Acceptable Products

The products listed below are acceptable for use in the CPSA International Exhibition. The list includes mainly brands available from major art supply retailers and is by no means complete. If you have any questions about the eligibility of a product not listed here, please contact the product research director.

BEWARE: We suggest you choose only professional grade colored pencil products. Many inexpensive brands are of poor quality for lightfastness. While they are allowed in CPSA exhibitions, you should avoid using them if you care about the permanence of your artwork.

SEE ALSO
At-home Lightfastness Testing
Exhibition Requirements
Colored Pencil Defined

▲ = Tested for lightfastness by CPSA
(disc.) = Discontinued by manufacturer

WAX/OIL-BASED PENCILS

Arteza
Blackwing Colors
Blick Studio Artists’ ▲
Bruynzeel Design ▲
Bruynzeel Design Fullcolor (disc.) ▲
Bruynzeel Rijksmuseum
Caran d’Ache Luminance 6901 ▲
Caran d’Ache Pablo ▲
Castle Art Supplies
Cezanne Superior ▲
Chameleon Color Tones ▲
Coloré
ColorIt
Conte Couleur d’Art (disc.) ▲
Crayola Color Escapes ▲
Crayola
Crayola Color Escapes ▲
Crayola Erasable
Crayola Extreme Colors
Crayola Metallic
Crayola Multicultural Crayola Short
Cretacolor Karmina ▲
Cretacolor Megacolor ▲
Derwent Artist Series ▲
Derwent Artist Black & White ▲
Derwent Chromaflow
Derwent Coloursoft ▲
Derwent Drawing ▲
Derwent Lakeland (all types)
Derwent Lightfast ▲
Derwent ProColour ▲
Derwent Signature (disc.) ▲
Derwent Studio ▲
Dixon Ticonderoga Core Lock (disc.)
Eberhard Faber Design Spectracolor (disc.)
EK Success Memory Pencils
Faber-Castell Art Grip
Faber-Castell EcoPencils (Max and Jumbo Triangular)
Faber-Castell Polychromos ▲
Faber-Castell Red Line Metallic
Fantasia Premium Artist ▲
Felissimo
Fishenen
General Pencil Color-Tex
General Pencil MultiChrome
General Pencil Scribe All
Hero (Guanghui)
Holbein ▲
Koh-i-noor Astra Neon
Koh-i-noor MagicFX
Koh-i-Noor Polycolor ▲
Koh-i-Noor TriTones ▲
Lila Peinture
Liqui-mark
Liqui-mark Metallic
Lumocolor Permanent Glasochrom 108
Lyra Color Giants (regular, neon, metallic, skin-tones)
Lyra ColorStripe ▲
Lyra Ferby, Super Ferby and Ferby 4-color
Lyra Groove and Groove Slim
Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor ▲
Lyra SkinTone ▲
Lyra Waldorf Selection
Marco Renoir
Marshall Retouch Oil Pencil
Mitsu-Bishi
Mont Marte
Ohuhu
P. Cezanne Premium ▲
Pantone Universe
Pentel Arts
Prang (regular and triangular)
Prismacolor Col-Erase (formerly Venus & Eberhard Faber)
Prismacolor Premier ▲
Prismacolor Premier Lightfast (disc.) ▲
Prismacolor Scholar Art Pencils
Prismacolor Verithins ▲
Raffine
Reeves
Royal Langnickel Essentials
Royal Talens Van Gogh ▲
Schpirerr Farben
Soho Urban Artist ▲
Soucolor
Spectrum Noir (disc.) ▲
Stabilo Color
Stabilo Softcolor (disc.) ▲
Stabilo GREENcolor
Stabilo Original
Stabilo Trio and Trio Thick
Staedtler Ergosoft ▲
Ergosoft Jumbo
Staedler Noris Club (Classic, Jumbo, Super Jumbo)
Thornton’s Art Supply
Tombow Irojiten ▲
Utrecht Premium ▲
Walnut Hollow Oil Pencils (disc.)

Awaiting Your Call, Amy Turner, CPSA, CPX

WATER-SOLUBLE PENCILS

Bruynzeel Design Aquarel ▲
Bruynzeel Design Aquarell (disc.) ▲
Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle
Caran d’Ache Supracolor Aquarelle ▲
Cezanne Professional Watercolor ▲
Crayola Watercolor Pencils
Cretacolor Marino ▲
Daler-Rowney Artists’ ▲
Derwent Inktense ▲
Derwent Lakeland Water-Soluble
Derwent Metallic ▲
Derwent Signature Watercolour (disc.) ▲
Derwent Watercolour ▲
Eberhard Faber Design (disc.)
Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer ▲
Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer MAGNUS
Faber-Castell Art Grip Aquarelle
Faber-Castell Design Watercolor ▲
Faber-Castell Red Line Watercolor
Fantasia Premium Watercolor
General Kimberley Thin Lead Watercolor ▲
General Pencil Scribe All
Koh-i-Noor Mondeluz Aquarell ▲
Lyra Osiris water-soluble
Lyra Rembrandt Aquarell ▲
Mont Marte Watercolor
Prismacolor Watercolor ▲
Raffine Watercolor
Reeves Watercolor
Royal Langnickel Watercolor
Royal Talens Van Gogh Aquarelle ▲
Sargent Watercolor
Stabilo All
Stabilo Aquacolor
Staedtler Ergosoft Aquarelle ▲
Staedtler Karat Aquarelle ▲
Thornton’s Art Supply Water Soluble

WOODLESS—WAX AND OIL-BASED 

BIC Conte Fine Tip
Crayola Color Sticks
Koh-i-Noor Progresso Woodless ▲
Lyra Pure Color Woodless (disc.)
Prismacolor ArtStix ▲
Royal Langnickel Woodless

WOODLESS—WATER SOLUBLE

Caran D’Ache Museum Watercolor Leads
Cretacolor AquaMonolith Woodless Watercolor ▲
Derwent Aquatones ▲
Derwent Inktense Blocks ▲

OTHER ACCEPTABLE PRODUCTS

Solvents such as odorless mineral spirits, alcohol, water and powdered blender may be used to dissolve and blend colored pencil.

Colorless blenders composed of predominantly wax, oil, or other binders (solid or powdered form) may be used in thin layers to blend colored pencil. Products that are a combination of waxes and solvent, such as cold wax medium, may also be used in thin layers to blend and dissolve colored pencil. Colorless blenders may not be applied in thick layers (over 1/16”) or used to significantly alter the surface texture of a colored pencil work.

Note: Blenders designed for use with oil paint sticks contain linseed oil, which is acidic. These blenders should be used only on surfaces that have an appropriate primer or ground to protect the substrate from deterioration. Please remember that entries for the International Exhibition must be done on manufacturer prepared surfaces.

Fixatives and varnish (including Brush & Pencil Touch Up Texture) may be used between layers of pencil and as a final protective layer. These products should not change the texture of the drawing surface.

UNACCEPTABLE PRODUCTS

Graphite and water-soluble tinted graphite pencils such as those by Derwent, Caran d’Ache and Staedtler are graphite, and do not qualify as colored pencils. For the CPSA International Exhibition, they cannot be exposed and, if used, must be beneath or blended with colored pencil. Graphite may be used without restriction as a non-primary medium for the Explore This! exhibition.

Liquid highlighting, solid pigment in pans and dry, powdered pigment (any loose pigment without a binding agent including Brush & Pencil titanium white powder) are not permitted in the CPSA International Exhibition, but may be used for the Explore This! exhibition. The issue with pans is that they REQUIRE a brush to apply the pigment onto the surface—pencils and sticks do not.