Scrapbooking and Rubber Stamping: Lyra Aquacolor Crayons Vs. Prismacolor H2O Pencils

Watercolors are easy to shade and add a great deal of depth to rubber stamped images, scrapbook pages and other paper crafts. Because they are easy to use and add stunning results, both the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons and the Prismacolor H2O pencils have become a can't live without tool for scrapbookers and stampers. But, if you're only going to get one, here's a side by side comparison of both the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons and the Prismacolor H2O pencils.

What they do

For a fine artist, the difference between the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons and the Prismacolor H2O Pencils is night and day. However, to your average rubber stamper or scrapbooker, they can be interchanged and still give the same results. In a nutshell, both the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons and the Prismacolor H2O pencils are compressed watercolors that can be colored on dry and then, when brushed with a damp paintbrush or blending pen, will liquify and give a watercolor effect. This is a big plus especially for coloring in rubber stamp images; you simply color just inside the lines of your image with the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons or Prismacolor H2O pencils and then use your wet brush to "pull" the color into the center. This gives a dramatic shading effect that even the most artistically challenged (that would be me) can attain with ease.

However, there are slight differences in the results with the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons and the Prismacolor H2O Pencils. The Prismacolor H2O Pencils will often leave scratch marks from the pressure of the pencil tip especially if you are using cardstock instead of watercolor paper. The Lyra Aquacolor Crayons, on the other hand, have a larger tip and will not usually leave these pressure marks. Also, with the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons, you can use a small paintbrush dipped in water and touch it to the crayon and then paint like a standard watercolor. Using the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons in this fashion will also get color into even the smallest spaces, and will give you more control over the color.

Versatility

When it comes to versatility, the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons beat out the Prismacolor H2O pencils hands down. Using the Lyra Aquacolor Crayon's large color surface allows you to make very beautiful watercolored backgrounds that would be tough to get with the Prismacolor H2O Pencils. Because the Prismacolor H2O Pencils have such a small tip, the slightest difference in the pressure you use when coloring will give the color dramatic differences in intensity, and that makes them difficult to use for watercolor backgrounds.

Also, mixing custom colors is much easier with the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons than the Prismacolor H2O Pencils. To get custom colors with the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons, all you have to do is color on a hard surface (I use the inside of the metal tin the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons came in) with two or more colors you'd like to mix, spritz gently with a spray bottle and mix. With the Prismacolor H2O Pencils, the best I could do was color with two or more colors directly on my picture, then attempt to blend with my wet brush. Although the colors mixed somewhat, the results were still a bit on the streaky side.

The Lyra Aquacolor Crayons also have a technique for rubber stamping that doesn't work nearly as well if at all with the Prismacolor H2O pencils. With the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons, you can color directly onto a rubber stamp, spritz lightly with water and then stamp it as if it were ink. You can use more than one color for a mottled look if you wish, and the overall result is a stunning watercolor image.

My final conclusion

I have been using my Prismacolor H2O Pencils for years, but once I bought the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons I stopped using the Prismacolors all together. Because I am a die-hard Prismacolor fan, there will always be a set in my scrapbook room, but if I had to do it all over and buy just one, it would be the Lyra Aquacolor Crayons. They are much easier to use and have many more applications than the Prismacolor H2O pencils.