Faber-Castell Polychromos Artists Color Pencils - Tin of 120 Colors - Premium Quality Artist Pencils

I regularly use these excellent pencils in my art. They are expensive, but professional tools.

I had great hopes for this pencil set and they were met. I am completely pleased with the broad color range they offer and the quality of pigmentation is superb. When I received the set I notice how vibrant and intense the colors really are, you can keep a fine point and make therefore fine detail with them. Overall this pencil set is worth its Price. I would only suggest the Company to make more neutral colors. The only downside to this colors is that if you like painting in paper other than White they may not show as much, particularly on black paper. the White color is very very opaque and hardly noticeable even on White paper. As well the metallic color pencils, which are gold, silver and copper are very dry and scratchy when you use them and Im not able to notice them much on normal paper.

Disappointed in the condition of the product.

When I first picked up one of the colored pencils and tried to lay down some color, I was not impressed these beautiful pencils. But recently I was working on a drawing and decided to try it out again. The color laid down just beautifully and had a premium feel and quality. I like these better than the Prismacolor pencils! I bought some open stock of Prismacolor pencils. The Polychromos are beautiful and make a wonderful addition to your arsenal of drawing supplies. You just have to do it when youre at ease and not rushed .. and let it fly across your canvas!

Well I finally broke down and bought the number of Polychromos I could afford (12). I have to say I am very pleased with these pencils. Very Pleased. They lay down plenty of color with little pressure, blend and layer effortlessly, the colors are vivid and bright and I can sharpen them without breakage. I would say the only flaw of these pencils is when using them you just want more of them. They are very expensive, but if you color a lot, or draw etc... it would be worth the investment, plus theyre just fun!

My Rambling (but Hopefully Informative!) Review: Having been accustomed to primarily wax-based pencils (namely the Derwent Coloursofts and Soft-core Prismacolors gifted to me by family/friends over a decade ago), my early endeavors with Faber-Castell’s Polychromos were not exactly love at first sight. However, as I was looking to delve a bit more seriously into colored pencil art and buy my own supplies, I was bothered by the flimsy feel of the new Prismacolors (apparently from cheapening/outsourcing their manufacturing process) even after carefully selecting open-stock pencils with the leads adequately centered and limiting vigorous applications/sharpening to avoid breaking inches of lead off them. Unfortunately, the only widely available pencil I could find emulating the cherished qualities of my old Berol Prismacolors (Caran D’ache Luminance) were priced beyond my budget for any large set, so the Polychromos (which were broadly lauded on the Internets as a reliable, high quality professional artists’ pencil) ended up making the majority of my (then 25) colored-pencil collection. A lot of people compare these to the Prismacolor Premiers as competing alternatives, but working with the Polychromos almost felt like learning a different medium in the beginning. For one, laying and burnishing the paper with color is a much more gradual, time-consuming process (taking considerably more layers and strokes to get the same coverage as the softer pencils). At the same time, however, each stroke yields a great concentration of rich pigment, so carefully modulated pressure is important for getting the desired consistency and saturation (though the tooth of the paper will accept plenty more layers on top if initial touches were too light). The biggest difficulty I had with Polys was realizing that you can’t really blend them in the same way you do with the wax-based pencils (i.e. using the pencil to push the waxy clumps of pigment from different colors into eachother). Instead, blending colors with Polys by themselves mostly entails iteratively/alternately layering the colors (from initially very soft to progressively harder applications) to combine them. Pressing too hard in attempt to force two dissimilar colors together can occasionally cause noticeable streaking of dark/deep pigments across transparent/light colors (this usually results from pieces of dark binder/pigment getting stuck to the lighter lead, and can easily be wiped or sharpened off). However, as my techniques improved (with the help of Youtube and a few other video tutorials!), I started really appreciating the detail, depth and subtle effects that these pencils added to my work. Furthermore, I found I could cover most of the Polys’ weaknesses by combining them with my residual collection of Coloursofts and Prismas (entirely intermixable, given their binders are all comprised of oil and wax - albeit with differing ratios). The Polys also lend themselves to relatively smooth blending with a myriad of solvents (turpenoid, odorless mineral spirits, rubbing alcohol, etc.), although I personally prefer to go with the non-toxic, non-fumey stuff (baby oil on a brush), and have heard rave reviews about a recently invented non-toxic powder blender by “Brush & Pencil” which specifically leverages the oil in colored pencils (for those who want the ultimate painterly look in their work). One thing that has remained constant throughout my experience with FC Polychromos has been their reliability and readily apparent construction quality. The thick barrels are comfortable to grip with a confidence-inspiring sturdiness, and anything I lay into the paper is consistently rich with pigment and vibrantly colorful. The pencils that arrived in my tin of 120 (when I finally took the plunge) were also in great shape and true to form. Literally the most nit-picky thing I could think of (besides very mild abrasion on the tin) was that a few of the pencils were a bit dulled from their sharpest point from contact with the tin (but were still, amusingly, probably still sharper as-is than most Prismacolors could stay!). My set also had no duplicates (which I feel I should take for granted, but apparently is a common issue with other said brand), and the colors of the barrels are actually representative of the color you can get out of them. As a little bonus, the case still has that nice California cedar smell two weeks after opening! The most common complaint I hear about the Polychromos is that they’re “very expensive”, but I’d argue that (when you account for the sheer amount of pigment/color you get from your lead, and the overall longevity of the pencil), they’re actually a great value - arguably more color than you’d get from the equivalent amount of Prismacolors. Of course, they’re a non-trivial up-front investment, but (assuming you’re also investing in large quantities of decently toothed paper), $2~3 per pencil a la carte isn’t crazy (and you can do plenty with 20 colors). Should you wind up buying one of the larger sets on Amazon, they’re currently averaging around $1.20~1.50 a pencil. The only area I found where you don’t get so much bang-for-your buck is with the lighter colors (yellow, white, cream, etc.) which are a bit underwhelming on their own. At best, they can subtly tint darker undercolors (while the opaque shininess of wax-based pencil makes for far superior highlighting material). In sum, the Polychromos is a reliable workhorse of a pencil whose sturdy points also lends itself to more detailed, refined artwork (and thus, unsurprisingly, the choice of many professional artists doing portraits, natural scenes and hyperrealistic drawings). However, they also take a fair amount of patience and finally controlled applications to bring out their best qualities. These characteristics incidentally also makes them ideal for getting immersed in coloring books/projects (where I sometimes enjoy just practicing my shading, and taking my time to build up color depth). They’re a great value staple for people who know they want some oil-based pencils in their collection and desire vibrant (but lightfast) pigments. If you’re just starting out with the colored pencil medium, however, it is probably best to start with a few individual pencils from open-stock or a small pack (along with some softer wax-based pencil such as Derwent Coloursoft). PROS *Top-Notch Reliability and Construction Quality *Great for advanced artists who desire working in fine details/realism, or colorists who like to take time developing depth in their colors *Stands toe-to-toe with some of the more expensive oil-based pencils on the market (e.g. Caran D’ache Pablos and Holbeins) *Comfortable grip and easy application *Great Longevity and Durability *Deep, Vibrant Pigments (especially in the darker colors) that match the barrel color *Excellent, Responsive Blending with almost all conventional solvents (baby oil, alcohol, mineral spirits, etc.) as well as some products designed expressly for colored pencil (especially Brush & Pencil’s Powder Blender) *Decent erasability (by colored pencil standards) *Widely available in packs or individually CONS *Mid-High Sticker Price, requiring greater up-front investment than lower-tier brands *The light colors don’t stand out nearly as much, even on darker toned paper *Not great as a standalone product for beginning artists looking to get quick decent-looking results in their early short projects *Don’t blend easily on their own (requires lots of layering in overlapping circular strokes)

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! I love to color and find it very relaxing. My mom and I ordered the Inspire bible to do for 2017 and I wanted good pencils to color in it. After all my research I ended up choosing Faber-Castell Polychromos. SO GLAD I DID!!! Yes they are a lot of money but truly worth every penny especially if you want something to last awhile or be a heirloom someday. The colors are so vibrant and easy to apply. You dont have to push hard to get a great color and easy to hold pencils. These pencils glide on any paper. The points stay and dont need to sharpen everytime. They are beautiful and come in a great tin to protect them. They dont leave residue or transfer to another page when book is closed. I have tried a few brands including prismcolor and these by far are in a class by themselves. I am not an artist but with these pencils I feel like I am.

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I bought these on a whim, heard a lot about them figured I give them a try. These hold a point much better than most other color pencils Ive used. Hard to blend since Im a beginner, but overall Im happy with them.

I am in love ... with these pencils. Before buying I read reviews wherever I could find them. I watched videos on Youtube about these pencils. Holding my breath, I ordered them. They work well for me. They layer and blend fine. I draw mainly in graphite, but have been trying different brands of colored pencils off and on. This is my 5th brand. I used to love Prismacolor, but not anymore. These sharpen easily without the pain of broken leads or shredded pencils. They keep a pretty good point. This 36 pencil set provides adequate colors to play around with blending. At least with Faber Castell we can buy single pencils to round out a set. I will be doing more drawing in color now.