ZEST - IT Pencil Blend 125 ml, TZP125

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When blending with Pencil Blend (CF) and a brush (3 layers) vs blending with Pencil Blend (CF) and a paper stump (3 layers)– The paper struggled to take 3 layers of shading, as result the 3-layer squares are only marginally darker than the 1 layer squares. Shading with the pencil without any blending – As expected, visible drawn lines and a fair amount of texture as accentuated by the grain of the paper. When blending with Pencil Blend (CF) and a brush (1 layer) vs blending with Pencil Blend (CF) and a paper stump (1 layer) – A slight softening of both squares occurred, but no more than the results found on Stonehenge. Consequently the tonal range of the squares from dark – light narrowed slightly. In the square burnished with the wet paper stump it was difficult to control and so the tonal range of the whole square became almost uniform.

Whenever people tell us the product doesn't work, it is usually because too much fluid has been used.When blending with Pencil Blend (CF) and a paper stump (3 layers) Again, I felt the surface was smoother than when I worked with a brush, but I couldn’t get the dark corner to be as dark as the corner I made in the square using a brush to apply the pencil blend. The lightest corner appeared smoother than in the square with the brush + PB. When I burnished with a dry paper stump– Hardly any effect at all, although the tonal range is narrowed with the dark corner losing some of its colour and consequently appearing lighter.

Applying water to the square below with a brush clearly dissolved the colour into the water as it lifted off on to the brush. It was easier to blend away the drawn lines and move the colour around. Consequently I will stop the experimenting with Pitt Pencils here as it’s apparent that water is the better medium to use for blending, but the absolute best blend was achieved with a dry paper stump. It has very low VOC's which means little is lost to the atmosphere, many prefer the safer aspects of the solvent than odourless mineral spirit or similar solvents, most of which are flammable. Top right: 3 layers of shading on top of one another, using the pencil blend with a brush to burnish between layers.When blending with Pencil Blend (CF) and a brush (1 layer) vs blending with Pencil Blend (CF) and a paper stump (1 layer)– Very little difference when using the Pencil Blend with a brush. The paper stump seemed to just remove the colour from the surface but did not smooth out the drawn lines. Shading with the pencil without any blending – As to be expected, it doesn’t feel as oily as the oil pencil, it has a more brittle feel than the oil pencil. Bottom left: I burnished the colour with a dry paper stump, to see how much softening I could achieve without Pencil Blend. When I burnished with a dry paper stump– could not blend the colour as much as on the Stonehenge. Drawn lines still very visible.