Jenny's Crayon Collection

Derwent Chromaflow 150 Coloured Pencils Colors, Swatches and Review

Derwent has offcially challenged Prismacolor 150 colors. Derwent came out with the Chromaflow coloured pencils a few years ago. This year in 2024 they announced 150 Chromaflow Coloured pencils! I first saw the set at Creativation and put it in my video. So many people were excited for the big new set.

Why do people love them so much? They are a soft core wax based based color pencil with a smooth texture and laydown, rich and vibrant colors and blendable. They have a little smaller core size than other Derwent colored pencils 3.5mm. From Derwent they are Blendable 5/5, Color Intensity 4/5, Point Strength 4/5 and Layering 4/5.

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Find the Chromaflow coloured pencils here.

Get this swatch chart here. I have included the lightfast ratings in the chart.

In comparision to their other pencils they are softer than Procolour, Coloursoft has a more rapid laydown. The Lightfast have a larger and stronger pencil core, are 100% lightfast and are rich and creamy because they are oil based. The laydown and vibrancy of Chromaflow is better than Acadamy.

Colors

In the list below each color has a name and a number. I put the lightfasteness rating next to to the color number. The colors are on a gray wool scale with 1 being the worst and 8 being the best. Derwent said these pencils have an 88% lightfasteness rating. I think that means that 88% of the pencils have an acceptable lightfast rating. The colors also did really well on dark paper except the super dark colors.

The full list of colors in the 150 Chromaflow coloured pencil set are:

Citrus Yellow (0010-5), Parmesan (0020-5), Lemon (0030-8), Sun Yellow (0100-8), Sunflower (0110-5), Dandelion (0120-7), Soft Yellow (0130-7), Pineapple (0140-8), Sandcastle (0150-8), Amber Gold (0200-8), Golden Sun (0300-8), Sienna Gold (0305-5), Mango (0310-7), Butterscotch (0320-7), Flame (0400-8), Clementine (0405-7), Melon (0410-7), Orange Crush (0415-7), Autumn Blaze (0420-5/6), Red Orange (00430-5), Carrot (0440-7), Cardinal Red (0450-7), Scarlet (0500-8), Pure Red (0510-5), Strawberry (0600-8), Pompeian Red (0610-5), Sangria (0620-6), Shiraz (0630-6), Turkish Delight (0640-8), Salmon (0700-8), Ash Rose (0710-7), Deep Vermilion (0720-6), Blush Pink (0800-5), Hot Pink (0810-2), Cerise Pink (0820-5), Magenta (0900-5), Jazzberry (0905-3), Ultra Pink (0910-2), Orchid (00920-1), Rose Pink (0925-2), Pink Heather (0930-2), Dusky Purple (0935-5), Midnight Mauve (0940-6), Deep Rose (0945-5), Hollywood Pink (0950-2), Wild Berry (0955-2) Mardi Gras (0960-2), Oyster (0965-5), Light Mauve (0970-2), French Mauve (0975-3), Light Heather (0980-2), Amethyst (0985-4), Mauve (0990-7), Dewberry (0995-2), Lilac (1000-3), Dark Purple (1105-7), Aztec Purple (1010-7), Picotee Blue (1111-8), Egyptian Blue (1112-8), Violet (1100-5), Midnight Purple (1110-7), Violet Blue (1120-4), Lagoon (1121-8), Peacock Blue (1122-7), Mariner (1123-5), Iris Purple (1130-3), Glaucous Blue (1140-5), Denim (1200-7), Lapis Blue (1210-5), Blue Orchid (1220-5), Periwinkle (1230-7), Carolina Blue (1240-6), Santorini (1250-6), Brilliant Blue (1260-7), Blue (1300-7), Blue Yonder (1305-6), Glacier Blue (1310-3), Deep Sea (1320-7), Light Blue (1400-5), Sea Blue (1405-7), Bondi Blue (1410-7), Orient (1411-8), Mineral Blue (1412-8), Teal (1520-7), Turquoise Green (1500-8), Caribbean Green (1501-6), Laurel Green (1502-6), Eucalyptus (1510-8), Pastel Mint (1520-7), Cactus (1530-8), Field Grey (1535-6), Obsidian Green (1540-8), Pine Green (1550-7), Basil (1600-8), Mint Leaf (01605-7), Green Meadow (1610-8), Tropical Rain (1620-8), Foliage (1700-8), Olive Yellow (1710-6), Key Lime (1720-7), Spring Bud (1730-7), Jungle Green (1740-7), Grass Green (1800-8), Olivine (1801-6), Light Olive (1802-8), Pear (1810-5), Lemon Lime (1820-8), Chai (1825-7), Pickle (1830-8, Leaf Green (1831-8), Lincoln Green (1832-6), Mocha (1840-7), Oak (1845-8), Dijon (1850-7), Saffron Mango (1855-7), Brown Sugar (1860-7), Peach Sand (1870-5), Burnt Sienna (1900-8), Spice (1910-8), Redwood (1920-7), Raisin (2000-8), Bourbon (2001-7), Nutshell (2002-8), Willow (2003-7), Liquorice (2004-8), Coffee Bean (2010-8), Natural Brown (2100-8), Biscotti (2105-7), Morning Mist (2110-8), Pebble (2120-8), Basalt Grey (2130-7), Carbon Grey (02140-5), Almond Frost (2145-8), Red Storm (2150-4), Lavender Ash (2160-4), Rose Quartz (2161-6), Fell Mist (2162-7), Moon Rock (2163-7), Slate Grey (2170-5), Winter Lake (2180-4), Oxford Grey (2190-7), Platinum (2200-8), Charcoal Grey (2210-8), Neutral Grey (2220-8), Black (2300-8), White (2400-8), Silver (2500-8), Gold (2600-8), Silver Mint (2700-5), and Ice Blue (2800-8).

I did notice some of the dark colors are super dark. Using a blender and not as much pigment I was able to draw some color out of the darker colors 935, 2004, and 2170 being examples. The blender changed some of the colors too such as 200, 300 and 305.

I was able to mix the colored pencils and blend colors and make new colors. I was also able to use an eraser, a Derwent eraser to erase the colors.

Derwent gives a bunch of tips on how to use the Chromaflow colored pencils on their website:

Chromaflow coloured pencils are wax based, do not use smooth paper.
Chromaflow coloured pencils pencils are best used when sharp otherwise the pigment will sink into the valleys.
Use light pressure when blending using elliptical strokes
Using sharp pencils reduces risk of wax bloom of Chromaflow coloured pencils. Humid conditions also cause wax bloom.
There needs to be enough pigment on the paper to blend Chromaflow coloured pencils.
White pencil can be used as a blender with Chromaflow coloured pencils, but will lose vibrancy.
Use blender tools and burnisher pencils to maximize the blending properties of Chromaflow coloured pencils.
Can use polymer erasers with Chromaflow coloured pencils.

Find the Chromaflow coloured pencils here.

Here is the back and front of the box and the pencils in the box.

Sharpie Creative Markers Bullet and Brush Tips

Sharpie has offcially made paint markers! I saw these a year and a half ago at Creativation. They were a secret at the time, but I was so excited that Sharpie was going in the paint brush marker market. They offcially came out this year 2024.

The Sharpie Creative Markers come in a brush and bullet tip. The brush tips are my favorite. The bullet tips are really large and soft and hard to work with.

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Find the markers at Blick

The colors included in both the bullet and brush tip are: red, orange, yellow, light green, aqua green, turquoise, blue, purple, pink, gray and black. I saw the other day online there are going to be be 12 more colors.

The thing that drives me absolutely bonkers is they do not put the color names on the markers. They made this mistake with the alcohol markers. It makes markers super annoying to use. I hope they soon rectify this and put marker names on the marker especially as they expand the line.

This colors are super opaque and work well on top of one another and on black paper. The colors are a bit muted and are really good for a pastel like feel for art. The one worry I have with these markers is they may dry out, but so far they have worked when I go to use them.

I made this quote "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart". I used the brush markers to draw lines and the bullet tips for the lettering. I used the white paint marker to create shadows.

Here are the tips for the brush tips.

Here are the tips for the bullet tips.

These markers come in blister packs and can not be bought individually. I store markers that come in blister packs in Crafters Companion storage to make them easy to use.

Here are the packages for the Creative Markers. Find the markers at Blick

Karin Decobrush Metallic Markers

Do you want to see some really cool metallic brush markers? The Karin Decobrush Metallic markers are a paint marker that produce a metallic effect. I love these markers because they look super nice. The line it self does tend to dry out a little.

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Find these at Blick Art Materials.

I made this lettering piece with the markers and a Sharpie bullet tip marker. I was inspired by the Greatest Showman.

The colors for the Karin Metallic markers are: metallic black, metallic pink, metallic violet, metallic blue, metallic green, metallic light green, metallic copper, metallic red gold, metallic gold, and metallic silver.

Here is a name plate I made blending them togther. I need to practice the green to gold transistion more.

The markers come in a foam case to protect them. I store them horizontally.

Here is the front of the box. Find these at Blick Art Materials.

Best Felt Tip Pen or Fineliner

What is the best black felt tip pen or fineliner? I am putting 19 different pen brands to the test in this blog post. I feel like every company makes a fineliner. It is a super versatile pen can be the basis for a lot of work. Black felt tip pens can be used by artists, note takers, students, general users and letterists. Based on the characteristics some fineliners will be better in some situations than others.

I tested really known brands and some more basic brands in this test. I tested anything with a felt tip or metal tip point. The fineliners were tested in 7 catergories; sizes, ghosting, smudging (drying time), blackness, use with highlighter, water solubility, and feathering. I will go into detail for each one and show the test in this blog post.

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Check out the felt tip pens at Blick.

Number of Sizes

The first critirea I looked at was number of sizes of the pens as illustrated below. Sizes are super important when picking a black felt tip pen because the different sizes of pen can be used in different ways. Really thin lines are good for detail work while brush and other large sizes are good for filling in areas. Some users such as planners may not need as many different sizes and having a pen in more than one size will not matter.

The sizes for the pens are as follows Micron (10) Uni (10), Arteza (7), Copic (7), Staedtler (7), Winsor and Newton (7), Derwent (6), Faber-Castell (5). The rest came in sizes of 3 or less.

Using with a Highlighter/Marker

The next test was use of pen with a highlighter or marker. It is super annoying to draw or letter something and go to fill it in just for it to smudge when colored in, otherwise the pen needs to wait to be dry in between highlighter application, which can be annoying if trying to plan out something in a planner. The best pens to use with highlighters were Arteza, Zebra Sarasa, Tombow Brush, Stabilo and Noted by Post It. These did not need time to dry in between fineliner and highlighter application. The worse were any markers/pens by Crayola.

Water Solubility

The next test is water solubility. While this can be a good thing for watercolor, it is not a good thing for a fineliner. From the test below the fineliners either passed or failed. The fineliners that passed were uni, arteza, copic, stedtler, micron, faber-castell, winsor and newton, derwent, sharpie felt tip, sharpie ultra fine, sharpie fine, sarasa, take note!, and tombow brush. Everything else failed. It was interesting to see some of the fineliners did not have a black underbase. The click art had a yellow underbase, and the blen had a purple underbase, while on of the Crayola had a blue underbase.

Ghosting and Bleedthrough

The next test was ghosting and bleedthrough. Ghosting is when the writing can be seen on the next page and bleedthrough is when the ink bleeds to the other side. Sharpie and alcohol markers are really bad for bleedthrough.

Most of the pens were good with ghosting and bleedthough. The pens that failed the test were Sharpie ultra fine and crayola take note!. The ones that had mild ghosting/bleedthough were Staedtler, Zebra Click and Tombow Thin Brush.

Smudge Test

The smudge test is similar to the use with highlighter or marker except it is jus the pen by itself. The fineliner is put down and attempted to be smeared. A little time is given and then it is tried again. I personally like ot use a pen that does not smear at all because I tend to smear things if given the chance. The best fineliners for not smearing are: Tombow Brush, Stabilo, Zebra Click, Zebra Sarasa, Sharpie Felt Tip Medium, Sharpie Felt tip Fine, Crayola Take Note, Noted by Post It, Sharpie Ultra Fine. The worst for smearing was anything Crayola. Be careful when coloring!

Black Scale

Another test was how black the pen is. I used a grayscale card at first and then tried paint samples instead. The absolute best for being closest to black were: Micron, Winsor and Newton, Uni, Scribble Stuff, Zebra Blen. The worst were; Arteza, Noted by Post It, Sharpie Ultra Fine. Frixion was the absolute worst being almost gray.

Feathering

The last test was feathering. Feathering really depended on the paper. Bascially feathering is if the ink spreads when applied to the paper. It really depends on the paper that is used. The worst were the alcohol markers, the Sharpie Fine and Ultra Fine. with Arteza spreading a little. There rest did not spread at all.

Results

The best pens according to the results and the ruberic that I made for scoring each pen were the Micron Fineliners. The only areas they did not excel in were the smudge test and the highlight test. Anything Crayola performed really bad and were the worst fine liners/pens.

If sizes were not a factor, Tombow Brush and Zebra Sarasa came in first place with Micron third. For me Micron won this test because it performed so well and I love having so many different sizes of pens. Since I conducted this test I have gathered more pens, including the other sizes of Tombow pens. Look for a part 2 coming. What felt tip pen is your favorite?

Posca Mop'r Paint Markers

The Posca Mop'r markers officially came to the US this year 2024. I knew that I wanted to try them right away. The Posca Mop'r PCM-22 markers are based on grafetti markers. They can be used for large-scale drawings and are a water based paint.

I created the following letter in a drip art design using the markers and the smaller Posca markers for detail work.

This blog post contains affiliate links. Find Posca Mop'r Markers here.

They come in blue, green, white, yellow, light blue, pink, red, and black. I was disappointed there was not a purple color.

The marker has a distinct design. The tip is a giant bullet (3-19mm foam rubber tip) and the marker is shaped to the hand. It can be used upright or upside down. If the marker is squeezed while in use it releases paint and can create a drip effect.

Here is a pices I created using the drip effect.

It comes in a fold out box.

The color can be mixed to create other colors, but I would not recommend it because the tips get saturated with the other color and then are hard to clean.

I used a template for the star and used dot art around the star to create this effect. The markers look really good on black paper. They are very opaque.

I made this sign from putting drips on the canvas and then mixing them together with a paint brush.

And then I used smaller Poscas to letter and then put some dots on for the background.

The Posca Mop'r markers are very fun to use and can be used in a lot of different ways. Pick them up at Blick Art Materials.

Here is the front of the box.

Best Toys for 2024-Spring Fling Recap

Recently I had the opportunity to attend Spring Fling in New York City put on the the Toy Insider. This is the first kind of it's event put on because we did not have Toy Fair next year. I do not think it will be held next year. What did I see while I was there? A lot of amazing toys, games and Easter basket ideas!

I was able to attend with my daughter and she loved every minute of it!

They had the cutest decorations everywhere!

And lots of Easter basket ideas.

The picture on the right are great ideas for STEM Easter baskets from Learning Resources and Educational Insights. The basket on the right is Cookeez Makery a sensory toy that pops out a sweet animal treat.

The basket on the left is Nee-doh a great sensory toy for kits. The basket on the right is fingerling birds that will repeat back what is said.

The basket on the left is from Lego and features a botanical themed set. The basket on the right is from Crayola and features some of their specialty crayons, Color Wonder, Scribble Scrubbies and chalk.

One of my favorite games/booths of the night was Hitster The Music Party Game. There are 5 levels of play. The first being to put songs in year order by listening to them and guessing where it would fit in the timeline. Other modes of play include guessing the song title, artist and year it came out. I love this game so much.

I even had my friend Colorvally come over and play with me! She won by the way.

Another favorite of the night was this polaroid camera from Lego. They are also coming out with innovative themed sets.

Another cool toy set that caught my eye was the Learning resources green sets. They are made from recycled plastics and are super colorful and fun for imaginary play.

Another toy that made the list was Star Wars Doorables. Doorables have been around forever, but this is the first time they have done Star Wars!

Here are some of the super rare ones to collect.

Another game that caught my eye was Toss in Tens. I found out the other day I am not that great at Corn hole, but this makes is so much easier and funner to play. I could definitely get on board with this game.

There were lots of fun Crayola products and I will be featuring those soon, but the Washable Pain Pendulum caught my eye. I can not wait to try this in a video. It will be out around the holiday season this year.

I am super impressed with Dr. Lisa dolls. I love the diversity of the collection. There are many more, these are the small dolls.

I am not always the biggest fan of vtech, but this Gabby's Playhouse toy caught my eye. My daughter loves Gabby and would love this toy.

Rubik's is turning 50 this year! They have a lot of products to celebrate. My favorite was this sensory cube they made with different shapes for the different colors.

Honey Bee Acres was there and they have some very cute affordable animal playsets. My favorite was this truck. It retails for about 10 dollars!

I love encouraging my kids to play outside. The Water Eblaster definitely caught my eye. This will be on the list to get for summer toys.

Another toy that was a lot of un was Foil fun. They have a special tacky substance that foil will adhere to when it comes in contact. I really want to experiment with it.