The colors are vibrant and there is an assortment of fabulous colors. However, the waxy material is more crayon-like than a pencil. Unlike regular crayons, I had to use more force than I wished to exert in order to achieve the consistent vibrant color that I sought. I found it impossible to achieve any shading from dark to light. I don't completely regret my purchase, as it is another medium for kids to experiment and be creative, but I can't highly recommend this as a TOY because you have to press hard to get good results, and I can't recommend this as an ART material because you can't achieve the results that can be achieved with real pencils. Crayola 30ct Twistables Colored Pencils
I had bought a bunch of Crayola Twistable pencils for my kids, who love to color. One the one hand, the pencils were very convenient because they didn't need sharpening. On the other hand, they were only convenient for older kids who could be trusted with them...and who probably could sharpen pencils on their own, anyway. My older kids got the concept of not twisting the lead out too far, but the younger ones liked to push their luck. Inevitably, I'd find long pieces of broken off leads, and the waste would drive me crazy.
So, how do you possibly recycle those long, broken-off pieces? It just so happens that the lead size of the Twistable pencils is the same lead size that's used by the the Pentel Eight Color Automatic Pencil. This is one of the coolest clutch pencils because it holds eight different colors at once. But the price for lead for it if you buy it from Pentel directly is highway robbery. It struck me that the pencil leads looked close in size, and I substituted one from a Twistable into the Pentel. It fit perfectly, and the Pentel can use lead lengths as short as 3/4", so even leads that before seemed unusable become usable again.
Hope that helps someone!
Although this is a reasonably good idea, in my book it sits right alongside the electric can opener and electric pepper mill in terms of necessity. If you think about it, Crayola took a regular color pencil which is pretty ecologically neutral (wood, graphite, pigment, etc) and made a plastic version of it that is not refillable nor recyclable. When the lead breaks inside--and it does--the Twistable is basically useless. The only problem I see it solving is when your kid presses too hard and breaks the point, she can twist the end herself, extend the point and keep drawing without having to bother you.
I purchased these thinking they'd be worth the higher price than just plain colored pencils that have to be sharpened, but unfortunately, I am so disappointed. I bought the 30-piece set, and the ones that still work are great and lots of fun to use, but unfortunately I've had to throw away over half of them (barely used), as the twisting mechanism kept breaking. I took one apart to see if I could fix it or see what the problem is or if I was doing something wrong (all you do is twist it, so there's not a LOT I could have been doing wrong), but to no avail. The twisting mechanism just seems to get stuck, so you end up twisting harder to see if that's the problem, and it just ends up breaking the lead inside and jamming the whole thing up. I have emailed Crayola just to let them know - maybe product development can find the feedback helpful in improving the product, but for now, it's a thumbs-down for us. Still love the ones that haven't broken yet...as long as they keep working...
I'm the one who likes the Crayola Twistables! My kids prefer traditional colored pencils. I use Twistables to illustrate for work and in my journal. Crayola products render more saturated color and the leads and crayons are softer which means more color is left on the paper with less effort. As a design professional, I prefer Prismacolors for color drawing, but Twistables pack better when its time for drawing on the go, and I don't tense up as much about losing or misplacing them.
I think my children prefer the colored pencils because they are more forgiving when dropped. Once the crayon portion of a Twistable dislodges from the base, the product is useless. Their first pack of Twistables didn't last as long as they would have liked. If you have young children and supervise their drawing time, this probably won't be an issue.
Tips and tricks:
- Show children how to expose only a small amount of crayon at a time and never extend it fully out of the casing.
- To get a fine point, hold the Twistable at shallow angle. Scrape the tip along a piece of paper while rotating the pencil.
- Encourage older children to blend colors, warm up the product by drawing on scrap paper first. Then rub the pencil back and forth lightly on your art work in layers.
- The white pencil looks great on black construction paper and so do the blues and oranges.
- Help young coloring book artists use Twistables for small areas like eyeballs, belts, and shoes. Demonstrate how crayons are good for large areas like lawns, oceans, and the sky.
Young children quickly outgrow an interest in crayons. Too messy, not easy for them to draw what they want and nothing discourages an interest in art quicker than having your art come out "wrong" in your own eyes.
Colored pencils are much better at detail but sharpening becomes an issue if they don't do it right, plus the sharpener does have a razor in it...
Enter, the Twistables! Colored pencils that need no sharpening. Perfect.
Well, almost perfect. Crayola should include ALL their colored pencils as Twistables, but they don't. I'd give them 5 stars if they did. They tend to include the more vibrant colors and exclude the earth tones, which is a shame. But overall, great for kids and young adults.
I prefer smooth paper for these too, the paper listed as "sketch" doesn't hold the color as well. - Crayons - Pencils - Art - Coloring'
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