For color lead holders, I use the Pentel Multi 8 - I bought it waaaay back, almost a decade ago, to use for color coding in my planner. It holds 2 mm leads, comes with eight colors (though the leads are shorther than the Koh-i-Noor ones, since they have to leave room for the rotating mechanism), and it's about the thickness of a normal 4 or 5 multi pen. Could be worth checking out if you ever need an even more compact setup!
Hi, Daenafae. Thanks for this. I don't think I've seen the coloured lead clutch pencils. They look rather bulky, though. Are they as bulky / heavy as they look, when compared to a Polychromas or Caran D'Ache Pablo, for example? I also cut off long-handled brushes for travelling - only the flat and the fan though, as I have travel brushes for the rounds. I made my own mini-palette with a small eye shadow box, a similar size to a credit card, from the local supermarket. It cost €4.50 (£3.86) and holds 12 colours in the pans (similar in depth to Art Toolkit) and three lesser-used colours in the place where the little brush went. I don't think it'd be enough for a two-week trip, though, if I were using it every day assuming for 28 x 38cm (11" x 15", quarter imperial) paintings. If I did that, I have a second eye shadow box in the drawer that would just need filling. I usually do a mix of drawing and painting in various sizes, so I think the two would be ok . It weighs 44gms when filled with six split-primaries, and various earth colours, and I used gesso on the outside of the clear lid to give me a mixing space in the lid. 😊
Thank you for sharing about your travel palettes! The lead clutch pencils are about the same thickness as a colour pencil but heavy. All of them together adds most of the weight to the pencil case. It's a trade off I have to consider whenever planning between mechanical/clutch pencils and wooden pencils + a sharpener.
@@daenafae Many thanks for the information on the clutch pencils! 😊 Definitely a no-go for me, then, as my bag's quite heavy already! I tend to use my watercolour pencils when I'm out (dry as well as wet)) so a standard WHS-style metal pencil sharpener is fine for those.
and me who thought i was able to fit an insane amount of things into my lihit lab ! i'm dying, you've got double the thickness and it STILL zips right up - it is amazing ! 😃😂
If your nibs are still good on your fave Pigma/Uni Pin pens but they’re drying out, just pull the nib with tweezers and add some India/Bombay ink to it with a syringe, cheap and waterproof… despite being “disposable’ pens, they can be refilled 🤗 I’m intrigued why you don’t have a cheap fountain pen for sketching tho… they’re quite cool for pen work 🤗 I like the Staedler Easy ones, they’re designed for school… so they’re fairly cheap (I got mine for $5 nzd/$2 USD each and they’re quite robust and flowy for the price, I was pleasantly surprised). 🤗🤗🤗
Oh my goodness thank you for this!!! 💜 I'll definitely give it a go! I do have some fountain pens, but I tend to use them for non-waterproof sketching. I haven't found a waterproof fountain pen ink I like yet. I love the dark inks by diamine for monochrome studies. I blend the ink out with a water brush for different tones 😊
I tried the set of Koh-i-Noor colored clutch pencils but I found them, especially the yellow, very waxy and unable to blend. I returned them and got a Pentel Arts 8 Color Automatic Pencil. As the name indicates it has space for 8 2mm colored leads. It comes with brown, pink, red, light blue, blue, yellow, orange and light green. You can also buy replacement leads of violet, green (not as light as the one it comes with) and peach (I didn't get this one). I switched the violet for the brown and the green for the light green and I was able to get a decent mixture of colors. Obviously it doesn't blend as well as a Prismacolor pencil, but it is not bad
I've noticed that with the yellow too. I find them easier to use on paper with more tooth like S&B alpha. I'll have to keep an eye out for the pentel 8 color pencil. The variety alone sounds lovely!
LYRA makes THE best kneadable eraser. Faber Castell is soft, not good for details or holding it's shape. Try the one that comes in a small but thick plastic box. You'll never use any other again. Trust me, it happened with all Artists I know, and keep in mind, that I wasn't expecting it, to be THAT much better, than any other, even Faber Castell.. I never used the Faber Castell ones again.
@@daenafae if you use them only for bigger effects, like creating clouds after you've smudged graphite on paper, then any would work.However, If you use them for details (erasing or highlights etc, it would be a really nice upgrade! It can do more, it can do better.
The only drawing pencil, that I'd consider better (in terms of performance and how much better the drawing/sketching looks) is the Pentel Graphgear 500 in 0.5mm and 0.4mm for finer details. As for my favorite sketching pencils, nothing beats Kohinoor 5340 )or 5347) with any lead they make in it, ESPECIALLY their Red Chalk, which is THE best in the market. (They call it "Russet Sepia on their 5.6mm, however they sell it with it's proper name, "Red Chalk" as a wooden pencil.) Those are the best pencils for drawing/sketching out there, I don't think it's just my personal opinion, when many professional artists, admit that too. PS Pentel P200 is better for travels and generally far from home/studio. They are less likely to get damage and they're also easier to carry.
@@daenafae You welcome! Keep in mind, that I've tested all the famous ones, for years. Rotring, has issues, so their pencils do not perform as good, they just feel better, but in most cases, they are way heavier than they should. Rapid Pro 2mm, comes with the worst wobble I've ever seen and the worst lead quality I've ever tried. However, if someone is crafty, can harvest a 2mm lead, from a Faber Castell 9000 wooden pencil and use that instead. It's the only 2mm lead, that can fit the Rapid Pro properly. It doesn't just fix the issue, it then becomes the most precise Pencil I've ever seen! You just don't remove all the glue from the lead,when you shave off the wood, to expose the graphite lead. Cheers!!
For color lead holders, I use the Pentel Multi 8 - I bought it waaaay back, almost a decade ago, to use for color coding in my planner. It holds 2 mm leads, comes with eight colors (though the leads are shorther than the Koh-i-Noor ones, since they have to leave room for the rotating mechanism), and it's about the thickness of a normal 4 or 5 multi pen. Could be worth checking out if you ever need an even more compact setup!
Thank you for the recommendation! I've added it to the art wish list :D
Hi, Daenafae. Thanks for this. I don't think I've seen the coloured lead clutch pencils. They look rather bulky, though. Are they as bulky / heavy as they look, when compared to a Polychromas or Caran D'Ache Pablo, for example?
I also cut off long-handled brushes for travelling - only the flat and the fan though, as I have travel brushes for the rounds. I made my own mini-palette with a small eye shadow box, a similar size to a credit card, from the local supermarket. It cost €4.50 (£3.86) and holds 12 colours in the pans (similar in depth to Art Toolkit) and three lesser-used colours in the place where the little brush went.
I don't think it'd be enough for a two-week trip, though, if I were using it every day assuming for 28 x 38cm (11" x 15", quarter imperial) paintings. If I did that, I have a second eye shadow box in the drawer that would just need filling. I usually do a mix of drawing and painting in various sizes, so I think the two would be ok . It weighs 44gms when filled with six split-primaries, and various earth colours, and I used gesso on the outside of the clear lid to give me a mixing space in the lid.
😊
Thank you for sharing about your travel palettes! The lead clutch pencils are about the same thickness as a colour pencil but heavy. All of them together adds most of the weight to the pencil case. It's a trade off I have to consider whenever planning between mechanical/clutch pencils and wooden pencils + a sharpener.
@@daenafae Many thanks for the information on the clutch pencils! 😊 Definitely a no-go for me, then, as my bag's quite heavy already! I tend to use my watercolour pencils when I'm out (dry as well as wet)) so a standard WHS-style metal pencil sharpener is fine for those.
and me who thought i was able to fit an insane amount of things into my lihit lab ! i'm dying, you've got double the thickness and it STILL zips right up - it is amazing ! 😃😂
It seems to go on forever lol! Though I think I'm pushing its limits here 😂
If your nibs are still good on your fave Pigma/Uni Pin pens but they’re drying out, just pull the nib with tweezers and add some India/Bombay ink to it with a syringe, cheap and waterproof… despite being “disposable’ pens, they can be refilled 🤗
I’m intrigued why you don’t have a cheap fountain pen for sketching tho… they’re quite cool for pen work 🤗 I like the Staedler Easy ones, they’re designed for school… so they’re fairly cheap (I got mine for $5 nzd/$2 USD each and they’re quite robust and flowy for the price, I was pleasantly surprised). 🤗🤗🤗
Oh my goodness thank you for this!!! 💜 I'll definitely give it a go! I do have some fountain pens, but I tend to use them for non-waterproof sketching. I haven't found a waterproof fountain pen ink I like yet. I love the dark inks by diamine for monochrome studies. I blend the ink out with a water brush for different tones 😊
I tried the set of Koh-i-Noor colored clutch pencils but I found them, especially the yellow, very waxy and unable to blend. I returned them and got a Pentel Arts 8 Color Automatic Pencil. As the name indicates it has space for 8 2mm colored leads. It comes with brown, pink, red, light blue, blue, yellow, orange and light green. You can also buy replacement leads of violet, green (not as light as the one it comes with) and peach (I didn't get this one). I switched the violet for the brown and the green for the light green and I was able to get a decent mixture of colors. Obviously it doesn't blend as well as a Prismacolor pencil, but it is not bad
I've noticed that with the yellow too. I find them easier to use on paper with more tooth like S&B alpha. I'll have to keep an eye out for the pentel 8 color pencil. The variety alone sounds lovely!
@@daenafae what do you use to get your 5.6mm lead so sharp?
LYRA makes THE best kneadable eraser. Faber Castell is soft, not good for details or holding it's shape. Try the one that comes in a small but thick plastic box. You'll never use any other again. Trust me, it happened with all Artists I know, and keep in mind, that I wasn't expecting it, to be THAT much better, than any other, even Faber Castell.. I never used the Faber Castell ones again.
With that high of a praise I'll have to keep an eye out for them! Thank you for the recommendation 💜
@@daenafae if you use them only for bigger effects, like creating clouds after you've smudged graphite on paper, then any would work.However, If you use them for details (erasing or highlights etc, it would be a really nice upgrade! It can do more, it can do better.
The only drawing pencil, that I'd consider better (in terms of performance and how much better the drawing/sketching looks) is the Pentel Graphgear 500 in 0.5mm and 0.4mm for finer details. As for my favorite sketching pencils, nothing beats Kohinoor 5340 )or 5347) with any lead they make in it, ESPECIALLY their Red Chalk, which is THE best in the market. (They call it "Russet Sepia on their 5.6mm, however they sell it with it's proper name, "Red Chalk" as a wooden pencil.) Those are the best pencils for drawing/sketching out there, I don't think it's just my personal opinion, when many professional artists, admit that too.
PS Pentel P200 is better for travels and generally far from home/studio. They are less likely to get damage and they're also easier to carry.
Thank you for such a detailed comment! It's interesting to hear about the benefits of different pencils.
@@daenafae You welcome! Keep in mind, that I've tested all the famous ones, for years. Rotring, has issues, so their pencils do not perform as good, they just feel better, but in most cases, they are way heavier than they should. Rapid Pro 2mm, comes with the worst wobble I've ever seen and the worst lead quality I've ever tried. However, if someone is crafty, can harvest a 2mm lead, from a Faber Castell 9000 wooden pencil and use that instead. It's the only 2mm lead, that can fit the Rapid Pro properly. It doesn't just fix the issue, it then becomes the most precise Pencil I've ever seen! You just don't remove all the glue from the lead,when you shave off the wood, to expose the graphite lead. Cheers!!