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Before yesterdayNo Pen Intended

Tag Team: Prismacolor Col-Erase Pencils & Mead Typing Paper

By: No Pen Intended

Let’s start with an introduction to my number one quarantimes combo: Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils used to sketch in homemade notebooks containing Mead-brand typing paper. As I’ve mentioned before, nothing fires up my creative engines quite like outrageously cheap paper, and I’ve made a great habit turning my hoard of typing paper into cheap DIY notebooks.

These are the Mead typing paper notebooks I’ve filled up in Quarantimes. I’ve filled up a couple other notebooks, but this isn’t about those notebooks

What I haven’t mentioned in sufficient excess before is how fun Col-Erase pencils are for sketching. I have mentioned the scientifically verified fact that drawings look statistically cooler when drawn with colored lead vs regular boring graphite, but I haven’t perhaps reiterated this enough.

This isn’t all the Col-Erase pencils I own. They wander in and out of my conscious knowledge according to their own whims. These are just all the ones I could immediately corral from the vortex of my desk

The top sketching colors for me are Blue and Vermillion, with runners up lavender and light blue. Why I like using these pencils:

  1. Drawings look cool
  2. Seem to not really smudge when I’m drawing
  3. Erase suitably well, provided I’m erasing lighter guideline sorts of marks

Why I like using these pencils on this cheap, smooth Mead typing paper:

  1. Pencil goes zoom fast make drawings
  2. Seriously that’s it. I draw so fast using these pencils on this paper

On average, this combo will have me churning out a decent sketch every 10-15 minutes, inspiration willing. Lightly sketch my guides and rough outlines, erasing as needed, then go back over the drawing either darker with the same color, or with a different darker color depending on the look I want.

As the drawing demons of my subconscious would say, draw the final outlines darker. No, DARKER. Do I listen to the art demons? Ehhhh not as much as I ought to

The drawing demons would also be more pleased if I erased my guidelines, but who has time for that

Sketching quickly, expressing an idea, and then moving on to the next drawing has allowed me to greatly improve from the level I was drawing at a few months ago.

For one, I’m drawing a lot more hands that I’m pleased with

I would be remiss not to give a dream team honorable mention to this unknown model Kum brand pencil sharpener. I didn’t realize what a difference a good sharpener makes until I lost the green one of these I’d been using and attempted to make do with some wood-bludgeoning Staples brand alleged pencil sharpener.

the results would make trees weep

So when it came time to pick up some fresh supplies from Crazy Alan’s Emporium, I made sure to grab another one of these bad boys. It looks like it might be the Kum Pencil Pal, but with just one hole rather than two. Is that the definitive answer? No, but I’m tired of trying to look up the definitive answer.

it rounds up to “close enough”

By these powers combined, I’ve turned out literally hundreds of drawings since March. Now, thin cheap typing paper isn’t great for high class art–the pages show thru (I had to put a blank piece of paper behind each drawing to take pictures for this review) and if you like a toothy paper, this is nothing but gums. But for speed? And price? It’s my top pick.

Self portrait in which I am clanging a pot with a wooden spatula, yelling at my muses to inspire me. The way muse-creator relationships were always intended

nopenintended

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