History of Your Life in 4 Objects // Late Teenage

My third object to represent my late teenage years is a set of Karisma colour crayons.

A Level // Karisma pencil drawing

I purchased the pencils in my early teens but it was during my late teenage years that I used the crayons most frequently to complete GCSE/A Level Art and Textiles coursework. My older sister Jo used Karisma pencils to colour in clothing in coursework for Textiles too; as she was going on to study English Literature at university, she no longer needed her pencils. She gave them to me because she knew I enjoyed drawing and would need a good quality set of pencils for Art and Textiles.

My colouring technique pre-GCSE was to press on hard to form block colour so the pencils began to decrease in size rapidly. The fact that they had been half used by my sister also added to their shrinking size. I decided to buy a brand new box of Karisma pencils but sadly found that they had been discontinued. The pencils were made in a plant in England but it was closed in 2005 because the company wasn't making enough profit in Europe.  I really liked the soft feel and vibrant colour quality of the Karisma crayons; Derwent Coloursoft were an equivalent quality crayon available to buy but I disliked the rougher feel of the pencil on the paper.  Luckily, I was able to buy an unopened set of Karisma pencils off the online auction site Ebay. 
 
 Looking at the scanned picture above, most of the pencils are still really long despite the fact I've used them continuously for coursework at GCSE and A Level.  I remember lots of long days and late nights where I stayed up until 3/4am in the morning at my desk, surrounded by my pencils and a strong mug of coffee.  They have produced pages and pages of work that document my progression in drawing and in the education system.  Without them, I wouldn't have been able to produce the work for exhibitions and my portfolio.  In the future, the pencils will continue to be used to help me progress in design and my career.