How to Choose the Best Colored Pencils for Artists

Every artist wants their work to be taken to the next level. They aspire to have their work to be high quality and jaw-dropping. And yes, you have to be good at art to create great work, but quite a lot also would depend on the quality of your art supplies. So for those of you who's main media is coloured pencils, we made this little article to help you out to choose the best pencils so making art would be more enjoyable and productive!


1. How to choose the right coloured pencils?

There are quite a lot of different brands on the market, so you may be wondering, how do I choose the right ones?

A lot depends on these qualities:

  • Texture
  • Colour Range
  • Life time
  • Colour Vibrancy

Price range is also one of the things that you would be looking at, when choosing the pencils. So when it comes to coloured pencils you get what you’ve paid for and price quite often equals quality. Whether you’re a professional artist or you’re just starting out in drawing, you do want to enjoy the process and see great results, rather than getting stuck because your pencil snapped once again, or your paper is scratched, because the pencils are way too hard.

2. How to choose the best artists’s grade coloured pencils?

Colored pencils is something that associates with kids doodling and coloring in, but in fact, many professional artists use colored pencils as a favourite art media. Plus many other adults find coloring in quite a therapy and here is another reason to say that colored pencils are not just for kids!

If chosen righ colored pencil can be a great instrument to make your artwork or illustration more vibrant and color-dense.

Find a set of pencil that will satisfy with all criteria is not easy and a lot depends on one’s preferences. However choosing from the brands that earned a lot of positive feedback from other artists is a good start! Lots of them offer you the option of buying individual pencils first or small sets of 12 to start with, so you can play around and test the qualities for yourself.

So what other things you should pay attention at when choosing the right set of colored pencil?

  • Try to avoid pencils with dull and pale colours. That would mean the pencils will have more binder in them than the colour pigments and it’s going to be hard to reach the tone that you want.
  • Another important thing to look at is the smoothness of the pencils, make sure it doesn’t scratch the paper. In this case it’s always best to choose oil based pencils.
  • Sometimes though pencils can be way to soft and even though it may seems great for your work, keep in mind that it means the pencils won’t last as long as you want and you may also experience problems when sharpening them. In this case it is always best to buy the sharpener from the same brand as the pencils.


3. What are the best colored pencils on the market?

These high quality colored pencils will give you the consistency you need whether you're a creator, aspiring artist, or an established master, but lets have a look close and see what are the differences among them.

3.1  Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils Tin Box Set of 36

The Prismacolor Artist set of Colored Pencils can be considered as a premium set of colored pencils on the market right now.

This set of color pencils includes 36 artist-quality colored pencils that are in a sturdy storage case that can fold open for display when the pencils are used. But they also come in the different quantity variations from 12 to 150 colors in a tin.

Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Prismacolor Premier

 The pencils have thick cores of color that will last longer and they also have soft leads, which makes them the best tool to blend in or shade away. Those pencils are great both for beginners as well as professional artists.

Although Prismacolor are wax-based pencils, they are very high in pigments and its softness makes your artwork really intense and photograph looking like. However the same softness makes them quite hard to sharpen and the best way to make sure your pencils don’t break while sharpening is to use a sharpener from their brand.

Pros:
  • Great Colour Range
  • Easy to blend
  • Good quality
  • Lightfast vibrant pigments
Cons:
  • Hard to Sharpen

Where can I buy them?

Product

Sellers

Price

Prismacolor Colored Pencils Set of 36
Amazon Watercolor Paper
Prismacolor Colored Pencils Set of 36


3.2 Faber Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils Set of 36 

The Faber Castell Polychromos features the finest set of artist quality pencils in a metal tin set of 36. The pencils have unsurpassed lightfast pigments with break-resistant tips. They’re re also waterproof and non-smudge.

Best Colored Pencils

Faber Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils


The most interesting quality with this set of Faber Castell is that their colors match with all of the other Faber-Castell lines. Faber Castell is well known in the industry and this is a perfect set for any artists who wants to try drawing with Faber Castell pencils.

They are oil based pencils, which both makes them vibrant and at the same time durable.

These pencils also come in a different quantity options, from 12- 120 colors in a tin, as well as sold individually. It comes in a metal tin with the sponge layer for some extra protection, but there also the ones that come in a wooden box, which will make it an excellent gift.

Pros:
  • Great Colour Range
  • Soft but durable leads
  • Doesn’t smudge
  • Made from a high quality wood
Cons:
  • Price is higher compared to most of the other brands.
  • Price higher than average

Where can I buy them?

Product

Sellers

Price

Best Coloured Pencils
Amazon Watercolor Paper
Best Coloured Pencils


3.3  Caran D’ache Luminance Colored Pencil Set of 40

Caran D’ache Luminance is considered to be the top of the cream when it comes to colored pencils. With a set of 40, it might seem inferior to others, but its quality can be shockingly surprising.

The pencils have high lightfastness and smoothness. They’re Swiss made. It has a 40 piece assortment and they can be blended and layered for various effects. The pigments are chosen for purity-intensity and they have resistance to ultraviolet.

Best Coloured Pencils

Caran D'Ache Luminance

This set of coloured pencils have the most superior colored pencils that will meet the requirements for any artist out there.

You can also buy a set from 12 up to 80 colours, that come in a beautiful wooden box, as well as purchase them individually.

Pros:
  • Smooth Texture
  • Resistant to ultraviolet
  • Easy to blend
  • Vibrant high quality pigments
Cons:
  • Expensive Price

Where can I buy them?

Product

Sellers

Price

Caran D'ache Luminance
Amazon Watercolor Paper
Caran D'ache Luminance


3.5 Derwent Coloursoft Pencil Set of 36

Derwent an English company, that produces colored pencils since 1832. Name Coloursoft is speaking out for its main quality- softness. These pencils are very smooth, which makes them high blendable and allows to glide over a wide variety of drawing surfaces.

Best Coloured Pencils

Derwent Coloursoft Colores Pencils

This set has a great colour range, but can be also purchased in sets up to 120 colors. They are acid-free and tested for lightfastness, and the vibrancy of the colours won’t fade away when affect by the day light.

Pros:
  • Vibrant colors
  • Soft Leads
  • Great color range
  • Easy to sharpen
Cons:
  • Does't last too long

Where can I buy them?

Product

Sellers

Price

Best Coloured Pencils
Amazon Watercolor Paper
Best Coloured Pencils


3.5 Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor Pencil Set of 36

Lyra Polycolor is one of others oil based colored pencil brands. They have a great colour range, but only available in sets up to 72 colors.

Best Coloured Pencils

Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor Pencils

They have really nice vibrant pigments and made out of Californian Cedar wood, which makes them easy to sharpen, even when sharpened with a knife. Oil based binder also make them easy to sharpen to a finer point, without breaking the lead, which makes them perfect when working on details.

Pros:
  • Vibrant Colors
  • Easy to Sharpen
  • Great quality to price ratio
Cons:
  • Up to 72 colours available.

Where can I buy them?

Product

Sellers

Price

Best Coloured Pencils
Amazon Watercolor Paper
Best Coloured Pencils

We hope those tips and review were helpful for you! Please share if you liked it!