Finally someone talking sense! I love my van Gogh watercolours and not afraid to admit it. I love the Schmincke Horadam and W&N pro too, but I think they are not always worth the extra money. Besides, I'm more relaxed knowing I'm not using paint that costs €2 per ml. And yes, it's the artist who makes the art, who controls the brush. Using expensive gear doesn't make you a better artist. Experience, skill and talent can not be bought.
I still use my Van Gogh's and love them dearly. Almost all my primairy's are VG (6x) and my neutrals too. For every other special color I have a crazy mix of Daniel Smith, WN, Schmincke and Old Holland. With 42+ colors...I finally feel I have enough...:) But the VG have a special place in my artist heart for being the first to show me the pleasure of color.
Fantastic review, as always. 99% of the battle of creating any art for me is picking up the brush/pen/pencil - if I stopped to consider if the art materials were a status symbol too I wouldn't produce anything. Your comments are thoughtful and so accurate. Use what you have and enjoy the process - original art or the myriad of adult colouring books - or if you don't have them "borrow" your children's books - just simply enjoy. Mandy you are amazing - carry on the great work!!!
"The very best is the paint is the paint or pencil you like best" - couldn't agree more. The answer is different for everyone and/or every project 😄 Loved the video 😊
Mandy I loved your review of these pencils, and thank you so much for mentioning me in your video. You are so right about artists thinking that there is one single colored pencil that is the best and every artist will love. In all the pencils I have reviewed I quickly became aware that there was no such thing as a best colored pencil, only the best pencil for the individual, on the particular paper that artist likes and the style of art they love to create. Loved your review Mandy absolutely excellent
I loved this review. I work as a buyer for art supplies in an independent office supply shop in Ontario, Canada. I'm always telling customers something similar. That they don't need to spend a lot of money to make art, especially if they're just getting started... My rule is that if they are having fun, they're doing it right. I'm always looking for quality merchandise at a smaller price, and it's funny, as I just had a meeting with a sales rep for Stabilo yesterday. I also love their water soluble pencils that write on anything (I was lucky enough to be left with a sample graphite one)... But thanks to this review, I think I might make the move to start carrying them. The price is comparable with the Reeves sets, and they look like they perform beautifully. Thanks for your continuing honest opinion on your channel.
Thank You Mandy! I love Stabio! I bought a few the All pencils years and years ago to lay out on sign work on windows and such. I soon learned i loved them for my every day sketch work. I had'nt tried the full set student colors as yet. Your mum is very wise!
Thank you Mandy for that really great review and the info's in your infobox! I love your "story telling" voice over in this video.I'll try them out, the Pablo's can wait😁
Thank you for this review which I found both encouraging and helpful. And I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about you mothers experience. Reminded me a little of the Emperors New Clothes! Blessings to you 🙏
Wow ! Mandy that was so powerful. You really put things in perspective about art supplies. I agree 100%, the most important thing is that people create. Thank you so much for your insight, I’m sure you opened a lot of eyes with this video. 💞💫
Excellent, first of all, so glad you did this for your mom. So glad she enjoys her art. I agree on trying all range of priced items and find what makes us happy. One of the least expensive watercolor papers that is fun for me is the Hobby Lobby paper pad. Its only 5.99 US dollars for a pad but its great. I will need some new pencils soon, sounds like I need to look at these for sure. Thanks for swatching them in front of your camera, they held up very well. Take care and keep exploring and enjoying for all of us.
You have made me a believer in 2 things, im currently switching my watercolor paint feom maimeri blu to isaro, isaro in my opinion doesn't have any flaws, simply beautiful, and the second thing im addicted to watercolor pencils, and i just ordered the stabilo original, i have alot of watercolor pencils, but the one with the most pigment is the stabilo all, so if that says anything, they are just fantastic, i have some carbothellos, pen 68, and will always support stabilo and now isaro....i am a believer, i will be making videos soon on youtube..thank you again
Koh I Noor woodless colored pencils are awesome on white and black paper to my surprise. Marcos are great pencils too! I my opinion I was surprised on them too!
van Gogh lover reporting. I'm into watercolours some nine months now, from absolute zero. I mean, I knew nothing about colours at all. Knew nothing about colour theory and things, but saw this absolutely amazing world of creativity and colour, and decided to jump in. And poor me, I thought watercolour is going to be the cheapest option to do that (don't ask why). After watching hours and days of videos on youtube, I saw a watercolour as some magic medium, and I've decided to go with van Gogh. Ordered couple of sets 12 and 24 colours, and started my journey. Everything was (and still is) so interesting, all the colours, mixing, sudden surprises, unexpected mixing results and so on. That was a begining. Now I own a customized set of 28 colours of White Nights, bought myselft a set of Rembrandt of 48, and still, having appreciated the Rembrandt, my hands still reach for van Gogh. :)
Marius Vaiciulis 😊 What a lovely account of your creative journey. And what wonderful paints you've chosen. It's sure a good thing, keeping that Van Gogh at hand. Wish you lots of fun on your path of discovery ❤
Thank You! actually You were amongst the ones who "pushed" me into this world. All I wanted was to help my daughter to get better at painting (she paints better than me), so i've started looking for videos, for tutorials on youtube, tried to get more info about materials... and suddenly I've become part of that world, small part :) now all my family is drawing (daughter still leading) :) thanks for inspiring!
I loved your review and all your thoughts on this! I have always most enjoyed working with Supracolor pencils, but i've started using the much more expensive Museum Aquarel pencils because of their lightfastness. I was puzzled to find that in spite of the huge price difference, i really prefer working in the cheaper Supracolor pencils. I like their feel and feel i can get more color down with a lot less work. I'm looking forward to receiving my first set of Stabo;p Aquacolor pencils to use in a workshop i will be giving. It looks like they're a lot better than i had imagined.
The most expensive are not always the best, indeed. YOu know which ones I really like? Homehobby watercolor pencils. Cheap and super nice to work with. Although I don't know about lightfastness, but if that's not relevant, you might like to try those too some time.
I argued recently that high grade / artist grade make a difference and it came from a place of experience. I have Stabilos, Mondulez, Dürer and Museum side by side. I agree, Stabilos are very good and a pleasure to work with, as are Dürers but wow the intensity of Museum is remarkably. I treasure the experience. My recommendation will always be, get a basic set of whatever your curiosity drives you to and see for yourself. Luckily with Stabilo this is not an issue when it comes to setting priorities in regards to spending but with the basic sets of high end it is neither or a very small issue. There is no substitute for experience. And once you have the experience you can make an informed decision.
You're not wrong in general. But in this case it was simply a noticeable difference from one pencil to the next and not influenced by cognitive bias. The color of the red Museum watercolor pencil dissolved differently, more saturated and dried with a more evenly covered red and I had approximately the same amount of pencil on the paper. Since I'm not a robot who has an inbuilt pressure meter and I didn't count strokes, there definitely was a difference. I didn't notice a remarkable difference in putting the color to the paper, just dissolving it with water definitely was different.
That was a great review and I completely agree with you but I have a question: after swatching those 36 Stabilo AQUACOLORS, how come you did not dissolve them with water? It makes no sense to me
Hehe, I can imagine :-) I did dissolve some with water, at the end of the video, to see how they behave and how strong the color is after adding water. But the reason I didn't dissolve them for my colour chart is that I use them dry mostly, on top of watercolor, so I don't use them like watercolours. Just some strokes with a moist brush here and there. The dry colour is more important to me.
Yes, with pencils I find I don't necessarily need the most expensive ones as long as they are lightfast. Although I do love my luminance set. Still have to review that, now that I come to think of them...
I agree that is better to find your best art supplies without looking for exclusiveness. I'm sad that for last 5-7 years premium brands are no longer premium in aspects of quality. I was shocked that my 20-years crayola pencils are almost as good as modern polychromos (wood, brightness and smoothness). We need to appreciate brands that still care about quality and customers (like stabilo)
Now I can afford fancy brands, but the true is that the majority of my published work was made with Talens (now called Van Gogh) watercolours. I have a 26 years old 80 colours box of Caran d´Ache Supracolor Soft but I want to add some colour pencils on my outdoor kit without deplete my Supracolor box. Your review made me pull the trigger on set of 24 STABILO aquacolor pencils. Thank you!
Finally someone talking sense! I love my van Gogh watercolours and not afraid to admit it. I love the Schmincke Horadam and W&N pro too, but I think they are not always worth the extra money. Besides, I'm more relaxed knowing I'm not using paint that costs €2 per ml.
And yes, it's the artist who makes the art, who controls the brush. Using expensive gear doesn't make you a better artist. Experience, skill and talent can not be bought.
I still use my Van Gogh's and love them dearly. Almost all my primairy's are VG (6x) and my neutrals too. For every other special color I have a crazy mix of Daniel Smith, WN, Schmincke and Old Holland. With 42+ colors...I finally feel I have enough...:) But the VG have a special place in my artist heart for being the first to show me the pleasure of color.
Very well said and very true
Fantastic review, as always. 99% of the battle of creating any art for me is picking up the brush/pen/pencil - if I stopped to consider if the art materials were a status symbol too I wouldn't produce anything. Your comments are thoughtful and so accurate. Use what you have and enjoy the process - original art or the myriad of adult colouring books - or if you don't have them "borrow" your children's books - just simply enjoy. Mandy you are amazing - carry on the great work!!!
"The very best is the paint is the paint or pencil you like best" - couldn't agree more. The answer is different for everyone and/or every project 😄 Loved the video 😊
Mandy I loved your review of these pencils, and thank you so much for mentioning me in your video. You are so right about artists thinking that there is one single colored pencil that is the best and every artist will love. In all the pencils I have reviewed I quickly became aware that there was no such thing as a best colored pencil, only the best pencil for the individual, on the particular paper that artist likes and the style of art they love to create. Loved your review Mandy absolutely excellent
I loved this review. I work as a buyer for art supplies in an independent office supply shop in Ontario, Canada. I'm always telling customers something similar. That they don't need to spend a lot of money to make art, especially if they're just getting started... My rule is that if they are having fun, they're doing it right. I'm always looking for quality merchandise at a smaller price, and it's funny, as I just had a meeting with a sales rep for Stabilo yesterday. I also love their water soluble pencils that write on anything (I was lucky enough to be left with a sample graphite one)... But thanks to this review, I think I might make the move to start carrying them. The price is comparable with the Reeves sets, and they look like they perform beautifully. Thanks for your continuing honest opinion on your channel.
Thank You Mandy!
I love Stabio! I bought a few the All pencils years and years ago to lay out on sign work on windows and such. I soon learned i loved them for my every day sketch work. I had'nt tried the full set student colors as yet. Your mum is very wise!
Thank you Mandy for that really great review and the info's in your infobox! I love your "story telling" voice over in this video.I'll try them out, the Pablo's can wait😁
Thank you for this review which I found both encouraging and helpful. And I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about you mothers experience. Reminded me a little of the Emperors New Clothes! Blessings to you 🙏
Wat een geweldig verhaal. Niet alleen de feitelijkheden maar ook prachtig verteld.🥰
Dankjewel! :-)
Wow ! Mandy that was so powerful. You really put things in perspective about art supplies. I agree 100%, the most important thing is that people create. Thank you so much for your insight, I’m sure you opened a lot of eyes with this video. 💞💫
Excellent, first of all, so glad you did this for your mom. So glad she enjoys her art. I agree on trying all range of priced items and find what makes us happy. One of the least expensive watercolor papers that is fun for me is the Hobby Lobby paper pad. Its only 5.99 US dollars for a pad but its great. I will need some new pencils soon, sounds like I need to look at these for sure. Thanks for swatching them in front of your camera, they held up very well. Take care and keep exploring and enjoying for all of us.
This is a refreshingly frank video. Thank you.
You have made me a believer in 2 things, im currently switching my watercolor paint feom maimeri blu to isaro, isaro in my opinion doesn't have any flaws, simply beautiful, and the second thing im addicted to watercolor pencils, and i just ordered the stabilo original, i have alot of watercolor pencils, but the one with the most pigment is the stabilo all, so if that says anything, they are just fantastic, i have some carbothellos, pen 68, and will always support stabilo and now isaro....i am a believer, i will be making videos soon on youtube..thank you again
What a great story Mandy! Very refreshing!
Wow. This was very helpful. I just ordered some for my nature journal. Thanks!
Glad to have been of help!
Enjoyed your video very much! 😊
Koh I Noor woodless colored pencils are awesome on white and black paper to my surprise. Marcos are great pencils too! I my opinion I was surprised on them too!
van Gogh lover reporting. I'm into watercolours some nine months now, from absolute zero. I mean, I knew nothing about colours at all. Knew nothing about colour theory and things, but saw this absolutely amazing world of creativity and colour, and decided to jump in. And poor me, I thought watercolour is going to be the cheapest option to do that (don't ask why). After watching hours and days of videos on youtube, I saw a watercolour as some magic medium, and I've decided to go with van Gogh. Ordered couple of sets 12 and 24 colours, and started my journey. Everything was (and still is) so interesting, all the colours, mixing, sudden surprises, unexpected mixing results and so on. That was a begining. Now I own a customized set of 28 colours of White Nights, bought myselft a set of Rembrandt of 48, and still, having appreciated the Rembrandt, my hands still reach for van Gogh. :)
Marius Vaiciulis 😊 What a lovely account of your creative journey. And what wonderful paints you've chosen. It's sure a good thing, keeping that Van Gogh at hand. Wish you lots of fun on your path of discovery ❤
Thank You! actually You were amongst the ones who "pushed" me into this world. All I wanted was to help my daughter to get better at painting (she paints better than me), so i've started looking for videos, for tutorials on youtube, tried to get more info about materials... and suddenly I've become part of that world, small part :) now all my family is drawing (daughter still leading) :) thanks for inspiring!
Loved your video! So true. Thanks for the review!
I loved your review and all your thoughts on this! I have always most enjoyed working with Supracolor pencils, but i've started using the much more expensive Museum Aquarel pencils because of their lightfastness. I was puzzled to find that in spite of the huge price difference, i really prefer working in the cheaper Supracolor pencils. I like their feel and feel i can get more color down with a lot less work. I'm looking forward to receiving my first set of Stabo;p Aquacolor pencils to use in a workshop i will be giving. It looks like they're a lot better than i had imagined.
The most expensive are not always the best, indeed. YOu know which ones I really like? Homehobby watercolor pencils. Cheap and super nice to work with. Although I don't know about lightfastness, but if that's not relevant, you might like to try those too some time.
Oh I love this video so much!
This video is very inspiring!
Great review
Awesome review! Tfs 😃
I argued recently that high grade / artist grade make a difference and it came from a place of experience. I have Stabilos, Mondulez, Dürer and Museum side by side. I agree, Stabilos are very good and a pleasure to work with, as are Dürers but wow the intensity of Museum is remarkably. I treasure the experience.
My recommendation will always be, get a basic set of whatever your curiosity drives you to and see for yourself. Luckily with Stabilo this is not an issue when it comes to setting priorities in regards to spending but with the basic sets of high end it is neither or a very small issue.
There is no substitute for experience. And once you have the experience you can make an informed decision.
You're not wrong in general. But in this case it was simply a noticeable difference from one pencil to the next and not influenced by cognitive bias. The color of the red Museum watercolor pencil dissolved differently, more saturated and dried with a more evenly covered red and I had approximately the same amount of pencil on the paper. Since I'm not a robot who has an inbuilt pressure meter and I didn't count strokes, there definitely was a difference.
I didn't notice a remarkable difference in putting the color to the paper, just dissolving it with water definitely was different.
Thank you! I enjoy this Video so much!!!
That was a great review and I completely agree with you but I have a question: after swatching those 36 Stabilo AQUACOLORS, how come you did not dissolve them with water? It makes no sense to me
Hehe, I can imagine :-) I did dissolve some with water, at the end of the video, to see how they behave and how strong the color is after adding water. But the reason I didn't dissolve them for my colour chart is that I use them dry mostly, on top of watercolor, so I don't use them like watercolours. Just some strokes with a moist brush here and there. The dry colour is more important to me.
Bravo! Excellently said.
Thank you agree 100% I also use Pentel aqua equally effective.
I use Van Gogh wc paints and Koh I Noor Mondelez wc pencils. Cheap and cheerful and most of them lightfast. On good paper they work really well ;-)
Yes, with pencils I find I don't necessarily need the most expensive ones as long as they are lightfast. Although I do love my luminance set. Still have to review that, now that I come to think of them...
I agree that is better to find your best art supplies without looking for exclusiveness.
I'm sad that for last 5-7 years premium brands are no longer premium in aspects of quality. I was shocked that my 20-years crayola pencils are almost as good as modern polychromos (wood, brightness and smoothness). We need to appreciate brands that still care about quality and customers (like stabilo)
absolutely.
Thankyou...😊
You're welcome!
Thank You!
You're welcome!
Now I can afford fancy brands, but the true is that the majority of my published work was made with Talens (now called Van Gogh) watercolours. I have a 26 years old 80 colours box of Caran d´Ache Supracolor Soft but I want to add some colour pencils on my outdoor kit without deplete my Supracolor box. Your review made me pull the trigger on set of 24 STABILO aquacolor pencils. Thank you!
Thank you!