 70€ but If I were to buy them open stock they would be 95€. Other times the full set is as expensive as buying open stock so maybe it's more worth it just picking the ones you need. A full set or a good size set can also avoid having most pencils you need out of stock when you try to buy open stock.
If I had the money I would go full set because I would just buy it and forget about it until I need too replace a pencil. And you can always use non lightfast for scanning artwork or tutorials on youtube

[alizafar]

Relateable 😭. I tend to use acrylic paint and oil paint more often due to most brands obviously using lightfast colours. I feel like the colours are more protected in paint due to the binder, also adding multiple layers of varnish (Golden MSA varnish is apparently the best due to its high resistance to UV light, I have seen a blog about it and 3 layers of Golden MSA varnish even protects florescent colours).
The colours in Coloured pencil are at a higher risk of fading as you are limited to UV sprays only and even that doesn't help that much.

[danielalvarez-arevalo]

Well made video on the topic. Art has many purposes. Some do art to collect, some for fun, some to sell (make a living), and some do a mix of fun and sell. At the end of the day, if the medium leaves the artist with a fun experience that leads them to grow and make even better art… then that’s all that matters. That drive created from having fun will lead to improvements, which lead to quality works that can sell for quite a bit. So the idea of financial gain, seems like a “bonus” of what art should be… a field to have fun through exploration. Collecting sets of color pencils, most of us won’t use most colors in those sets (especially if they are big sets), that is true. Though I think it’s the “knowing” of having those sets at the disposal to explore the medium, that starts the spark to really get into the art. Since let’s be honest, brands like prisma color “feel” great when laying them on paper versus some very cheap brands that feels scratchy and so make the experience “feel” terrible or forced. Personally I much rather use something that I “feel” I am having a good time. I also collect many things, so that nature adds to that desire for fun. Some may get sets that are very lightfast for works to sell or want to make more seriously, yet get other sets (satisfying that collector nature) that can be used for personal art. Experiencing many sets can even change whether someone wants to seek originals or prints. For example, someone may get caran d’ache luminance or faber Castell polys and yet a cheap brand May be more their speed. Due to that “preference” they may want to stick with the cheaper brand, but as a result they may choose to sell prints instead of originals. Some of us don’t know if we want to sell prints or originals, trying different sets may make that choice for us. XD, a choice making a choice.

[tabbylynn]

I have became addicted to colored pencils!!! I have wasted sooo much money on things I will never use. I use 36 of faber castel and 48 prismacolor and that’s it!! Everything else is useless to me.

[amozinshade]

I loved watching this video while coloring in with my affordable Staedtler colored pencils set 😅

I have one black polychromos, I mainly used it to darken sketches. I'd like to eventually get the basic set of polychromos but it has to be once I use up my surplus art supply collection 😅

[MDCampbell]

Ironically, this is exactly why many artists avoid buying pre-packaged sets of paint, as well. Pan sets or tube sets than contain colors we rarely use are, like you said, such a waste. With colored pencils, unfortunately, there are some you just cannot buy individually and have to buy the set to get the colors you want. Most times, I'll go to Blick and look for single colored pencil colors and the bins are simply empty and, as it appears, never restocked. I agree with you completely, but have often found it is just easier to buy a set and pull out the colors I use most and keep them nearby. ALSO, I should note, this is even more challenging with watercolor pencils. lol!

[oldladyfarmer]

I always buy the largest set of every new brand of pencil I want to try. Through using them I find which ones I use the most and when refills are needed I will replace them by buying about 10-12 at a time. If pencils are not available as open stock it usually means they are not really the professional quality I want for my work. I will either pass them along or use those pencils for coloring to relax when I want to get away from my serious art-work because everyone likes to play. Also, I have found that using colors that I rarely would use alone can give some depth that is really appreciated. Nothing goes to waste. 😃

[waymire]

I went through this with watercolor. When I started I was coming from acrylic and had no idea the impact of lightfastness in the water medium. I wasted so much money. I don't sell my work but I do display it on my walls and give it as gifts.. if it's not lightfast it's a complete waste of your time and effort, and has basically no value as a work itself.. unless you digitally reproduce it. That is just the sad fact of the matter. I now have a rather extensive collection of paint, all LF 2 or above. Another fun fact price and brand do not matter.. Van Gogh for example is extremely affordable and every paint in the line is LF1 (and stands up to RL testing).. and brands lie... you HAVE to either test them yourself or find someone else who has done it for you. Just as one example Daniel Smith had over 25 LF1 rated paints that faded terribly in only three months of UV exposure IRL testing.

[pennypop]

Use them in sketchbooks or gift to a young artist to try out and practice with. Totally agree with your advice check your ratings.

[annachronistic]

I look at it this way, it depends on the use. I’ve used copics for years which are not lightfast but that’s fine for stuff you put online or make prints. I’ve bought both lightfast and pencils that aren’t, so I’m careful about what I use them for.

[ArtBrain]

I saw a lightfast test of older Polychromos today that was pretty disappointing and it did not match their documented claims. (Maybe newer ones are better?) Thus, even if a company claims a certain lightfastness, they may have changed their formula to something less lightfast (or more lightfast). It's best to do your own lightfastness testing of the very set you're going to use. Corporations tell fibs, no surprise.

[MariaRevArt]

This was very enlightening. I know there will be some fugitive pencils in sets, but damn. This was a lot. I do prefer to start with sets, but I'll probably start with sets of 12 - 24 and build up via open stock. I do check lightfastness prior to buying though, to see if the set is worth it. Overall, thanks so much for this.

[bevjones]

Luckily I had heard about the lightfastness and looked over the sets picking those with the most lightfast in them and yes they were the ones you mentioned mostly. Thank you for this info. Peace and love abide with you. Peace and love abide with you 💕

[catherinele]

Don t be sad ! Coloring is collecting too !

For me, I love seeing the beautiful range of color! If I don’t have the full set i don t feel completely satisfied. But you are right about light fastness.

The derwent lightfast have about 60% of LF1, polychromos about 80 % . It is strange for a set named « lightfast ».

[dhm]

I agree that lightfast art supplies are important, but in the past did artists worry about lightfastness? Did Michelangelo worry about the lightfastnes of the Sistine Chapel? i have some other observations about all this too.

[AfterArt]

I tend to use the fugitive colors for coloring books or sketchbook stuff. The only colored pencils I have are polychromos and color soft, all the inktense too (weird as many of Derwent lightfast ratings differ on those between the pencils, blocks, and pans) but if I ever sell anything from those it would just be prints (unless it was the pans since those seem to be more like actual watercolor.)
The Derwent water soluble metalics 12 set was discontinued a while back, they have a new metallic set with max 20 colors, non water soluble.
I should definately check my pitt pastels and Derwent pastels a bit more closely. Hadn't really thought that the ratings would be different than the company stated.
Very informative video. I plan to replace my coloursoft overtime with lightfast as I use them up.

[scottmantooth]

*being left handed, dyslexic AND ocd compounded by the fact that i'm also self described experimenter with colors and mixed media techniques i know this to be a fact...i do have a few pencil sets but really prefer my Derwent sets and open stock acquisitions the most because they respond the way i find* *most desirable and exciting...i also collect fountain pen inks both bottles and samples(of which i have a ridiculous amount...seriously) that i've obtained solely to use for shading and layering...watercolor of course for the same expressive reasons...just getting back into that one and collecting and building my preferred pallet slowly as the pigments i like are not the cheap ones...*
*i've stopped adding up how much i've spent on art supplies over the years because knowing the exact amount would probably just be depressing or make me reevaluate my sanity which is already pretty suspect even at the best of times*
.

[jayelleart]

I had no idea about the inktense. Wow! Thanks for sharing.

[davemilligan]

Ok, but are you still going to be on this earth in 75 years from now, when someone gets angry that the colored pencil drawing they have starts to fade...Is it really going to matter ??? Do you honestly believe that colored art work is going to be that important in the so very far distant future? That piece of pencil art will be lost somewhere in an attic 30 years from now. In 30 years from now, pencils may not even exist at all. I can really appreciate and respect the work that colored pencil artists put into their work, and I would hope that others in the future do to, but I think the odds are that nobody will care either way. None the less, I just found your channel, I'm giving you a like and look forward to watching the rest of your vids. Have a good day.