I came to colour pencils quite suddenly in January 2008 after years of using only graphite so I'm still trying new brands out. Here is what I've used so far.
Back, from left to right; Derwent Artists pencils which I keep in pencil wraps. In the perspex containers I keep a combination of Cretacolor AquaMonoliths, Faber Castell Albrecht Durer and Polychromos. In two separate containers I keep Caran d'Ache Luminance and Lyra Rembrandts.
On the left, in the red tin are Caran d'Ache Museum 'leads'. In the centre, a brush for sweeping away eraser bits without smudging the paper. For blending, I use tortillons, cotton buds and tissues. Underneath those, a clear pencil case that I carry with me everywhere. In the front, erasers: I use only Steadtler Mars Plastic with graphite pencil (cut into smaller pieces in my pencil case), and with colour pencils I use a Jaker battery powered eraser ( refill erasers in box). To the right of those, my craft knife for sharpening my Faber Castell pencils and far right, Caran d'Ache mechanical pencils with 2mm leads. The pencil sharpener above them is an Automatic Long Point by Kum and has small holes at the sides to take 2mm and 3mm leads. Finally, a pen, a Copic Multi Liner which I use very occasionally.
On brown paper I prefer to use Lyra Rembrandt and Derwents with the addition of Luminance Black and White (for better coverage). On white paper I tend to use Lyra Rembrandts and Polychromos. I now find the Cretacolors too hard and I avoid the Albrecht Durer as they are watersoluable. When I first started using colour, it was with the Museum leads. They are lovely for quick sketches, very portable, but the range of colours is very limited. Also they are provided with a lead holder which I find very badly designed and unnecessarily heavy so I use them without.
Sketchbooks I use most; top left, Winsor & Newton journals. The square format is my favourite, the large rectangle format I use for TV sketches and the small one I carry in my bag. At the top, a very smooth paper, bought locally, and used for quick smudgy drawings. Top right, a Green & Stone watercolour pad, and underneath it a Daler Rowney hardback sketchbook. Bottom right, two small sketchbooks for outdoor or TV sketching - a black hardback book from Green & Stone and a smaller soft covered book bought locally. The others, with brown paper are 3 formats from Paperchase and the largest is from Seawhite's of Brighton, bought in Green & Stone (London). The paper doesn't take a lot of layers or abuse so it forces me to work with less fussing or erasing. I prefer 150gsm cartridge paper for most drawings.
