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LYRA
Manufactured in Germany, Lyra REMBRANDT POLYCOLOR are good pencils and good value
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Prices are a little higher on those seen in past years -
If you can’t find them locally or over the Internet, you can get in touch with Dixon’s at 01733 371237
or via email at pfreeborough(at)dixoneurope.com and they will give you a source of supply.
(Substitute the usual symbol for (at) in the line above to get the correct Email address)
The Pencils are worth buying. Soft to the feel and oil based you should find them for around two thirds the cost of other brands.
The full set of 72 pencils used to sell for around £70, but I have seen them ( fleetingly) as low as £55 for a full set.
Lightfastness is good across the colour range and the star ratings are shown with the colour reference numbers on the inside lid of the boxes. Care should be observed using a pencil with one star rating as these are the least lightfast.
For a standard Penciltopics colour chart giving the Polycolor range taken from the actual pencils see this link Polycolor chart set
To compare colours with other brands, see the Penciltopics section on Colour Comparisons
For purchasing, Look at GreatArt.co.uk The main distribution for Great Art is based in Germany and often features European lines not easily found in the UK. Search on that site for Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor
Great Art have them listed as both boxed sets and individual pencils
as also do the craft site Parchment Express
There is also an aquarelle of similar good value and I hadn’t seen these about recently , but Great Art quoted them in June 2009.
see Lyra aquarelles
The Lyra product most frequently found is a blender pencil called the ‘Splender Blender’
This is made with a clear transparent core and can be sharpened like a normal pencil.
When worked over a layer of coloured pencil, it picks up and moves the lower layer and blends edges.
Very useful in the finishing stages of a picture, though I have found that if you use it too early in the painting process, it is difficult to add further colour layers on top of the soft blender material.
I guess that it is made from an oil based ingredient as the Lyra Rembrandt pencils are oil based.
See comment on Blenders in general and the Lyra one in particular on this site at working the surface
The blender pencil is listed for sale (Jun 09) at www.1buy1pencils.co.uk
Lyra also market various accessories which include a useful ‘click’ eraser which has a long thin erasing medium held by a plastic barrel which can be ‘clicked’ to extend the eraser ‘lead’. This is marketed in Europe, but currently not yet in the UK where it should sell at around £2. A useful item if you are near a European mainland stationer whilst on holiday.
The updated Lyra website gives overall product information for UK users and is at www.lyra.de
Latest revision April 2010
Coloured Pencil BRANDS
LIGHTFASTNESS of pencils 1 and LIGHTFASTNESS 2 ( some test5s carried out in strong sunlight by a reader
PRICE & CONTENT of Coloured Pencils : COLOUR COMPARISONS between brands :
and a listing page by page of the various manufacturers selling Coloured Pencils in the United Kingdom and in Europe.
DERWENT ; FABER-
DALER ROWNEY ; CONTE ; CRETACOLOR.