Vendor Spotlight & GIVEAWAY: Faber-Castell Mix & Match Mixed Media Sampler

Reported by Julie Tiu

Faber-Castell has provided a variety of products for crafters, artists, designers and the general population for generations. In recent years, I’ve seen Faber-Castell come out with more kits for art journaling and crafting, including products in their Creativity for Kids line. How easy and convenient is that for busy, crafty people? So, I am eager to share with you my review of their Mix & Match Mixed Media Sample, their collection of five different media that they’ve formulated to work reliably together. This media sample from their Design Memory Craft line comes in four color schemes: red, blue, yellow and green.

I’ve long admired mixed media artwork, and it’s been a while since I’ve experimented. What better way to get back into it than with a color-coordinated set that includes an Art GRIP Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil, PITT Pastel Pencil, Metallic PITT Artist Pen, Stamper’s Big Brush Pen and a Metallic Gelato (which incidentally makes me want to have a frozen treat every time I use it). The first four media are pretty self-explanatory. Their Gelato is a creamy metallic pigment stick which blends with or without water.

Let’s take a look at the media’s color and coverage on regular text-weight paper.

The pictures don’t do the colors justice; the colors are vibrant and rich. The metallics are shimmery, but I found the Rose Metal PITT pen less shimmery than expected.

The products can work on their own with simple drawing and shading techniques, and a wet watercolor paintbrush for the watercolor pencil and gelato. The gelato will dry blend nicely, too, with a little tissue paper. The pens, pencils and gelato are great to use on paper and fabric, the two surfaces I tested.

Artist Trading Card series: Watercolor pencil on cardstock

Mini Asian Scroll: Stamped image (Stampington) on cotton

Trying the Stamper’s Big Brush Pen on my stamps, both rubber and clear, gave decent results. There is definitely a lot more control brushing ink onto stamps, as many of you know, but you may find it slightly tricky to brush this India ink-based pen on clear stamps. You may not get even coverage, or your ink may pool in certain areas of your image.

Better inking with rubber stamps

Uneven inking with clear stamps

Stamped images (Donna Downey) with blended pen, watercolor pencil, pastel and gelato on paper

The pastel pencil is fun to use in the sense that you don’t get a chalky mess all over your work surface and the “lead” doesn’t break, but you still get a nice soft pastel. Blend with your fingertip, blending pen or stump. It erases easily too.

Stamped image (We R Memory Keepers) on watercolor and gelato

Using metallic pen on clear stamp results in good coverage

Stamped images (We R Memory Keepers and Paper Source) in metallic ink over watercolor, gelato, ink and pastel

The metallic blue ink shines over the Big Brush ink. Love that color!

I find that the pencils and gelatos blend so nicely. When you try it out, be careful to adjust the amount of water that you load onto your brush. The beginner that I am, I flooded a few areas and the color faded quite a bit, but the main point is… the color was still where I wanted it.

Featured Projects

This mixed media project is a series of artist trading cards ready to be cut. (I can’t take credit for the words. I heard it on a newscast or morning show actually.)

ATC series to share.

Here the Mixed Media red collection starts off an altered book project. (Stamps by Donna Downey, embellishment from We R Memory Keepers)

A mini Asian scroll made with stamped images and various coloring, ready to hang or frame.

Faber-Castell’s idea of color coordinating is perfect for the beginning mixed media artist. They’ve put together a great sample pack, and you won’t be disappointed if you give it a whirl on your next project!

Pros:

• The pens are odorless and won’t bleed through paper.
• Stamper’s Big Brush pen ink stays moist while brushing onto rubber stamps.
• Fantastic blending between the different media.
• Color coordinated kits take the guesswork out of creating a color palette from scratch.

Cons:

• When using clear stamps, India ink from the Stamper’s Big Brush pen goes on unevenly
• The sample pack contains a great variety of media, but would also be nice to have a textural tool included.

The sampler retails $12-$15, online or at your local art supply store.

GIVEAWAY
The cool folks over at Faber-Castell are giving a set of these cool Mixed Media colors to one lucky reader! Just leave a comment on either of the Faber-Castell reviews today answering the question in the Comments section of either article to be entered to win!

What color(s) of the mixed media sets would you most want to win? What would YOU create?

One comment per person, per article, please. Winner will be selected on Saturday, June 4, 2011.

Disclosure