How to create a Lazy Susan Coloured Pencil Holder

Lesley Crawford's Lazy Susan Coloured Pencil Holder
courtesy of David Crawford, Janie Gildown and Barbara Newton
all photos copyright Lesley Crawford

This post describes yet another way coloured pencil artist Lesley Crawford has found to store her art materials.  Earlier this month this blog has a post about Storage for Unison pastels.  This post is about how to create a "Lazy Susan" pencil holder for coloured pencils.

How many times do we see great ideas for helping us sort out our studio in books?  But do we all put them into practice?

Like many coloured pencil artists, Lesley likes to have all her art materials and storage sorted while working in her studio.  She used to have problems with tins and boxes of coloured pencils all over her desk.  They took up too much space.  Plus she also didn't like the way she had to shuffle through pencils bunched together in jars, especially when the shorties fell to the bottom!

Then she saw the Lazy Susan Pencil Holder - as pictured in the Colored Pencil Solution Book by Janie Gildow and Barbara Benedetti Newton.  She asked her husband David if he could work out how to make the pencil holder from the picture!

This is her explanation of how it came about once David had studied the picture and worked out how to make it.  Thanks to Lesley and David for both the story and the pictures - and thanks to both Janie and Barbara for the inspiration!

Instructions for Making a Lazy Susan Pencil Holder

Here's the instructions for making a pencil holder.  It's very simple to make.

The starting Point - a wooden Lazy Susan

Materials:

• Lazy Susan (a circle of wood on a small circle of wood joined by ballbearings so that it spins round - available from kitchen shops).  The one we bought is 14 inches in diameter - see right.
• Timber 35mm x 14mm - from DIY stores, very cheap.  Usually comes in lengths of around 2 metres.
• Small hinges and screws

Tools:

• Saw
• Drill and bit
• Screwdriver

Instructions for how to make a Lazy Susan Pencil Holder

1. Cut the timber into 165mm lengths.  (Please note that this is what fitted my lazy susan.  If yours is a different size you need to adjust this measurement)

2. Choose a drill bit that is slightly larger than the diameter of your pencils.  Put a piece of tape around the bit 30mm from the tip - this will prevent you drilling through the bottom of the wood, and will make all the holes consistently deep.  Drill one hole and check that a pencil will fit, if it is tight then use a slightly larger bit.  Drill a line of holes along the narrow side of the wood, with a slight  space beween each one - I got 14 holes per strip.

3. Join two pieces together with a hinge as shown

4. Make as many units of two pieces of wood as you need.   

5. Sort your pencils out as you want them to be arranged, and write the names  on the wood with indelible ink - ballpoint pen fades over time.

Paired strip joined by hinge - open to show the names of the pencils

Paired strip folded and sitting on top of the Lazy Susan
- and the  Pencil Holder has started (repeat as required)

This then held all my original set of Derwent pencils.  However as my collection increased, it got a bit crowded, so I cut a piece of plywood into a circle of 18 inches in diameter, and screwed four small blocks on it so that it would sit tightly on top of the original lazy susan.

I now have 11 units of paired strips, holding a total of 308 pencils - all in a footprint of 18 square inches.  I have my complete sets of Derwent Artists, Faber Castell Polychromos and Prismacolor Verithins, plus a few odds and ends from other sets.

In the centre is a tub which holds tools, erasers, blenders etc. 

You can keep the whole thing on the desk, or lift off as a unit off to use separately.  The pencils are always in the same order so you soon get to know where they are, and it is easy to put your hand on exactly the one you need.

If you've got a good solution for storage 

or anything which is a cost-effective solution for anything to do with art 

DO let me know by leaving a comment and a link or contacting me (see right hand column). 

Zest-it Blending Sponge

Many coloured pencil artists will be familiar with the use of Zest-It as a solvent for getting speedy coverage of paper as an underpainting for artwork

Recently I was looking at the Zest-It site and spotted something that's new to me - and I guess a few other coloured pencils artists too.

It's called a Zest-It Blending Sponge.  It immediately put me in mind of one of those sponges that a lot of people use to apply "stuff" to their faces - and I was guessing it probably worked in pretty much the same way.

Zest-It Blending Sponge

For blending Coloured Pencils and Pastel for Parchment and other work on vellum or paper. An easy, clean and convenient way of using Zest-it to moisten paper stumps, tortillions and shapers.
Pre-impregnated with 15 ml of Zest-it and ready for use. Re-moisten when necessary with 5 ml of Zest-it Brush Cleaner, Pencil or Parchment Blend.

Then I took a look at the website page which pictures the product.

So - the bit I'm puzzled about - given the photo on the website page - is where is the sponge!?

What it looks like is a tub of transparent shoe cleaner.  So is there a sponge in there and does it lift out?  Or do you use it like shoe cleaner and wipe it onto surfaces using a tool - such as a paper stump or tortillon?  If the latter - why call it a sponge?  [Anyway, I've written to Zest-It to ask and am awaiting a reply]

Has anybody got theis product already - and if so, how do you find it.  More particularly, have you written a review of it which I can link to?

Storage for Unison pastels

Lesley Crawford's Unison Pastels - open boxes

Those who own Unison Pastels know that their size and shape means that they don't always fit easily into conventional pastel boxes with slots - and some pastel storage boxes can be very expensive.

Plus the nice bit about Unisons is that you can buy sets relating to a colour and it's nice to be able to keep them all together.  I've still got mine in their original boxes with the foam inserts!

Lesley Crawford wrote to tell me about she stores her brand new Unison Pastels. 

I was researching storage boxes, and found these when I googled plastic boxes. They were called boxes for peel-off stickers - something to do with card making I think.

I picked up twelve plastic boxes on eBay for £13, including postage and packing  I made a corrugated tray, and each box will take 60 Unison pastels,   They arrange neatly in two rows of 15, 30 to a tray, so 60 in a box

They all fit neatly onto a table when opened, and stack with a very small footprint if I need to put them away, and being so light and small are ideal to transport.

It's as if they were made for Unison pastels. I won't tell you how many boxes are filled yet!!

Above and below are photographs of Lesley's pastel boxes.

Pastel boxes open on Lesley's desk

The boxes seem to be something called Peel Off boxes by Weston Boxes.  They sell for £4.60 for a pack of 5.  There's also a range of transparent boxes in lots of different sizes.

Lesley's taken a look at the link now and agrees they look very like them.  We compared prices.  She got 10 boxes from eBay for £13 and I priced them with Weston Boxes as being

• 2 packs of 5 boxes @ £4.60 per pack = £9.20
• postage = £4.25 (missing from the website bit I asked them!)
• total =  £13.45

An alternative storage solution can be seen in Product Review: Really Useful Boxes (for art media and crafts)

For more information about Unison Pastels (which are the most popular pastel in the poll I run) see Unison Pastels - Resources for Artists

Plastic boxes full of Unison Pastels - and stacked

You can see Lesley's pastel art on her website http://gaia-art.co.uk

If you've got a good solution for storage 

or anything which is a cost-effective solution for anything to do with art 

DO let me know by leaving a comment and a link or contacting me (see right hand column). 

UPDATE: Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists

I've recently been giving Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists a major overhaul.  This post is by way of:

• a major update on what's changed and 
• a request for information about reviews which you've done (or seen) and which might be suitable for inclusion in this leading resource about coloured pencil art.

While I independently search for and include links to websites providing good quality information, I also welcome hearing from people who think they've got a link to a site which might be suitable for inclusion in this resource.  See bold sentences below for the type of information I'm looking for.

The major changes I've been making are listed below.  Click the COLOURED LINK IN CAPITALS to get to visit that section of the site.

ARTIST GRADE COLOURED PENCILS - BRAND INFORMATION

This is now organised so that brands and news/reviews relating to each individual brand are grouped together.  (see also Updating Coloured Pencils which comments on websites of manufacturers)

If you've done a review of a individual brand of coloured pencils please let me know.  My preference given the new layout is one brand per review.

If you've done a lightfastness test of your coloured pencils and this is not listed please let me know.

COLOURED PENCIL ART SOCIETIES & EXHIBITIONS

This includes coloured pencil art societies across the world.  It also makes some of the links on the national society websites a bit more visible eg in relation to past exhibitions

If you have a coloured pencil art society - or local group - which is not listed please let me know.

HOW TO DRAW - USING COLOURED PENCILS

I've reorganised all the tips and techniques into more sensible sections and in doing so have identified some gaps in information which I'm trying to fill.  At the same time I'm always keen to be able to include links to high quality information about instruction.

This is the new list of sections:

• Online Art Instruction
• Coloured Pencil workshops
• Coloured Pencils - how to use different papers and supports
• Coloured Pencils - Dry Blending and Burnishing
• Coloured Pencils - Blending using water and other solvents
• Coloured Pencils - How to use heat with wax pencils
• Coloured Pencils - Making a mark
• Coloured Pencils - How to remove or erase
• Coloured Pencils - Wax Bloom
• Coloured Pencils - General Tips and Techniques
• Coloured Pencils - Lessons, Projects and Themes

Please let me know if you've written a blog post or website article  or created a pdf free to download file which relate to any of these aspects - and which you would like to be considered for inclusion.

The last major part of the site relates to different subject areas

• PORTRAITS AND DRAWING PEOPLE IN COLOURED PENCILS
• BOTANICAL AND FLORAL ART IN COLOURED PENCILS
• DRAWING ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE IN COLOURED PENCILS
• STILL LIFE ART IN COLOURED PENCILS
• LANDSCAPES IN COLOURED PENCILS

In each of these I identify the websites and blogs of leading artists in each field together with relevant books, workshops and online tutorials

If you have a tutorial which might be suitable for one of these sections please let me know.

and finally......

I'd very much like to thank the very many people who have given this site a "thumbs up" on Squidoo and/or linked to it on Facebook - BEFORE the facelift!  I'm very gratified to find so many people appreciate this site.  I hope you also like the new and improved version.

Your favourite coloured pencil - an update

551 people have now voted on the Making A Mark 2010 POLL: Which is the best brand of artist grade coloured pencil? on Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artist.  

Current votes show a quite dramatic change in the overall numbers when compared to the percentages as at 31st December 2009 - see Two new coloured pencil opinion polls for 2010 which has a chart for the previous poll.

When disaggregated into brands in 2010, it's very clear that Faber Castell Polychromos pencils are the leading brand of coloured pencils and have a clear and significant lead over Prismacolor Premier pencils. 

2010 POLL: Which is the best brand of artist grade coloured pencil?

Detailed results are as follows:

• Faber Castell Polychromos - their percentage of the market shows a small increase (28.7% compared to 27.3% in 2009)
• In 2009 I just offered Sanford Prismacolor as one option and this topped the poll at 29.4%.  However what was taken to be a clear lead attributable to the popularity of Prismacolor Pencils now appears illusory given the percentage who like the Art Stix.  Overall there is a slight drop ion aggregated market share.
• 17.6% for Prismacolor Premier in 2010
  
• 1.5% for Premier Lightfast
• 8.5% for Prismacolor Art Stix
• 0.7@ for Sanford Prismacolor Verithin. 
• Caran d'Ache retains overall market share - however it is now split across two brands
• Caran d'Ache Pablo have dropped from 10.4% to 6.4% - a drop of 4%. 
• However Caran d'Ache Luminance (an accredited lightfast range) - which were not offered as an option in the last poll - now count for 3.8%
• Derwent was the only make in the previous poll where I identified the individual brands.  Overall to date Derwent has experienced a drop of 2.5%.  Changes to date are as follows:
• 8.7% in 2010 for Derwent Artists - compared to 9.3%
• 9.8% for Derwent Coloursoft - compared to 11.2%
• 4.5% Derwent Studio - compared to zero
• zero for Derwent Signature - compared to 2%
• Lyra Rembrandt has reduced from 7.2% to 4.9% in 2010.
• Royal Talens Van Gogh (an accredited lightfast range) has increased from 2% to 2.4% in 2010
• Blick Studio Artists is a newcomer to my poll and takes  2.4%

I'm trying to work out what the reasons for the changes might be.  Preliminary guesses are as follows:

Technical sampling issues

• small changes are more than likely accounted for by sample size
• Last time the narrower range of options on offer probably meant people opted for whatever was the nearest option.  
• Similarly the changes in pencil brands alone will account for some of the changes

Marketing

• Prismacolor seems to have stopped marketing its lightfast range (it's nowhere to be seen on its website) - which is odd given the relative success that Carann d'Ache have had in marketing the Luminance range which is not cheap!
• The initial enthusiasm for Coloursoft is probably reflected more in the older poll and this one probably represents better the long-run demand level
• I have an impression - and that's all it is - that American artists now experiment more with brands which are not Prismacolor.  
• Overall, I'm guessing, but I think the more people order online the more likely they are to try brands which are not stocked in their local art shop

Pricing

• The sterling exchange rate is having a significant impact on the cost of some pencils for UK artists.
• The exchange rate also means some products look better value to USA artists

All suggestions are welcome as to any other possible explanations.

I'll repeat this analysis after the end of the year and start a new poll for 2011.

You can find out more about the different brands of artist grade coloured pencils on  Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artist - where you will also find a poll for watercolour pencils!

Product review: Marc Dalassio's Vermillion Test

Shop selling Sindoor (Vermilion) in Pushkar, Rajasthan

I've only recently discovered Marc Dalessio did a colour test of different paints in relation to vermilion.  You can read about it here Color test: Vermilion and also see the colour charts which he created as a result.

The purpose of the test was to find a red to use in portraits.  I've added in the relevant link to the paint in the quote from the post below

For me the best of the hand-ground paints was Robert Doak’s vermilion, which I believe is either cut with cadmium if not entirely cadmium-based. That said it is extremely similar to the old Zecchi cadmium vermilion they stopped selling 8 years ago (which we all remember fondly). 

Marc Dalassio

You can find our more about Robert Doak specialised art materials and paints on his website - Robert Doak Colors.  He also does concentrated liquid watercolors which, according to the website, are brilliant and lightfast colors.

Daniel Smith's Watercolor 66 Try-It Color Sheet

Sometimes a manufacturer comes up with a new idea for how artists can try out their products which just make you nod your head and say "Yes!"

This is one of those - and it comes to you courtesy of DANIEL SMITH.  This Try-It Sheet contains 66 paint-able "dots" of pure DANIEL SMITH Watercolor.

DANIEL SMITH Extra Fine Watercolor 66 Try-It Color Sheet

I particularly like the fact that each colour is listed with information about:

• its ASTM Lightfastness rating 
• whether it is staining or non-staining
• information about the extent to which it granulates
• whether it is transparent, semi transparent/opaque or opaque

You can either use the sheet as a reference for when you are choosing which watercolour paints you want to use from the DANIEL SMITH watercolor palette.  Or you can just wet the dot with a brush and try out the paint.  Or both!

I've no idea how long this Try-It Sheet has been around, but I think Daniel Smith has just ramped up the "information for watercolour artists" stakes - in a very good way.

Thanks to Billie Crain on Facebook for drawing this to my attention.

UPDATE

DANIEL SMITH sent me a message to (1) thank me for this blog post and (2) tell me that they have posted two useful videos relating to this product on YouTube - so here they are:

• DANIEL SMITH 66 Try-It Color Sheet - Tip for using as a Reference
• how to use DANIEL SMITH 66 Try-It Color Sheet of Extra Fine Watercolors