No, I haven't received the Inktense pencils yet. I called about my order while ago & was told that they still haven't arrived from the manufacturer. No one seems to know what the hold up is either.

But, I did buy a small Prismacolor set on Monday (Hobby Lobby was having a sale!) & I finally got to use them this morning. They are such fun! Here's my first drawing/painting with them. Not too bad for a first time but I plan to practice a lot more. Forgot to buy any paper so I'm using that pastel paper that I've had for ages. It's not acid-free though so just use it for practice. Maybe by the time I feel confident enough to do a real drawing, I'll be able to get to an art store to get some decent paper.



Surprise! It's not a flower! Feel free to offer any suggestions on usage.

J

Excellent job on the peach J! I don't think you need any instructions with these somehow.

J-Lynn, I would have to agree with Jeanette. I don't think you need any help with colored pencils. Your peach looks so good I am hungry now. You should check out ebay they had some awesome deals on the 120 color pencil sets by prismacolor. I got one for 62 dollars last night. Dick Blicks art supply was charging 107.99 on their sale so I think I got mine at a steal!!!

Personally i would have drawn two......that's a pear, he, he, he.

Great job J,

RJS

Did you know that if you sign up for Hobby Lobby online and get their weekly sales flyer, you get a weekly coupon? A lot of the time they have a coupon for 40% off on any non-sale item.

I usually wait until those coupons come out and buy the bigger items I want.

Just a heads-up for anyone who has a Hobby Lobby nearby.

Wow, thanks Painter! We have a Michaels about 3o some miles in one direction & the Hobby Lobby about 30 some miles in another direction. The Michaels seems to be carrying more craft supplies than serious art supplies so I usually go to Hobby Lobby. Great to know about the coupons!

Thanks Jeanette & Venus for the kind words of encouragement. RJS, you're too funny! I decided on the peach because I usually draw pears to experiment with & who wants more "pears" lol

J

Oh, forgot - Venus, I've never purchased from eBay before - how do you know you're really getting what you order & that it's not stolen merchandise for instance? Plus, I'm not fond of using PayPal but am told that's the best way to go. Any hints on buying art supplies on eBay? Favorite vendors or anything?

J-Lynn

Most of the sellers on Ebay are reputable. (I often sell and buy on Ebay myself) I will say that you probably won't get any giagantic bargains there. (although some times you CAN get a deal). By the time you pay shipping it works out to about the same as retail. But if you do not have access to retail stores that carry art supplies, then it is probably a deal for you. I also find that I can buy from ASW Express or Cheap Joe's cheaper than in the stores or on Ebay even with the shipping. But lately I've been using those 40% coupons at Hobby Lobby the most. LOL I even took my mom because there were 2 items I wanted to buy and you can only use one coupon per person per day. LOL I also printed out several coupons for the senior citizens in my drawing class.

I recently bought a pencil box that was full of used and new Staedler pencils and erasers and stumps at a cost of about $6.00 including shipping on Ebay. It was well worth it even though some of the pencils were used. Which as you know is no big deal. So you see, you can get a deal once in a while. Don't be afraid of Ebay, stick with the sellers who have a store on Ebay- they are usually the power sellers and have very good feedback. Also, Don't be afraid to use Paypal. I've been using it for 6 years and have never had a problem with it.

P.S. What is the big deal about Inktense Pencils? What are they exactly?

J well as I said on one of my post in another thread my hubby is Mr.Ebay so I usually have him look over the auction before purchasing anything and let him take over. You definately don't want to buy from a beginner seller and as far as paypal we have never had any problems. i think the sellers and common buyers have a point system and anyone selling with over 98% positive feedback is probably your best bet.
Hope that helped. I normally show my husband what I want and he takes over on his ebay account. I personally don't have one.

The Inktense pencils are like having ink in watersoluable pencil form. They're much like watercolor pencils except the color is brighter and more intense. Also, after they're used with water and dry thoroughly, they can't be lifted off so you can use other wet media over them. I think illustrators used them to begin with then they got popular with all kinds of artists and are now very hard to get.

I ordered my set from Cheap Joe's on November the 1st and they're still on backorder. All of the major art companies here in the US seem to be out of stock on the large set. The 12 pencil set is available in some places & I got one at Hobby Lobby some time ago. I really like these pencils and that's why I haven't cancelled my CJ order.

They were introduced some time ago (at least in the UK) so I'm beginning to wonder if there's some problem in the manufacturing process or if the demand for them really is that great. For some reason, Derwent can't keep up with the demand for them.

Thanks to you & Venus both for the info on eBay shopping. I'll give it a try one day soon.

J

j-lynn that peach looks great. awesome job. venus is right about ebay and always look at shipping cost because sometimes its outragous but if the item is cheap enough then you will still get a deal even with shipping but always see how much shipping is because they can put their own shipping amount on it. if you dont like to use paypal then check to see if the seller takes money orders--it will take a little longer to get your item but its also a little safer.
Lori

thanks for the info on the inktense pencils. I have a large set of Derwent Watercolor pencils now, so I'm not sure if I would want any more. (but then again, you can never have enough pencils!!!) LOL

He who dies with the most pencils, wins!

Ok question from the newbie . I am using some cheap Wal-Mart pencils right now Mirado Black Warriors HB2. These seem to be decent all purpose pencils. BUT I want a nice beginners set any suggestions? And I know I have found out one thing supplies are not cheap LOL. Oh and anyone want to recommend a nice general purpose paper? This spiral notebook isn't gettin' it. I'm also using cheapy printer paper...it works better than notebook paper LOL and challenges me with no lines.