I was just at an art store website and saw that they had colored pencils (& watercolor pencils) divided into both artist & student categories. I know that student brands generally have less pigment or are not as light-fast, but the individual brand description often says it's "premium" or "artist quality" or "rich in pigment" and often has a high light-fast rating and are manufactured by the top pencil companies.

My question is - what is really the difference in pencils and is there much difference between brands? The reason I asked is because I've seen one brand touted as being a favorite in a couple of different places yet it's listed as a "student" brand on the Dick Blick website. This is all very confusing to me!

J

J - I can only speak of Caran d'Ache. The store I visited had both student and artist versions. I was told the student was just as good as the artist thought the artist was more expensive. From what I understood, the artist pencils were softer and therefore had even more brilliant pigments.

Having said that I am totally new to this field and I'm sure the experts will soon be in to reply to your question.

I know jeanette has a answer to this cause I think some asked it once before .. check with her .

J-Lynn, you're right in the differences for student and artist grade pencils. Student grade don't use as much pigment as artist grade. The pigment however in either grade is the same and should have the same degree of lightfastness and permanency. The student grade will not give the same richness of tone as it contains less pigment.

In artist grade pencils you will find a wider range of colours and a more consistant feel to the pencils. In some cases the actual lead width will be broader too in the artist quality.

Student grade supplies are often the first bought as price is a factor and if people are just starting out they don't want to invest large sums of money before they know if they enjoy the medium or not. Manufacturers of course want to make money from their product and will provide as many accolades for their widgets as necessary to make it sell.

There are subtle differences between pencils and manufacturers and different grades. Here is a site that may help clarify the different brands a little. http://reviews.ebay.com.au/Coloured-Pencil...000000001115493