Starving Artist Makes First Million Thanks To Crayola Watercolor Pencils!
Written: Aug 27 '03
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Pros: Eight vibrant colors, inexpensive, non-toxic, medium sized paintbrush included.
Cons: None!
The Bottom Line: Want to give your child another artistic avenue to explore? Check out Crayola Watercolor Pencils!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Crayola Watercolor Pencils |
I’m not sure when the Crayola Watercolor Pencils make their way into our house but they are a favorite of the boys when the art bug strikes them. They can use them for drawing or sketching then finish them off with a drop or two of water on a paintbrush to make the image come to life. They used these when they were making a project that revolved around the inside of one of the Egyptian pyramids. They were able to go into more detail and add more depth to their project with these watercolor pencils and had a blast with touch ups and adding things to the design. When they first started it, it was just going to be a one dimensional drawing of what the inside of the pyramid looked like when it was being built. Once they started using these and added some water to it, they decided to scrap the original plan and make a three dimensional floor plan. When they were finished with it, it looked a lot better than they expected and because of the added effects of the watercolors, the room and all its fillings took on an extremely lifelike presence. Now, about that title … maybe it was a little bit of an exaggeration – none of the boys are rich yet but if they keep this up they might just be on their way to being famous artists – that is if they keep getting bit by the art bug.
Crayola Watercolor Pencils
At first glance, these look a lot like the other Crayola colored pencils. They are the same size, have the same lettering and are pre-sharpened. The only distinguishing marking are the ‘watercolor’ text and the paintbrush logo. This will allow you to keep them separate from other colored pencils – but if you are looking for them and they are mixed in with others, it make take a while to track them down. I knew that this would be an issue so I took some masking take and put a layer at the end of the colored pencil – now all I have to do is look for the masking tape and avoid having to look at each individual pencil. If I had to voice one complaint about these it would be that they are round and tend to roll all over the place, so if you are working on an art table on anything with an incline – be prepared for an ongoing battle. Normally I use pencils from All Night Media [larger selection of colors, thinner pencils] because they have flat sides and stay put when not in use.
These are extremely easy to use and since they are full sized colored pencils, you won’t have to fight with them or get hand cramps. For a while I was using the large assortment of Crayola ‘shorts’ [the smaller colored pencils] and felt like these things were digging right through the palm of my hand. These can be used on almost any type of paper but if you are going to add water to them, I suggest something thick. Simply color as you would with any other colored pencil, brush off any excess or flaked off bits and get ready for the fun. Using the provided paint brush [or any other of your choosing] ‘paint’ the picture with small amounts of water. It’s sort of like working with the coloring books that already have the ink on the pages and just need to you add water and mix them together. Drying time is about twenty minutes but it depends on the amount of water you’ve applied and the type of paper you are working with. The finished products look a lot better then when they are wet so don’t get disappointed if the work of art in progress don’t look all that impressive.
Color Assortment
The eight colors that are included with this set are as follows: black, blue, light blue, purple, green, red, orange and yellow. These are a little more vibrant than the standard colored pencils from Crayola and go on a little thicker – sort of line a combination between pastels and pencils. The colors are bright and bold and if they aren’t used for water-coloring, they might seem a little heavy. The colors dry a little lighter than they appear when they are wet but if it seems washed out or doesn’t look the way you want it, you can color over the area and rewet it. Using a thick paper or poster board is great when you think you might need to do several applications. Direct sunlight will affect the colors so if you think your child is going to be the next Picasso or Da Vinci, you might want to display them in a safer area.
Watercolor Qualities
The key thing here is to make sure that you don’t over saturate the paper, you can always add a little more water if it is needed, but if you add too much initially – it usually turns into a real mess and all the colors tend to run together. Using a thick paper helps to keep warping and tearing to a minimum and make sure you allow the paper to dry completely before you do any touch ups with the pencils or you might risk destroying it. The brush that comes with this set is a mediums sized Crayola brush so if you are working on something very large or need something that will give you detail, you will need other brushes to work with. The colors don’t run unless you over saturate the paper with water. If you add too much water you can try to dab it up with a paper towel but remember – “dad don’t drag”. Mixing the colors is easy once you get the hang of it, Crayola has a nice color chart that you can print up from their website so kids can play around with overlapping the colors to see the results.
Things To Know
If you want a little more variety in the color department, you can pick up the larger sets of the watercolor pencils. The twelve pack is great and offers you the colors in this set as well as brown, white, lime and dark purple. Institution size packages are also available, 240 pencils, 20 of each color. These can be found at school supply stores as well as larger office supply stores. These are great for those that run day care facilities or after school program and remember, these are non-toxic so they are suitable for the little ones as well [with proper supervision of course].
The Bottom Line
These are suggested for use by children ages eight and older but in all honesty, they are non-toxic so youngsters kids can use these with a little parental supervision. These are a great way to give your child a little bit more creative freedom when expressive their artistic side. As I have mentioned in other review, the boys aren’t exactly into the whole arts and craft scene but from time to time they’ll start a project and drag out all the supplies. Having the ability to blend the colors and mix them together is great but when it dried you can make minor touch ups and even add other things to the picture. Try that with regular colored pencils or markers. So, if these sound interesting they are available at most retail shops that carry Crayola products however if you can’t find these locally, you can check out the Crayola Online Store for quick and easy online orders. The site offers activities, projects, coloring pages, educational modules and more, and best of all – it’s free!
As always, thanks for the visit …
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Other Crayola product reviews …
Crayola 4 Count Paint Brushes
Crayola Washable Water Colors
Crayola 8 Count Paint Brushes
Crayola 16 Pack Washable Crayons
Crayola Stack ‘N Store Art Tower
Crayola Alphabet & Number Pad
Crayola Art Framers Draw & Paint
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $2.39
Type of Toy: Arts and Crafts
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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