Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencil Review | Written Colored Pencil Review
Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencil Review | Written Colored Pencil Review
In this review we will be looking at another product from the Staedtler Design Journey range, on this occasion we will be testing, demonstrating and reviewing the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils. To date, on The Art Gear Guide YouTube channel and website, we have tested and demonstrated a few products from the Design Journey range already, products such as the Staedtler Tinted Graphite Water Soluble Pencils, the Staedtler 72 set of Coloured Pencils and the Staedtler Watercolour Crayons.
I was incredibly fortunate that Staedtler sent some of their Design Journey products, of which we still have the Watercolour pencils to review, the metallic coloured pencils and the Staedtler Pastel Pencils, so keep watching if these are some products that you are interested in.
Staedtler are of course an incredibly established company and synonyms with quality, products such as the Staedtler Mars Lumograph graphite pencils and the Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black carbon pencils. Their Design Journey range however is aimed towards those in the middle of children’s art supplies and artist quality supplies. Design Journey range are affordable art supplies, allowing artists of all grades and ages to get a flavour of certain mediums without having to spend a fortune.
In the Ten years that I have been researching, testing, demonstrating and reviewing art supplies, one of the most prolific question I am asked, is to help artists find an affordable alternative to Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils. Artists are after the soft core of the Prismacolor, but may not be in the budget for such pencils or in the geographical area; Prismacolor are not the easiest pencils to locate in certain areas of the world.
Staedtler Super Soft Colored Pencil Characteristics
At first look of the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils, we can see straight away from the artwork on the tin, that the Super Soft coloured pencils are designed for black and white paper. The artwork in itself suggests that the pencils deliver an opaque covering, providing bright and vibrant layers on black paper.
Along the top of the tin we are given the barrel shape in the form of a small hexagonal icon and on the bottom of the tin we are presented with a swatch, a quick indication of the colors available within the set. On opening the set, which we have the 24 set of Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils, you can see the pencils all laid out.
As I mention the Staedtler Super soft Coloured Pencil barrels are hexagonal, a 6.9mm hexagonal barrel to be precise and in the centre of the barrel we are presented with a slim 3.2mm core. The barrel of all the pencils is lacquered a matt black which looks striking against the silver metallic print of the lettering.
On one side of the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencil we see “Made in Germany” which of course Staedtler is a German company, which perhaps helps explain the high quality of their products. Further along the barrel we see the “Staedtler logo and name” again printed in a metallic silver print and finally toward the end go the barrel we see “Super Soft” printed, indicating the pencil range.
Given that all the pencils in the set sport a matt black barrel, on the end of every barrel there is a small color identifier on the end cap. This is quite small and for artists with slight visual impairment, selecting the right color might cause issues. The color id is definitely visible, especially against the body of the black barrel, but those who suffer with eyesight issue might find it cumbersome.
On the opposite side of the barrel, we are presented with a barcode along with some alpha numeric numbers referencing the individual colors of the pencils. The quality of the wood used for the barrels in this pencil are also of good quality and this can be determined on how easy it is to sharpen the pencils and the lack of issues.
Staedtler Super Soft Colored Pencil Performance
As with all my reviews, one of the first things I do is perform a swatch and for this swatch I completed it on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Velum paper. Every time I conduct a review, I try to demonstrate the product on as many different paper types as I can, again to help give the viewer or reader a good understanding of how the pencils react to various surfaces.
The palette selection is pretty typical for a 24 set of coloured pencils, obviously staedtler are limited with a 24 set, but you can see here on the swatch there is the right number of yellows, oranges, reds, blues, greens etc, with a cool and warmer tone in each.
There is not much you can tell about a pencil just by performing a swatch, so I also conduct a few further tests and on this occasion the test has also been conducted on Starthmore 300 Series Bristol Velum, a surface that is not too smooth and not too textured.
The first test I completed was the layering test, here you can see I apply 5 light layers of four different colours and the final column is a single heavy application. This allows you to see the contrast between the light layers of a pencil and the heavy application of the same pencil. The reason I stop at 5 light layers is because it is widely considered among colored pencil artist who use odourless mineral spirits, that 5 light layers of pencil should be applied before using odourless mineral spirits.
Should an artist apply a single light layer and then apply OMS, there would not be much in the way of change, so approximately three to five light layers at least should be applied to allow the OMS to break down the pigment and move it about. On this test, the layers was effortless, I could have easily applied a further three or four layers before experiencing resistance.
The next test was the blending test, all conducted on the same Bristol Velum, this test shows how the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils blend or mix well together. Given that the pencils are sold as a soft cored pencil, you generally find with the softer cored pencils, blending is easy and on this occasion you can see for yourself the results.
Mixing two colored pencils together or blending two colored pencils together, isn’t as easy as one would expect in creating a third color, it’s certainly not as easy as mixing paints. So you can see from this test that the red and yellow created a nice orange, the blue and yellow created a gorgeous green and perhaps the most difficult to achieve, the red and blue created a nice purple.
The final test is how the pencil breaks down to odourless mineral spirits and if you head over to the YouTube review, you will get to see a real time demonstration. I am personally not a fan of using OMS, nevertheless I know a lot of colored pencil artists love using it and so I feel it is important to include such a test. The advantage however of using OMS is that after applying it to your layers of colored pencils, the tooth of the paper is rejuvenated as we liquify the pencil with the OMS. This then allows the artist to apply more layers as the tooth is still present and this in turn provides depth to your artwork.
Next up is showcasing the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils on black paper, as this is heavily advertised on the from of the tin, we needed to see how well the pencils actually are on black paper. As you can see from the image all five colours showed up beautifully, in fact the Staedtler Super Soft pencils are among the best pencils I have tested on dark paper.
This test simply displays if the pencils are translucent or opaque, neither one or the other is a bad point to the pencils in question, it is all simply a personal preference, some artists prefer a translucent pencil and other opaque. On the YouTube review I also demonstrate in real time applying a few extra colors on the black paper and everyone of them shows up opaque.
Finally is the artwork created using the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils, for this I decided to use the St Cuthberts Mill Saunders and Waterford HP Watercolour Paper. I have used St Cuthberts Mill many times with watercolours, but never for colored pencil art, in the past I have always turned to Derwent Lightfast Paper or Fabriano Artistico, however, I think I have found my new goto paper for colored pencil work; I have no idea why I had not tried it sooner.
After seeing the colors all swatched out I decided to try a botanical piece and for this I chose some Orange Lilies. The Staedtler Super Soft pencils layer beautifully on the Saunders Waterford paper and as a result I was able to achieved the rich vivid colours you can see. I was actually really happy with the final outcome for this piece and the entire experience was incredibly enjoyable.
I know there are artists that suffer with pains and cramps in their hands and wrists and so they need to use pencils that don’t require heavy pressure to achieve color; the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils are such a pencil. On the right type of paper, such as the Saunders Waterford or even the Velum, heavy pressure was not required to achieve rich color.
Staedtler Super Soft Colored Pencil Pricing And Set Sizes
Perhaps the only downside to the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils, and I suppose there is always at least one downside to everything, is that the largest set is only 24. With pencils such as the Super Soft from Staedtler, I would love to see at the very least a 48 set or if I was really greedy, which I am when it comes to art supplies, I would really love a 72 set size.
As things stand there is only a set of 12 and the 24 set that I showcased in the review. For the 12 set here in the UK, you can expect to pay approximately £11.39 and for the larger 24 set you can expect to pay £17.17, less than a pound per pencil and given the quality, I think this is more than a reasonable price.
I was unable to find prices for the US and so as and when they become available on Amazon I will of course amend the article.
Staedtler Super Soft Colored Pencil Lightfast Information
The Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils are not aimed toward high end colored pencil artists and so therefore no lightfast test is required. Everything in the Staedtler Design Journey range is aimed toward those wanting to get started in pastels, watercolor pencils, colored pencils etc without spending a lot of money on high quality supplies, only to discover that is not the medium for them.
Staedtler Super Soft Colored Pencil Conclusion
I loved using the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils and to be completely honest I was pleasantly surprised, I have reviewed a few sets of pencils, marketed toward vibrant colors on black paper, only to discover that is not altogether the case. With the Staedtler Super Soft, it is almost as if they were made for black paper and Staedtler tested every single pencil before advertising as such.
They are not Prismacolor soft, in fact, whilst the Staedtler Super Soft pencils layer like a super soft core, they retain a point like a much harder cored pencil. Ordinarily, soft cored pencils need sharpening every few strokes on the paper, but I just never found this to be the case on all the testing and demonstrating I did.
The Staedtler Super Soft would be an excellent set of pencils for adult colouring book artists, as well as young artists at school, studying art and looking to test colored pencils before committing. You can clearly see from the artwork I created that provided you are using the right surface, the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils will create beautiful art for you, with rich and vibrant colors.
To find out more about the Staedtler Super Soft Coloured Pencils you can check out my YouTube Video review by simply clicking the link. You can also check out the still images of the artwork by clicking the link, here you can view and inspect the artwork in your own time and as close as you like. Alternatively you can check out the speed drawing video I completed, by clicking the link, you can sit back and relax while watching some botanical art come to life.
