Review Of The Uni Mitsubishi POSCA Colored Pencils
Review Of The Uni Mitsubishi POSCA Colored Pencils
In this review we take a look at the Posca Colored Pencils, I have received quite a lot of requests to check these pencils out and provide an in-depth review for them and I was fortunate to have had Uni Mitsubishi reach out to me just before Christmas 2021. I apologise for the long wait but I have had so many projects on the go as well as trying to work through so many products to review.
I have to say, I really found the Posca Colored Pencils difficult to review and I will explain why throughout the course of this written review. I am sure I don’t need to tell you all this but I will just mention it for anyone new to the art world, the Uni Mitsubishi Posca Colored Pencils are from the very same people who have provided us with the POSCA pens, which are an absolutely amazing product used by all manner of artists around the world
Posca Colored Pencil Characteristics
the first thing we will look at is the characteristics of the Posca Colored Pencils. From the get go you can see that aesthetically speaking, they are a very striking pencil. In my time of reviewing art products and mainly colored pencils, I have noticed that artist like the black wood barrel colored pencils
The Posca Colored Pencils are lacquered a rich black, which allows for any information printed to stand out and easily read. The core of the Posca Colored Pencil is a generous 3.8mm and this generous core is encased in a round 8.0mm barrel, making the Posca pencil quick a chunky pencil comparatively speaking. I personally prefer the thicker round barrelled pencils, but of course this is simply a personal choice, in this day and age there are a wide range of pencil girths scaling between hexagonal, round and triangular barrels
There is very little information actually printed on the barrel of the Posca Pencils but certainly enough to help you maintain a good swatch and continue using it. Along one side of the pencil is printed “Uni Posca Pencil” which stands out beautifully agains the black background of the barrel. The Posca logo really pops with the Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Red colored lettering.
On the opposite side of the barrel is printed in bright white print, “Mitsubishi Pencil Co., Ltd.” which is so easy to read given the contrasting tones. On the very bottom of each pencil toward the core, there is a white sticker which sports a bar code but also printed on the sticker is the pigment name for that particular pencil along with a corresponding number.
Given the placement of the sticker, if you decide to purchase the Posca Colored Pencils, I would advise you to create a swatch immediately, ensuring when you apply the color to the swatch that you also write the pigment name and number found on the bar code sticker. Obviously once you start to sharpen your pencil the sticker will go fast, you can of course peel the sticker off and place it toward the end of the barrel, but I just think once you remove stickers and try to replace them, they can look unsightly.
On the very end of each barrel is an inch long pigment identifier which again, because of the black barrel, stands out like a wee Christmas Tree light on Christmas morning. On the very end of that barrel is printed the number which corresponds to the pigment and this is the reason I suggested adding the pigment name and number to your swatch.
The core of the Posca Colored Pencils sharpens like a dream, I didn’t have the full set for this review but what pencils I did have, they all sharpened to an excellent point and none of the barrels or cores shattered .
I did find the packaging a real pain in the rear end and I am only referring to these cardboard box sets, the 6 and 12 sets, obviously this section does not refer to the tins of 24 and 36. I know some people are quite happy just ripping the boxes open but for those of us that have a taste of OCD, that is not an option and we try to open the box perfectly. However the Posca boxes have a perforation opening on the top, but it might as well be a drawing of a dotted line and the perferation is so difficult to open and this is why I mentioned earlier, if you are checking the contents of the packets to ensure you are not buying duplicates, you are not going to open these in a store to check without destroying the set.
Posca Colored Pencils Performance
I really found the Posca Colored Pencils to be hit and miss and I did try them on different papers, but when it comes to the actual artwork I completed, I really think I should have taken my time a lot more, took my time with the layers, but I was aware I was so far behind with reviews and wanted to get the work done and uploaded.
I first of all completed a swatch as I always do, but as I mentioned regarding the sets I was sent, the three sets of 6 are completely indistinguishable for each other, there is absolutely nothing on the packets to let you know the pigments inside. The 12 set is exactly the same, the only difference displayed on that set is the number 12, other than this, the 6 and 12 sets are both identical. so as you can see, in the swatch I labeled the 6 sets, set A, B and C.
the swatch was completed on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Velum, which when I was applying the swatch, I thought the pencils were layer really well and the pencils provided a good coverage, but these were small areas.
The next test I completed was the layer test, this time I completed the test on a small A5 pad of Hot Pressed Watercolor paper, I always want to try and test the product, whatever it may be on as many different papers as I can. The layering ability of the Posca Colored Pencils was pretty standard on this paper, I never experienced any issues, any tackiness or resistance.
As is always the case, I applied five light layers, using a very light touch and finally added a heavy application just, to show the strength and vibrancy of the pigment. As you can see from the light layers the pigment is also very vibrant and I feel this is a purposeful attempt on behalf of Posca to coincide with their vibrant opaque amazing Posca pens.
The next test is the blending test and again this test was conducted on the same Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper. As you can see, the colors blended together really well and created the third color that was supposed to be created. As you can see the Blue and Yellow has created a really nice green, the yellow and red has created a nice orange and finally with the red and blue it has created a decent purple, one of the most difficult colors I find to get from blending.
I have also created a test using Odourless Mineral Spirits just to show the break down of the colored pencil ingredient, this is not a good or bad test with regards to the performance ability of the pencil, this is simply a personal preference. I personally don’t like to use OMS, but that is a personal choice and nothing really to do with the process, in order to see the OMS test and see how well the pencil breaks down, you will need to check out the YouTube video review.
The final test is applying the pigment on black paper, again this is another test that doesn’t really determine the performance level of the pencil, but simply whether or not it is opaque or translucent on dark paper. More and more colored pencil artists are using toned tan and black papers creating the most gorgeous works of art. As you can see from the image, the Posca Colored Pencils are incredibly opaque on black paper and fall in line with their pens.
I found the Posca Colored Pencils quite frustrating to review, also I didn’t have the full set of colors which very much limited the artwork I was able to do with them. Originally I wanted to complete a botanical piece as I thought I could get away with the limited greens and black, but I chose a sunflower and after I sketched it out, I realised I only had one yellow and just though I would run out of yellow before the piece was finished.
First attempt on Derwent Lightfast Paper
I then tried to complete a Star Wars character, “The Emperors Royal Guard” only because the character is red and I had a few tones in red and duplicates. Originally I tried to draw the character on Derwent Lightfast Paper, which at this point is my favourite paper to use with colored pencils, however I was unable to get a smooth coverage. Ordinarily you would not use a high quality paper such as the Derwent Lightfast Paper with student class pencils, but I wanted to see how the exercise would go and it just didn’t work well.
I then changed my paper to a smoother surfaced paper, Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Velum and whilst I did get on better with this paper, I still wasn’t very happy with the coverage, I just wasn’t able to achieve the smooth finish I wanted.
I found it really difficult to actually describe the core of the Posca, but I will give it a go. The actual core holds its point really well, its not an exceptionally hard core, but like I say, it does hold its point for a considerable period and well. It feels like it consists of a much harder wax but having said that, there was no bloom or wax residue when I had to burnish and apply heavy application.
Posca Colored Pencil Lightfast Information
I was unable to find any information pertaining to the lightfast ability of the Posca colored pencils, I looked about and on the packaging and couldn’t find anything. Even if there are lightfast ratings for the Posca pencils, if us as colored pencils artists and reviewers have to go looking deep within the bowels of the internet for such information, then I have to question this. When a company uses the ASTM or Blue Wool scales to lightfast test their product, this is a huge deal for the company and ordinarily have such information proudly displayed on their website or packaging.
It is because of this that I have to question the description of the Posca Colored Pencils on their packaging. It clearly announces that they are “Artist Pencils”, in light of the lightfast information or lack their of, I personally don’t think the post pencils can be described as artist.
Set Sizes and Pricing of Posca Colored Pencils
The set sizes are all over the place with the Posca Colored Pencils, if you check out their website they only really display the 24 set and 36 set. There are 6 size sets on Amazon that are categorised into genres, I am not sure where the genre categorisation comes from because as I displayed at the beginning of the review, of all three 6 sets I was sent, not one of them has a single distinguishing feature.
There are as I mentioned and showed, sets of 6, there are also sets of 12 and then we have the 24 set which is a tin and the 36 set which is also a tin. You can also purchase the pencils in open stock on Amazon, I know I mentioned on the YouTube review that I didn’t know anywhere selling them open stock, but after this I discovered them being sold open stock on Amazon.
The pricing of the 36 set always put me off purchasing them, it was a high price, as much as £104 and I didn’t know enough about them to spend such a lot of money, however the prices have come down significantly since then. At the time of writing of writing this review there were not many sets available on Amazon anywhere, however I will of course update the prices and links as and when they appear. Here in the UK the 36 set sells for approximately £41 and in the US the same 36 set sells for approximately $49.
Posca Colored Pencil Conclusion
I really wish I had the full set, I think I would have been able to test them better in a real time scenario, creating an art piece with just four reds and a black for an artist of my skill is not the easiest. I also rushed the art a little bit as I am aware I am so far behind in a lot of reviews because of run of the mill life and family issues.
The Posca Colored Pencils are definitely not artist pencils in my opinion, I would put them into a student grade and that is mainly due to the lack of lightfast information. The Posca colored pencils are a good choice for adult colouring book artists, but this is also were the maximum set being 36 would become a problem
As always I have completed the artwork with the Posca colored pencils and uploaded a speed drawing video over on The Art Gear Guide YouTube Channel. I have also added some still images of the artwork so that you can click on the images and inspect them in your own time. If you would also like to see the real time results of the OMS test, click on the link to the YouTube review. Thank you all so much for your support and the next review I have up is a real boring one, but I think it might be helpful to some of you, the next review is a selection of erasers and testing them on various mediums to see if they meet their respective manufactures descriptions.
