In case you missed PART 1 (The in-depth review of ALL the pencils I tested): th-cam.com/video/rC2AErhcKQE/w-d-xo.html Or check out my PAPER comparison video here: th-cam.com/video/JrSwJF-35FM/w-d-xo.html
My wife starts her 18 week long chemo today so I bought her an inspirational colouring book and pencils based on your recommendation. Thankyou for the guidance, it was perfect in detail and subjects. I bought her the arteza ones so they feel nice as she colours. 👍
@@SarahRenaeClarkWhich one has a decent range of blues, greens, grays, dull oranges, dark reds and browns because I love nature and want to paint my love of mountians, lakes, oceans, the sky, fields, mountians, forests and I love my pastel purples for sunsets with cloudy weather.
I know they don’t get many recommendations, but I prefer the manual crank pencil sharpener over the hand held. The reason for this is that, when sharpening a pencil with the hand held sharpener, it is easy to accidentally snap the tip off, especially when the sharpener blade is getting dull. I have had to sharpen so many pencils almost to the nib in order to restore the broken tip. For this reason I have switched to the crank type sharpener. I can sharpen my pencils with very little breakage. I know a lot of viewers may disagree, but this is what works for me.
Agreed. I've never had a pencil break using my Mitsubishi Uni KH-20 hand cranked sharpener. And it offers two sharpening options - razor sharp tip, or slightly blunt tip (which is surprisingly useful when you are covering larger areas and it also means less wastage of the lead during sharpening).
I've been doing art as a hobby for about 16 years now and these sorts of videos goes to show how much more I can still learn about art not just the drawing and colouring techniques but the materials to use to get a fantastic result
I have an old Boston Champion hand crank pencil sharpener I use quite often when I run into colored pencils which keep breaking while being sharpened. I am so glad I kept it! Thanks for the pencil brand comparison reviews. Very much appreciated.
Sharp point is super important for blending if you're doing it correctly. Don't jump straight into the burnishing stage. You need a sharp point to patiently build layers ESPECIALLY in budget pencils, but also in harder leads like polychromos. Soft leads are way more forgiving.
My daughter bought me the Dahle 133 manual crank pencil sharpener because she could tell I wasn’t going to follow her recommendation and get one for myself. She was so right! I love it! I haven’t had a problem with pencil breakage since I’ve been using it and it has an adjustable range for the sharpness of the point. I used many of the hand held sharpeners before and had problems with all of them eventually.
Not long discovered you but I instantly subscribed. I’ve always been into art in various forms, from card making, cake decorating, brush calligraphy and landscape drawings. I have never been able to draw people though. Sadly I got rid of all my colouring pencils as my supplies where huge and hadn’t used them in a long time. I began brush calligraphy and am one of those people who has to buy the biggest set and want as much as I can. My excitement is uncontrollable. But I now want to get back into colour pencils. But don’t want to do what I did with the brush pens. I bought £££’s of pounds worth of tombow £££’s of pounds of Karin brush pens, overall I’ve spent ££££’s. Thank you. I’m in hospital a lot. So art is really helpful. ❤❤
Sarah please start a series of tips and tricks for beginners and some color alongs to apply these. I love your extensive reviews, you are such a great colorist, and it would be great if you could share more how to’s applied to coloring pages!
Thanks for such a great vid! Your extensive work on this info about coloured pencils has indeed given important perspective for me, a beginner at this medium. I look forward to further videos on this subject and more. Stay safe.
These last 2 videos have been so helpful, thank you. Could you offer suggestions for choosing a pallette for a piece and storing pencils. Do you keep yours in their tins, or do you mix your brands according to colors. Do you take out a tin to use or do you choose a pallette of say 12 colors for your piece and then mix to get a variety? Thanks for any tips!
So helpful in determining what will work best for what I am doing with them, my budget, and my skill level! Thank you so much. You got me to subscribe.
Just getting back to sketching and coloring - something I haven't done in over 30yrs. Your videos are very insightful as I search for best pencils for my specific needs. Thank you for sharing 🖤🧡
Very informative and you mentioned some pencils I never heard of! While I used to love my prismacolors as a beginner artist, I don’t use them for my art much anymore because of the lightfastness and waxyness. However this is a huge benefit for skin tones. They are definitely way easier for skin compared to polychromos, which can be kind of painful for that purpose😂 i now mostly use caran dache for skin. I want to try derwent lightfast next! And while I know that Holbein pastel range is gorgeous but not always as practical, I won’t be able to resist them forever hehe
I think I’d like to get a few more Holbeins to give them another go- maybe some of the good pastels. But otherwise I think my future collection will mostly consist of Polychromos, Caran d’Ache and Prismacolors. It’s good to have the cheaper option (prismas) but overall I’ll be using the other 2 much more as I get more serious about drawing!
@@SarahRenaeClark I’ve heard good things about the full range of Holbein pencils but I already have the full range of polychromos, so I’d probably end up just getting the pastel colors. I don’t know if I even need them but they’re hard to resist ahhh
Enjoyed the video . Nice to see one that covers all price ranges and skill levels, especially with the pandemic 😷. I really enjoy the oil based FC Goldfarber. It’s one of the less expensive choices that is sold open stock. I enjoy them so much that I contacted Faber Castell to see if there were any plans to expand the color range, but the answer was no plans to do so. Great video!!
They are great - I actually reviewed them as one of the 26 brands in my last video! I'll probably use them a bit more as I keep drawing and they might eventually move to my favorites list too!
I clicked on this as it showed on my recommended. I was so confused when it said it was from Sarah when I have been binge watching and rewatching her videos and I haven't seen this video before. 😅 As it turns out, it's a new upload! Yes! I love her videos!
Thank you, this was an awesome video. Great research, appreciate it very much! I think that I might start a colouring night with my friends (once we can all visit each other in our homes again)!!
If you wish to sell your artwork, you should not be using prismacolor, unless you do the research to learn which of their pencils are not adequately lightfast. Many of their pencils are not lightfast enough to be ethically used in saleable works, because they can fade in just a few years. That is why "You get what you pay for." Thank you Sarah, you are providing a lot of useful info here, which should help newbies and intermediate artists steer towards the best materials for their interests.
Exactly! I agree. That’s why I recommended the Caran D’Ache Luminance for professionals over Prismacolor, but Prismacolor more so for newbies who can’t afford the Luminance or don’t plan to sell their work or are starting out as a hobby.
I'm a complete beginner and trying different mediums , was overwhelmed by the Great portraits I saw with colored pencils ! I bought The Derwent Lightfast and will buy the Polycromos cause I want to specialize in Portraits and Dogs! Of course I will buy Caran D'ache eventually I have the set of graphite from them and they are TOP quality! I'ts Great reviews you give , we are so lucky to have so many Amazing Artist like you out there guiding us on what to buy! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.Best of luck to you! From Q.C 🇨🇦
@@SarahRenaeClark I got my Derwent Lightfast 36 very nice ,but as many reviewers say It's a good set for Portraits and landscape ,but too many darks greens and browns, but supposed to be very good for blending . Polychromos have fantastic colors , not as easy to blend for beginners BUT saw a sale on a 120 set 189$ CAD pls tax 15 % 218$ sold on desserres.ca , d'ont know if they ship to Australia! But that is a Amazing deal! its usually over 300+ CAD Check it out! 🇨🇦Q.C
I'm more of a poeple portrait artist. Love using pastel pencils. You like to use markers with pencils on top and I found a combination of acrylic paint with pastel pencils works well for me. Give it a try.
Hello, i like the Polychromos more than the Pablos. In my opinion Pablos need exact the right Paper to perform great. Polychromos have brighter colors too. Sharpener I like from Kum. I have much less breaking with the Prisma. Greetings from Germany
They are the only set I am really disappointed that I didn’t buy for my big review- as I DID have the opportunity to buy them but thought there was no point in buying 2 from the same company at the time. My mistake! I’ll buy them at some point and do a review!
Hi, thank you for your videos. I have found them to be very helpful as I have decided, at the age of 48, that's it's time to step up from my erasable crayola pencils. I decided to check out the artteza pencils and I literally just purchased the professional set of 72 off of their website for $20.00 and that included shipping. I'm pretty sure it's an Easter special, so it may not last past this weekend, but I thought I would put it out there in case people see this and want to check it out.
Thank you for your effort!!!! Much appreciated!!! I was a little surprised that Winsor & Newton didn’t make it on your testing radar. While I’m not expecting them to be the rave about town, it would have been extremely interesting to hear what you have to say about them. Then again maybe this might be a Europe thing…
It took awhile but I finally settled on Prismacolor Scholar Pencils & Starjoy colored pencils. I love the Prisma Premiers & Faber Castell Polychromos, but Im heavy handed & found I was constantly breaking the points & needed something with a little harder lead. Oddly enough, the Prismacolor Scholars are actually a lot cheaper than the Premiers & rarely break for me. A 60 count set was under $23 on Amazon with free shipping.
It makes sense that the Scholars are less expensive. They are the “student” line vs the Premier “artist,” which generally means it has a higher binder to pigment ratio but not as high as “kids” pencils.
Excellent review of every question I had, I’m just starting out doing a beagle for a good friend of mine I find a lot of white fur seems to be difficult but I’ll give it a go anyway thanks for the info. Buy the way I got I think 5 boxes of polychrome pencils for $5 bucks a box on clearance I thought it was a great deal so I loaded up thanks for the info.
This is such an amazing review! I have found all your pencil review videos so helpful. One thing I haven't heard you discus is which coloured pencil you would recommend for laying over markers for added dimension and shading?
Yes, we need a pencil sharpener video. No joke, I’ve tried to sharpen my Prisma Color Premier colored pencils to a sharp fine point and they break nearly 50% of the time and eaten up a good 1/3rd of my brand new pencils!!!
I followed your recommendation and chose to get the Arteza 120 colored pencil set since I’m only a beginner. I was so excited to receive it few days ago and I love the variety of colors, the way they feel, etc. I’m really hoping to learn and improve my sketching, drawing and painting skills so I use my pencils quite often. I’ve been using Derwent watercolor and Inktense as well as Faber Castell Gold Faber sketching and colored pencils. While I know that all art supplies have certain smells - none of them are unpleasant or problematic. QUESTION - does your set of Arteza pencils have intense smell? I’ve only used them twice for 30 minutes at a time and have bad headache and feel nauseated. I took them out of the tin they came in and put them in cups hoping they just needed to be aired out. Should I keep them in the tins? I’m so bummed out. I really hope I’ve just got a bad batch and can exchange them, unless anyone else has had same issue and can give me advice. Thanks!
I definitely didn’t notice a smell with the Arteza, and I’ve been pretty sensitive to the smells of many other new brands. Try airing them out like you’ve said and see if they improve. It might be the tins, rather than the actual pencils- in which case you can find other ways to store them. I like storing my Artezas in cups because the whole pencil is colored. Some other brands aren’t as good in cups because you can’t see the colors as clearly.
@@SarahRenaeClark Wow, thank you for such fast response! I did try putting them in cups hoping they just needed air but not exaggerating when I say that my head was pounding and I felt nauseated after less than an hour of using them. The smell was unbearable. I liked using them very much though so I’ll call Arteza and hopefully I can exchange them. Fingers crossed that I just got a bad batch. PS: You’re a great teacher and I love your channel ☺️
Seeing you like Arteza, be cautious if you plan to use and varnish or mixed media. The company has acknowledged that there was an old formula and a new formula but they can’t tell people which one is which so when you order another set be wary of anything liquid coming here your Arteza drawings. I just learned this after buying a brand new set. My pencils are running.
This is so helpful (as always) your Videos are amazing. Colored Pencils are my Medium and I own Prismacolor, Luminance, Polychromos, Derwent Lightfast and Pablo. I love them all. But Luminance and Lightfast are definitely my Favorite. Prismacolors are also great. But they are not Lightfast! Polychromos are Amazing, they are some of the best that I own and Pablo... I also love them🤩. So many Pencils... Well your Collection is still bigger!🤪
I appreciate that you didn’t list the Prismacolour pencils in the “budget” pencils. I hear all the time that Prismacolor are cheap, they’re great for beginners because they’re cheap and good quality. Maybe it’s different in other countries, but Prismacolour pencils are not cheap in Australia. Well, NOTHING is cheap in Australia, but that’s beside the point. The cheapest I have ever found open stock is $2.11 per pencil. Standard for open stock is $3. I’ve seen them range from $2.11-$4 per pencil. The 36 pack ranges around $60-$100. Full set of 150 is between $240-$300. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Prismacolour pencils, and I’m near to completing the set, but they are out of budget for many people, especially people who are just beginning. Don’t even talk to me about the price of Caran D’Ache pencils in Australia 😒 around $600-$700 for the 100 piece Luminance set. In the cardboard box, NOT the wooden one.
Thank you for this informative video. I've been using Arteza pencils and found I can't do the fine details for highlighting and layering too many color on my work. I'm a card maker and color in stamped images, I'm going to try the Cara D'Ache pencils. I enjoyed part 1 video, it helped a lot. I love how detailed you are about the information about all those pencils you gave, especially about the papers. I think that is my biggest problem. It's time for me to improve my coloring, with your help, I have no doubt. Have a great day.
I really enjoyed the review Sarah! And I 100% agree with you on the budget and higher end pencils! I love my Marco Raffines! I got a steal of a deal on Amazon and was pleasantly surprised! Same with the Caran D'Ache Luminence! Amazing and all your tips are perfect for starting out!
I recently bought a few Pablo, because I love to try different brands. They're great to use, a bit like Polychromos, in fact. My preference goes to Polychromos, since they're more affordable than Pablos. My Sharpener is an AFMAT. It's an electric sharpener. However, some pencils don't fit in the small hole. For those pencils, after trying a few brands, I bought a staedtler with dual holes. The larger hole is for Inktense and Luminance.
Thank you. I find your advice really useful and practical. I just bought Lightfast and realise that this didn’t make it to your list of favorites. Really excited but will buy smaller sets of Polychromos, etc down the line. Thank you once again!
I quit drawing 25 yrs ago. Wow have things changed! I have my original Berol prismas from 1983. They are retired as I can't bring myself to use them. I hope the prismacolors I just ordered stand up. Thanks for the info.
great video again I've been thinking on the video suggestion for sharpeners and how it could be done effectively obviously you'd need a range of sharpeners, generic cheap/name brand, oversized, hand crank cheap and name brand (ie jakar), electric etc etc then there's the range of pencils you'd need examples would probably include wax (prisma) and oil (polychromo) based coloured pencils, a cheaper brand (hard lead low pigment, as cheap as possible), plastic type wood colour pencils (steadtler have a range like this(I found that these sharpen better in a electric jakar)), watercolour pencils, 9h, hb and 9b standard pencils and lastly woodless pencils 9b 4b and hb but I would leave the last till last (it will destroy standard cheap sharpeners) the comparison would probably be effective with colour pencil to monotone to woodless as like I said woodless will damage cheaper blades and really challenge them, as colour and monotone are used regularly by most they would need a decent or half decent blade hope this helps
@@SarahRenaeClark your welcome there was another part that would save you hands a large amount of pain and that would be a drill to put the pencils and/or a c clamp for the sharpeners
This was a great video I enjoyed it.. can you please recommend gel pens for adult coloring books...have you tried colorit? Also ohuhu or arrtx markers? Have you tried the black widow skin tones?
ohuhu markers are my go to art supply, they have a great range of colors and are one of the best options if youre looking for cheap alcohol markers. however i really dont recommend them for adult coloring because they will bleed. a lot. most adult coloring books arent printed on thick enough paper to use something like an alcohol marker, and if you like coloring both sides of a coloring book page that can be a deal breaker. if thats something you dont mind, then go for it, just make sure you have something on your desk to protect it from the marker. theyre easy to use and blend well with some practice. when it comes to gel pens for adult coloring, i really like aen art's selection and papermate's inkjoy line. hope this helps :)
I’m a beginner and started my pencil collection with Crayola Signature and got a PrismaColor Premier, both are 24 count and both are around $25 up in Alaska and are of equal quality, in adult coloring, I do believe.
I wish I found your videos before I made my purchase. Me and my daughter got into coloring a few months ago. I did some research but I think I made somewhat of a mistake. I bought the complete range from Black Widow. They are great at blending and have a great color range. I do love them but... They are a little soft and have to be sharpened quite often. Thats where my regrets come from because they are not available as open stock. (not easily anyway). Also the whole range ended up costing 178 can$ for 180 pencils. The Prismacolor premier 150 set is available at 170 can$ and I could have bought replacement open stock at my local art store. Because I bought the sets seperate I was under the impression that they were cheaper (that's on me) but I was mistaken. That might be true because I am in Canada, this might not apply to everybody. So in the future I will go buy a few open stock first. I don't know if ill get a set of prismacolor or save up and spoile ourself with some polychromos or luminance. All these are available in open stock in my local art store so ill test them first.
Okay, I ordered the light and dark skin tone Prismacolors. I also remembered to order a make-up brush as I saw you use that to avoid smearing and I don't wear make-up. Thank you.
I don’t know if a makeup brush is the best option, but I had a spare one (it accidentally got sucked up in our vacuum cleaner, so I didn’t want to use it on my face again!!) so I figured it was worth trying... and it works great!
arteza break down under a damp brush really bad, and sometimes i like to add a little water color pencil, or whatever, I i ruined a picture BECAUSE I DIDNT KNOW.
Which is an important point to remember for beginners - always test your materials before applying them to your artwork. Some good colouring books even provide test pages at the back for this very purpose. Sorry you had such a bad experience.
I know I’m late to the party but Sivo was a pretty good pencil for layering for me. I know you can ( only? ) find them on Amazon for the US now but I found them in my local Walmart years ago. They are pretty decent.
Lets not forget the colored pencil and open stock availability might considerably differ depending on where are you from. Brands made in your country will be much cheaper then anywhere else and you have the best selection when it comes to sets availability and open stock is very likely to be available in your local brick and mortar stores. For example i am from Czechia where Koh-i-noor brand is made so this is the most available pencil in open stock ever here. Other than that other brands are available in open stock in art stores only but mostly just professional european ones. --> for limited budget here is best to choose Koh-i-noor and you can absolutely forget the Crayola, Prismacolors, etc ... (no open stock availability and sets are not so cheap).
I wish I had watched this BEFORE I purchased a 172 color pencil set. OMGosh.... so overwhelming. BUT, I've got it swatched and organized... ready to color! I certainly won't be making this mistake with the markers. I'm putting off the 300+ ohuhu set and sticking to smaller ones for now. Time to play with the white paper and make some magic happen. and practice. lots and lots of practice.
Another great video :) have you tried the derwent light fast yet Sarah? another fabulous pencil right between luminance and polys a tad more expensive though :(
Breakage is a huge issue with those. Great performance in coloring, but be very careful with them that you don’t let them fall once, because if you do, it’s game over with those pencils. (My personal experience.)
I bought the Castle Arts set because Arteza was considerably more expensive where I am. I had the Ergosoft before but you only get 24 colours. Nice pencils though for a beginner.
In case you missed PART 1 (The in-depth review of ALL the pencils I tested): th-cam.com/video/rC2AErhcKQE/w-d-xo.html
Or check out my PAPER comparison video here: th-cam.com/video/JrSwJF-35FM/w-d-xo.html
My wife starts her 18 week long chemo today so I bought her an inspirational colouring book and pencils based on your recommendation.
Thankyou for the guidance, it was perfect in detail and subjects.
I bought her the arteza ones so they feel nice as she colours. 👍
Wow! She okay now?
How's your wife now? Hope she is well. God bless you and your family 🙏
I hope she's ok now if not gws(get well soon). That is awesome, you are a wonderful human being.
The amount of effort to review all these brands 👏
Thank you!
I have just watched videos.
Please what is equivalent to the soft HB lead pencil.
I use crayola on my colouring bible .
@@SarahRenaeClarkWhich one has a decent range of blues, greens, grays, dull oranges, dark reds and browns because I love nature and want to paint my love of mountians, lakes, oceans, the sky, fields, mountians, forests and I love my pastel purples for sunsets with cloudy weather.
I know they don’t get many recommendations, but I prefer the manual crank pencil sharpener over the hand held. The reason for this is that, when sharpening a pencil with the hand held sharpener, it is easy to accidentally snap the tip off, especially when the sharpener blade is getting dull. I have had to sharpen so many pencils almost to the nib in order to restore the broken tip. For this reason I have switched to the crank type sharpener. I can sharpen my pencils with very little breakage. I know a lot of viewers may disagree, but this is what works for me.
Actually I’ve had a lot of people recommend similar! So I’ll definitely check them out!!
Agreed. I've never had a pencil break using my Mitsubishi Uni KH-20 hand cranked sharpener. And it offers two sharpening options - razor sharp tip, or slightly blunt tip (which is surprisingly useful when you are covering larger areas and it also means less wastage of the lead during sharpening).
@@aartadventure I have used the Staedtler crank handle for years and found it is very good also.
Cool 😎 thanks for the tip 👍
I've been doing art as a hobby for about 16 years now and these sorts of videos goes to show how much more I can still learn about art not just the drawing and colouring techniques but the materials to use to get a fantastic result
Sarah is so underated she deserves millions of subscribers
I have an old Boston Champion hand crank pencil sharpener I use quite often when I run into colored pencils which keep breaking while being sharpened. I am so glad I kept it! Thanks for the pencil brand comparison reviews. Very much appreciated.
Sharp point is super important for blending if you're doing it correctly. Don't jump straight into the burnishing stage. You need a sharp point to patiently build layers ESPECIALLY in budget pencils, but also in harder leads like polychromos. Soft leads are way more forgiving.
My daughter bought me the Dahle 133 manual crank pencil sharpener because she could tell I wasn’t going to follow her recommendation and get one for myself. She was so right! I love it! I haven’t had a problem with pencil breakage since I’ve been using it and it has an adjustable range for the sharpness of the point. I used many of the hand held sharpeners before and had problems with all of them eventually.
I’ve heard a few people recommend this one! I’ll check it out!
Sarah simply astounding the amount of effort you’ve put into the making of this review and these two part videos. Thank you!!
Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to teach us about what to buy and not to buy. Great job.
Not long discovered you but I instantly subscribed. I’ve always been into art in various forms, from card making, cake decorating, brush calligraphy and landscape drawings. I have never been able to draw people though. Sadly I got rid of all my colouring pencils as my supplies where huge and hadn’t used them in a long time. I began brush calligraphy and am one of those people who has to buy the biggest set and want as much as I can. My excitement is uncontrollable. But I now want to get back into colour pencils. But don’t want to do what I did with the brush pens. I bought £££’s of pounds worth of tombow £££’s of pounds of Karin brush pens, overall I’ve spent ££££’s. Thank you. I’m in hospital a lot. So art is really helpful. ❤❤
So glad I found you. Just brought some expert arteza pencils . Can’t wait for them to arrive tomorrow. Thankyou so much x
Loving these gradients. Great learning video, we all need to be braver & trust our skills more. The more we do the more we learn. Thank you.
Sarah please start a series of tips and tricks for beginners and some color alongs to apply these. I love your extensive reviews, you are such a great colorist, and it would be great if you could share more how to’s applied to coloring pages!
My next few videos will be doing exactly this!
Thanks for such a great vid! Your extensive work on this info about coloured pencils has indeed given important perspective for me, a beginner at this medium. I look forward to further videos on this subject and more. Stay safe.
because of your channel, i want to dig back into my artistic roots again. i feel adult coloring is very relaxing and good for beginners!
These last 2 videos have been so helpful, thank you. Could you offer suggestions for choosing a pallette for a piece and storing pencils. Do you keep yours in their tins, or do you mix your brands according to colors. Do you take out a tin to use or do you choose a pallette of say 12 colors for your piece and then mix to get a variety? Thanks for any tips!
Really great recommedations. Super follow up to the previous comparison video
Thank you! I just watched videos 1 and two back to back.
As an aspiring artist these videos were unbelievably helpful.
Thank you! Breaking them down into type of subject is so helpful 🎉👏🏻
So helpful in determining what will work best for what I am doing with them, my budget, and my skill level! Thank you so much. You got me to subscribe.
Just getting back to sketching and coloring - something I haven't done in over 30yrs.
Your videos are very insightful as I search for best pencils for my specific needs.
Thank you for sharing 🖤🧡
Very informative and you mentioned some pencils I never heard of! While I used to love my prismacolors as a beginner artist, I don’t use them for my art much anymore because of the lightfastness and waxyness. However this is a huge benefit for skin tones. They are definitely way easier for skin compared to polychromos, which can be kind of painful for that purpose😂 i now mostly use caran dache for skin. I want to try derwent lightfast next! And while I know that Holbein pastel range is gorgeous but not always as practical, I won’t be able to resist them forever hehe
I think I’d like to get a few more Holbeins to give them another go- maybe some of the good pastels. But otherwise I think my future collection will mostly consist of Polychromos, Caran d’Ache and Prismacolors. It’s good to have the cheaper option (prismas) but overall I’ll be using the other 2 much more as I get more serious about drawing!
@@SarahRenaeClark I’ve heard good things about the full range of Holbein pencils but I already have the full range of polychromos, so I’d probably end up just getting the pastel colors. I don’t know if I even need them but they’re hard to resist ahhh
Totally in love with your reviews, Sarah! Your videos are pure joy!
Thank you!
Enjoyed the video . Nice to see one that covers all price ranges and skill levels, especially with the pandemic 😷. I really enjoy the oil based FC Goldfarber. It’s one of the less expensive choices that is sold open stock. I enjoy them so much that I contacted Faber Castell to see if there were any plans to expand the color range, but the answer was no plans to do so. Great video!!
They are great - I actually reviewed them as one of the 26 brands in my last video! I'll probably use them a bit more as I keep drawing and they might eventually move to my favorites list too!
I like the Goldfarber too. It’s a shame to hear they don’t have plans to expand the color range at this time.
I'm pretty sure that they're wax based
I clicked on this as it showed on my recommended. I was so confused when it said it was from Sarah when I have been binge watching and rewatching her videos and I haven't seen this video before. 😅 As it turns out, it's a new upload! Yes! I love her videos!
I love that you have been binge watching! I never considered my videos to be "binge-worthy" so that's a huge compliment!
Thank you, this was an awesome video. Great research, appreciate it very much! I think that I might start a colouring night with my friends (once we can all visit each other in our homes again)!!
This video really puts the series over the top! So generous and thorough! Thank you for this.
Thank you so much for the video!. I am a beginner I find your videos superuseful and enjoyable.😃
Thank you!
Thank you for this video. Very detailed recommendation for choosing color pencils!
I love how you organize your pencils by color. 😍
Thank you, you provided the exact answer I was seeking for.
Thank you so much!!!!!!!!! I was looking for the best.
If you wish to sell your artwork, you should not be using prismacolor, unless you do the research to learn which of their pencils are not adequately lightfast. Many of their pencils are not lightfast enough to be ethically used in saleable works, because they can fade in just a few years. That is why "You get what you pay for." Thank you Sarah, you are providing a lot of useful info here, which should help newbies and intermediate artists steer towards the best materials for their interests.
Exactly! I agree. That’s why I recommended the Caran D’Ache Luminance for professionals over Prismacolor, but Prismacolor more so for newbies who can’t afford the Luminance or don’t plan to sell their work or are starting out as a hobby.
Um what?am I missing something because prisma colors costs 200 dollars where I live so what do you mean by you get what you paid for🙃
Bought myself some arteza ones! Can't wait to use them!
This was so informative. It helped me tremendously.
I'm a complete beginner and trying different mediums , was overwhelmed by the Great portraits I saw with colored pencils ! I bought The Derwent Lightfast and will buy the Polycromos cause I want to specialize in Portraits and Dogs! Of course I will buy Caran D'ache eventually I have the set of graphite from them and they are TOP quality! I'ts Great reviews you give , we are so lucky to have so many Amazing Artist like you out there guiding us on what to buy! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.Best of luck to you! From Q.C 🇨🇦
Thank you! Polychromos are a great choice if you’re wanting to do animals! I only have a few but I think I’ll buy some more in the near future 😜
@@SarahRenaeClark I got my Derwent Lightfast 36 very nice ,but as many reviewers say It's a good set for Portraits and landscape ,but too many darks greens and browns, but supposed to be very good for blending . Polychromos have fantastic colors , not as easy to blend for beginners BUT saw a sale on a 120 set 189$ CAD pls tax 15 % 218$ sold on desserres.ca , d'ont know if they ship to Australia! But that is a Amazing deal! its usually over 300+ CAD Check it out! 🇨🇦Q.C
You are a gem. Thank you for your wonderful experienced-based videos! Subscribed.
Great job as always Sarah!
I just Love your channel! Never have I ever seen sucesso dedication! Thank you so much!!
I'm more of a poeple portrait artist. Love using pastel pencils. You like to use markers with pencils on top and I found a combination of acrylic paint with pastel pencils works well for me. Give it a try.
Hello, i like the Polychromos more than the Pablos. In my opinion Pablos need exact the right Paper to perform great. Polychromos have brighter colors too. Sharpener I like from Kum. I have much less breaking with the Prisma. Greetings from Germany
Thank you for mentioning "Caren d'ache Pablo".......these are amazing pencils!! Love your channel♥
They are the only set I am really disappointed that I didn’t buy for my big review- as I DID have the opportunity to buy them but thought there was no point in buying 2 from the same company at the time. My mistake! I’ll buy them at some point and do a review!
Hi, thank you for your videos. I have found them to be very helpful as I have decided, at the age of 48, that's it's time to step up from my erasable crayola pencils. I decided to check out the artteza pencils and I literally just purchased the professional set of 72 off of their website for $20.00 and that included shipping. I'm pretty sure it's an Easter special, so it may not last past this weekend, but I thought I would put it out there in case people see this and want to check it out.
Amazing price!
Thank you for your effort!!!! Much appreciated!!!
I was a little surprised that Winsor & Newton didn’t make it on your testing radar. While I’m not expecting them to be the rave about town, it would have been extremely interesting to hear what you have to say about them.
Then again maybe this might be a Europe thing…
I haven’t tried their pencils, but they’ve sent me some now to try so I’ll see how they go!
Glad to have found your channel. So confused by pencils. I normally water colour but really want to have a decent set of pencils.
AWESOME explanation 👍 to be honestly, this channel is the most underrated ...
Thank you!
It took awhile but I finally settled on Prismacolor Scholar Pencils & Starjoy colored pencils. I love the Prisma Premiers & Faber Castell Polychromos, but Im heavy handed & found I was constantly breaking the points & needed something with a little harder lead. Oddly enough, the Prismacolor Scholars are actually a lot cheaper than the Premiers & rarely break for me. A 60 count set was under $23 on Amazon with free shipping.
It makes sense that the Scholars are less expensive. They are the “student” line vs the Premier “artist,” which generally means it has a higher binder to pigment ratio but not as high as “kids” pencils.
Love you for this video
EXTREMELY USEFUL ! Thank you SO VERY MUCH ! You are really amazing 😉🦋
Thank you 😊
Excellent video, you have answred many of my questions. Thanks
Excellent review of every question I had, I’m just starting out doing a beagle for a good friend of mine I find a lot of white fur seems to be difficult but I’ll give it a go anyway thanks for the info. Buy the way I got I think 5 boxes of polychrome pencils for $5 bucks a box on clearance I thought it was a great deal so I loaded up thanks for the info.
Thank you for all your help!
This is such an amazing review! I have found all your pencil review videos so helpful. One thing I haven't heard you discus is which coloured pencil you would recommend for laying over markers for added dimension and shading?
I love my triangular shaped Deli pencils.
I use the Prismacolor Verithins with my Prismacolor Premier for the sharper details.
I have learned so much from your tutorials Sarah. Thank you for the information it helps a great deal. Love Terri Simmers.
Yes, we need a pencil sharpener video. No joke, I’ve tried to sharpen my Prisma Color Premier colored pencils to a sharp fine point and they break nearly 50% of the time and eaten up a good 1/3rd of my brand new pencils!!!
It’s on my channel!
I followed your recommendation and chose to get the Arteza 120 colored pencil set since I’m only a beginner. I was so excited to receive it few days ago and I love the variety of colors, the way they feel, etc. I’m really hoping to learn and improve my sketching, drawing and painting skills so I use my pencils quite often. I’ve been using Derwent watercolor and Inktense as well as Faber Castell Gold Faber sketching and colored pencils. While I know that all art supplies have certain smells - none of them are unpleasant or problematic. QUESTION - does your set of Arteza pencils have intense smell? I’ve only used them twice for 30 minutes at a time and have bad headache and feel nauseated. I took them out of the tin they came in and put them in cups hoping they just needed to be aired out. Should I keep them in the tins? I’m so bummed out. I really hope I’ve just got a bad batch and can exchange them, unless anyone else has had same issue and can give me advice. Thanks!
I definitely didn’t notice a smell with the Arteza, and I’ve been pretty sensitive to the smells of many other new brands. Try airing them out like you’ve said and see if they improve. It might be the tins, rather than the actual pencils- in which case you can find other ways to store them. I like storing my Artezas in cups because the whole pencil is colored. Some other brands aren’t as good in cups because you can’t see the colors as clearly.
@@SarahRenaeClark Wow, thank you for such fast response! I did try putting them in cups hoping they just needed air but not exaggerating when I say that my head was pounding and I felt nauseated after less than an hour of using them. The smell was unbearable. I liked using them very much though so I’ll call Arteza and hopefully I can exchange them. Fingers crossed that I just got a bad batch.
PS: You’re a great teacher and I love your channel ☺️
Seeing you like Arteza, be cautious if you plan to use and varnish or mixed media. The company has acknowledged that there was an old formula and a new formula but they can’t tell people which one is which so when you order another set be wary of anything liquid coming here your Arteza drawings. I just learned this after buying a brand new set. My pencils are running.
Hi Sarah Renae, I miss your wobbly clock. 😢
I have learned so much watching your videos. ❤
This is so helpful (as always) your Videos are amazing. Colored Pencils are my Medium and I own Prismacolor, Luminance, Polychromos, Derwent Lightfast and Pablo. I love them all. But Luminance and Lightfast are definitely my Favorite.
Prismacolors are also great. But they are not Lightfast! Polychromos are Amazing, they are some of the best that I own and Pablo... I also love them🤩. So many Pencils... Well your Collection is still bigger!🤪
I appreciate that you didn’t list the Prismacolour pencils in the “budget” pencils. I hear all the time that Prismacolor are cheap, they’re great for beginners because they’re cheap and good quality.
Maybe it’s different in other countries, but Prismacolour pencils are not cheap in Australia. Well, NOTHING is cheap in Australia, but that’s beside the point. The cheapest I have ever found open stock is $2.11 per pencil. Standard for open stock is $3. I’ve seen them range from $2.11-$4 per pencil.
The 36 pack ranges around $60-$100. Full set of 150 is between $240-$300.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Prismacolour pencils, and I’m near to completing the set, but they are out of budget for many people, especially people who are just beginning.
Don’t even talk to me about the price of Caran D’Ache pencils in Australia 😒 around $600-$700 for the 100 piece Luminance set. In the cardboard box, NOT the wooden one.
I feel silly about it, but it never crossed my mind to mix up brands, thinking I had to "keep it in the family," so to speak 😂
Thank you for this informative video. I've been using Arteza pencils and found I can't do the fine details for highlighting and layering too many color on my work. I'm a card maker and color in stamped images, I'm going to try the Cara D'Ache pencils. I enjoyed part 1 video, it helped a lot. I love how detailed you are about the information about all those pencils you gave, especially about the papers. I think that is my biggest problem. It's time for me to improve my coloring, with your help, I have no doubt. Have a great day.
Looking forward to watching this!💕
Thank you for the time you take to help us all!
I really enjoyed the review Sarah! And I 100% agree with you on the budget and higher end pencils! I love my Marco Raffines! I got a steal of a deal on Amazon and was pleasantly surprised! Same with the Caran D'Ache Luminence! Amazing and all your tips are perfect for starting out!
Thank you!
I recently bought a few Pablo, because I love to try different brands. They're great to use, a bit like Polychromos, in fact. My preference goes to Polychromos, since they're more affordable than Pablos. My Sharpener is an AFMAT. It's an electric sharpener. However, some pencils don't fit in the small hole. For those pencils, after trying a few brands, I bought a staedtler with dual holes. The larger hole is for Inktense and Luminance.
Thank you. I find your advice really useful and practical. I just bought Lightfast and realise that this didn’t make it to your list of favorites. Really excited but will buy smaller sets of Polychromos, etc down the line. Thank you once again!
Lightfast are very similar to Luminance. I just haven’t used them much because I don’t have many. I should give them a proper go!
@@SarahRenaeClark I look forward to your review one day. Thanks
I quit drawing 25 yrs ago. Wow have things changed! I have my original Berol prismas from 1983. They are retired as I can't bring myself to use them. I hope the prismacolors I just ordered stand up. Thanks for the info.
I would have loved to have seen how some of the Derwant range pencils compared to these others 😊
I going to try some of these for my Art work next school year so I can draw really good. And Publish them.
I enjoy your videos and your knowledge of this medium. I also love the way you spell our name!!! Regards from Chicago!!
Love your review! Thank you 🙏🏼
great video again
I've been thinking on the video suggestion for sharpeners and how it could be done effectively
obviously you'd need a range of sharpeners, generic cheap/name brand, oversized, hand crank cheap and name brand (ie jakar), electric etc etc
then there's the range of pencils you'd need examples would probably include wax (prisma) and oil (polychromo) based coloured pencils, a cheaper brand (hard lead low pigment, as cheap as possible), plastic type wood colour pencils (steadtler have a range like this(I found that these sharpen better in a electric jakar)), watercolour pencils, 9h, hb and 9b standard pencils and lastly woodless pencils 9b 4b and hb but I would leave the last till last (it will destroy standard cheap sharpeners)
the comparison would probably be effective with colour pencil to monotone to woodless as like I said woodless will damage cheaper blades and really challenge them, as colour and monotone are used regularly by most they would need a decent or half decent blade
hope this helps
Thanks!
@@SarahRenaeClark your welcome there was another part that would save you hands a large amount of pain and that would be a drill to put the pencils and/or a c clamp for the sharpeners
This was a great video I enjoyed it.. can you please recommend gel pens for adult coloring books...have you tried colorit? Also ohuhu or arrtx markers? Have you tried the black widow skin tones?
I haven’t tried many gel pens yet, but it’s something on my list to explore later this year and I’ll see what brands I can find then!
ohuhu markers are my go to art supply, they have a great range of colors and are one of the best options if youre looking for cheap alcohol markers. however i really dont recommend them for adult coloring because they will bleed. a lot. most adult coloring books arent printed on thick enough paper to use something like an alcohol marker, and if you like coloring both sides of a coloring book page that can be a deal breaker. if thats something you dont mind, then go for it, just make sure you have something on your desk to protect it from the marker. theyre easy to use and blend well with some practice.
when it comes to gel pens for adult coloring, i really like aen art's selection and papermate's inkjoy line.
hope this helps :)
Thank you só much Sarah for these precious informations about ALL these pencils and comparesons amazing love this Channel só good
You are the best!!! A star!!! Thank you so much for all the review!!! I learnt so much!!! :)
I’m a beginner and started my pencil collection with Crayola Signature and got a PrismaColor Premier, both are 24 count and both are around $25 up in Alaska and are of equal quality, in adult coloring, I do believe.
I wish I found your videos before I made my purchase. Me and my daughter got into coloring a few months ago. I did some research but I think I made somewhat of a mistake. I bought the complete range from Black Widow. They are great at blending and have a great color range. I do love them but... They are a little soft and have to be sharpened quite often. Thats where my regrets come from because they are not available as open stock. (not easily anyway). Also the whole range ended up costing 178 can$ for 180 pencils. The Prismacolor premier 150 set is available at 170 can$ and I could have bought replacement open stock at my local art store. Because I bought the sets seperate I was under the impression that they were cheaper (that's on me) but I was mistaken. That might be true because I am in Canada, this might not apply to everybody. So in the future I will go buy a few open stock first. I don't know if ill get a set of prismacolor or save up and spoile ourself with some polychromos or luminance. All these are available in open stock in my local art store so ill test them first.
Okay, I ordered the light and dark skin tone Prismacolors. I also remembered to order a make-up brush as I saw you use that to avoid smearing and I don't wear make-up. Thank you.
I don’t know if a makeup brush is the best option, but I had a spare one (it accidentally got sucked up in our vacuum cleaner, so I didn’t want to use it on my face again!!) so I figured it was worth trying... and it works great!
Your videos are a life saver . Thank You!
arteza break down under a damp brush really bad, and sometimes i like to add a little water color pencil, or whatever, I i ruined a picture BECAUSE I DIDNT KNOW.
Which is an important point to remember for beginners - always test your materials before applying them to your artwork. Some good colouring books even provide test pages at the back for this very purpose. Sorry you had such a bad experience.
I know I’m late to the party but Sivo was a pretty good pencil for layering for me. I know you can ( only? ) find them on Amazon for the US now but I found them in my local Walmart years ago. They are pretty decent.
Loving your channel 🥰
Thank you! 😊
Lets not forget the colored pencil and open stock availability might considerably differ depending on where are you from. Brands made in your country will be much cheaper then anywhere else and you have the best selection when it comes to sets availability and open stock is very likely to be available in your local brick and mortar stores. For example i am from Czechia where Koh-i-noor brand is made so this is the most available pencil in open stock ever here. Other than that other brands are available in open stock in art stores only but mostly just professional european ones. --> for limited budget here is best to choose Koh-i-noor and you can absolutely forget the Crayola, Prismacolors, etc ... (no open stock availability and sets are not so cheap).
I wish I had watched this BEFORE I purchased a 172 color pencil set. OMGosh.... so overwhelming. BUT, I've got it swatched and organized... ready to color!
I certainly won't be making this mistake with the markers. I'm putting off the 300+ ohuhu set and sticking to smaller ones for now.
Time to play with the white paper and make some magic happen.
and practice.
lots and lots of practice.
Thank you for helping me choose colored pencils.😁
Yay, i just bought your colour catalogues and companions, i'm set :o)
I love caran dache pablos, for me they are like a extension of my polychromos
Another great video :) have you tried the derwent light fast yet Sarah? another fabulous pencil right between luminance and polys a tad more expensive though :(
Yes! I reviewed them in my last video
Thank you Sarah! You're amazing!
Maybe you can also try out bruynzeel expression pencils, they are cheap and im really curious what you think about them.
Breakage is a huge issue with those.
Great performance in coloring, but be very careful with them that you don’t let them fall once, because if you do, it’s game over with those pencils. (My personal experience.)
Wow..amazing video with an excellent explanation..tysm..
Thanks for sharing this with us.
I bought the Castle Arts set because Arteza was considerably more expensive where I am. I had the Ergosoft before but you only get 24 colours. Nice pencils though for a beginner.
Thank you so much for this video!!!🥰☺️
I’m surprised you didn’t include Koh-I-nor. They are a good oil pencil that is my local shop’s go-to suggestion as an entry “good” pencil
Out of the hundreds I’ve tried, they didn’t make the top of the list for me.