January 30, 2023 – The Frugal Crafter Blog

Hi friends! If you want to feel like a kid again try coloring with crayons! You can even get artist-grade crayons that will open a whole new world of possibility to your art. In this video, we will be comparing water-resistant wax crayons. I have compared water-soluble crayons in the past if you want to check that out as well.

Crayons rated today:

Neocolour 1 wax crayons by Caran Dache. These are my favorite and I actually prefer these to Prismacolor Art Stix. These are smooth, rich, vibrant, and opaque. An all-around heavy hitter. If you want the best get these! They are available in 40 colors in sets and open stock at Blick or in sets at Amazon. *There is also a wax pastel called swiss color that comes in half-stick sets from Caran Dasche. Might be a slightly cheaper alternative to the NEO 1 crayons.
Prismacolor Art Stix: These are wax pastels reportedly made of the same lead you would find in a Prismacolor pencil. To me, they feel harder than Prismacolor lead though there might be hardeners added so they don’t break. They are wonderful and I was sorry to see that they were discontinued. They are very slow wearing and a nice value. You might be able to find some colors in brick-and-mortar art stores.
Crayola Color Sticks are surprisingly similar to Prismacolor Art Stix. they are solid sticks of colored pencil lead in a hexagonal shape. they seem nicer than the Crayola colored pencils I’ve used in the past. They are available in sets of 12 and 24 Big box stores may have these as well as Amazon. the 24 set is out of stock at blick but they have the 12 set.
Deli Crayons: I bought these on Amazon last summer. They are smooth and soft and easier to lay down color than the artist-grade crayons/wax pastels. They do not have the opacity I was looking for but would be nice in an adult coloring book especially if you have strength issues in your hands.
Bic Plastidecor crayons: these are affordable and very vibrant on white. Good for adult coloring books but not opaque enough for my needs in mixed media.
Classic Crayola: good quality for a children’s crayon but not the best solution for art IMHO
Mr. Sketch Twistables: These were more pigmented than Crayola. Very similar in quality to the Bic Plastidecor
Crayola Twistables: Very affordable and smooth to color with. Transparent. Nice for resist techniques
Crayola project crayon: these feel like a China Marker, they are more opaque than the other Crayola products, they lay down thickly and are vibrant, and make a nice base layer to blend colored pencils over. I like them and put them in my colored pencil rack to use as a base layer.
Jane Davenport Power Pastel: these are a cross between a crayon and an oil pastel. They stick well to plastic or glass as a bonus. These are excellent as a wax resist. They do feel a bit sticky and gummy on paper and don’t blend as well as oil pastels or some other crayons. I think these have been discontinued because I could not find them for purchase anywhere.