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My materials, AKA pen porn! 

22/4/2015

9 Comments

 
I have been pretty obsessed with stationery, particularly pens, since my school days. I used to spend lessons swapping what I had with others, trying always to swap whatever cheap pens my Mum could afford with other people's illustrious Uniball Signo gels! Now I can afford my own, I thought I'd show you exactly what I use to do my colouring.
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I've only recently purchased these Ergo Soft pencils by Staedtler, and I'm finding them great for blending and shading especially. They have a white core around the lead, which supposedly helps them not to break. The presentation case is lovely, but I can't help thinking it will be useless once the pencils have been sharpened to a shorter length. 
The pencils themselves give great coverage, and are true to the colour they're supposed to be. They are very soft and silky to the touch, and with them being triangular they're comfortable to hold for long periods of time. Here is a pic I did with them:
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These are the pens I use the most and I LOVE them! The fineliners are just 0.3mm and are ideal for intricate designs, whilst the fibre tips are 1mm and easier to use in bigger white spaces. They both give brilliant, vibrant colour, and glide over the paper so smoothly it truly is a joy to use them. They do not bleed through any paper I've used so far, which is a MASSIVE bonus. I've been using them now for a month, and done plenty of colouring but they're still going strong with no noticeable signs of running out. They are dry-safe, which is great for those of you, like me, with children who love to help Mum colour but aren't so good at remembering to put the tops back on! They're also triangular for comfort, and presented in a another useful, foldable case. I bought mine from Amazon for around £10 each set, but you can buy them from pretty much any good stationery shops. I saw they have the fineliners on sale in Rymans for £8.99, so it might be worth popping in and snapping some up before they go! The pics below were done with these pens (though the lady's face on the first pic was done in pencil).
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Now for my Crayola Twistables collection! These are a cross between pencil and wax, and give out the most glorious bold colour that looks like marker, at the same time allowing you to shade like a pencil. These are my go-to pens when I want my picture to look really striking and bursting with colour. There's no mess with these, as you simply twist the end and more pencil screws out, so they're quick and easy to use. There are an array of different colours available; I got these + the fatter version (which are great for bigger spaces) in something called a 'Colour Can' for around £10 on eBay, and they last absolutely AGES. I would definitely recommend them! Have a look at the gorgeous pics I have done with them below.
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Last but not least, my gel pens! Bought these from 'The Works' for £4 per pack of 30. They're assorted metallic, neon and glitter, and are absolutely gorgeous! They glide perfectly, without leaving any of those scratchy marks you might find with other gel pens. The ink flows well, the downside of which is that they seem to go low quite quickly. Still, the glitter ones are extremely glittery! For £4 a pack, you can't afford not to have these in your collection.
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I hope you've enjoyed rifling through my pencil case! What pens are your favourites, and which would you not recommend? Why? Please leave me a comment and I will reply :)
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9 Comments
Erika link
30/4/2015 01:14:52 pm

I've been using the Staedtler markers too and had no idea they're available in a thicker style! I may need to get those, lol.

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Claire Eadie
30/4/2015 01:43:13 pm

Yep, they're probably the pens I use the most tbh, they give excellent coverage :D

Reply
Karen
9/5/2015 02:23:27 pm

I read a review of the Staedtler pens on Amazon (a 2 star review) that said the colors from these pens faded within a few months. I found that really scary, and it made me wonder how long you have been using these pens. I would really hate to spend hours and hours on coloring pages (I spent about 15 hours on one page recently) only to have the colors fade within a few months!

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hannonle
10/8/2015 10:13:35 am

That fold back lid looks awesome and really handy! Great to hear that they don't bleed. I'll have to grab a pack of these when my current ones run out :)

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Beverley Marsh
19/8/2015 10:58:11 am

I'm new to colouring so this blog has been very helpful in deciding which pens to purchase. Thank you so much.

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Judith Luscombe
19/8/2015 11:26:44 am

Great pens, amazingly vibrant colours

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Charlotte Foy
23/8/2015 09:19:09 am

I got a pack of 20 gel pens from Asda which have normal, neon, metallic and glitter varieties. They're very good for such a cheap price (£2) although the glitter pens can be quite gloopy.

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Danita
6/10/2015 05:04:58 pm

You've mentioned using pan pastels, but I didn't see any listed here. Do you have something about them somewhere? I'm curious as to how you 'fix' them.

Reply
Claire
6/10/2015 08:13:03 pm

Hi, yes it should be under the 'Materials I use' catergory :)

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©Claire Eadie 2015
  • ~Home~
  • ~My Story~
  • ~Mental Health~
  • ~Beginner's Guide to Colouring~
  • ~Tutorials~
  • ~Colouring Book Reviews~
  • ~Product Reviews~
  • ~Arts & Crafts Reviews~
  • ~Gallery~
  • ~Colouring Challenges~
  • ~Gemstones~
  • ~Charts~
  • ~Digital Painting~
  • ~Illustrator Interviews~
  • ~Media Appearances~
  • ~FAQ~
  • ~Contact~
  • ~Policy~