Art & Graphic Polychromos Colour Pencil, Multicoloured, Tin Of 120, For Art, Craft, Drawing, Sketching, Home, School, University, Colouring

I am writing this review as a non professional novice colourist, I am a crafter not an artist and it is my opinion only. The following is my review of Faber Castell Polychromos (oil based) coloured pencils. 120 pencil set which is supplied in a metal tin. I very rarely leave reviews because to me something must be outstanding or exceptional in some way for me to do so, I do not believe in leaving reviews on items that are what they are I,e,. I've paid for an item and receive what is expected for that price, and I most certainly don't believe in praising someone or something for simply providing the service or goods for which I've paid. However having said that I feel I have to leave the following review. I have been a chronic insomniac for nearly 30 years due to chronic illness, disability and pain and am constantly looking for ways to relax enough that I can sleep, one of the things suggested/recommended is adult colouring, so I decided to purchase a pile of expensive adult colouring books and some cheap pencils. Needless to say the results were to me, very unsatisfactory, it wasn't the books because they were expensive and the images inside were printed on good quality paper. It was the cheap pencils. At that time, in my ignorance, I believed they are just pencils and a pencil is a pencil is a pencil, right, oh how wrong, naive, misguided and deluded was I. Unfortunately my dissatisfaction with my colouring results annoyed and irritated me so much it made my insomnia worse! I decided at this point to do a search online to see what other non professional amateur colourists were using and recommending. (Quite frankly there is so much info and so may views I was left completely baffled, befuddled and bewildered). However it soon became apparent that there were 2-3 brand names that kept cropping up and were getting consistently favourable reviews. One of those names/brands was faber castell's (oil based) polychromos artist grade colouring pencils, reviewers were saying how vibrant and true the colours were, the pencils were easy to blend, comfortable to hold and overall that they were good quality. I decided that I HAD to have these colouring pencils that everyone was raving about. I told myself that I didn't just want these pencils I actually needed them in my life so I continued to look online at various retailers, unfortunately they are a considered purchase and at that time I couldn't justify going into debt on my credit card just to buy pencils (however fantastic they might be) So I decided to save my pennies over the next few months (or should I say pounds)! And at the same time every so often I would buy different sets of cheapish to mid range pencils but was never satisfied with the results. I should point out that most people would say that I could or even should have bought one of the smaller sets of the FC Polychromos ie,., 12 or 24 piece sets, and I've no doubts they would probably be right, however because of my chronic OCD I am afraid to say that NO I could not do that, unfortunately when I decide to do something I HAVE to go the whole hog, I know myself well enough to know that I would not be happy or satisfied unless I had the complete range of colours. So, Periodically I would continue to look at prices for the pencils on various web sites, then one day I looked, yet again, at amazon's website and found the (complete) 120 piece pencil set of faber castell polychromos on offer from prime and even better they could be delivered by 10-30 pm that night, so I took a deep breath, crossed everything, closed my eyes and pressed buy. I proceeded to spend that day alternating between excitement at the thought of my purchase and feeling quite queasy oh my word what have I done, I've spent all that money on pencils, and then back to excitement. At 6-30pm Amazon delivered my parcel I brought it inside and with trepidation and proceeded to remove the outer cardboard packaging and bubble wrap, inside I found this gorgeous green metal box/tin factory sealed and wrapped in cellophane. I removed the cellophane and proceeded to open the tin. Upon opening it the first thing to hit me was the wonderful smell of wood from the pencils and then I beheld the fantastic array of all those beautiful colours. My OCD brain was positively singing at the sight of all those pencils so neatly lined up, all in their graduating colour order, all with the pencil lead exactly in the centre of the casing, all with the brand/manufacturers name and the colour numbers printed perfectly on the pencils. I was literally humming with pleasure at the sight of such perfection. BUT my cynical, clinical mind started shouting at me that this was too good to be true and there must be something wrong somewhere and actually I shouldn't be getting so excited about the tin and how the pencils look and smell but about the functionality of the pencils. I proceeded to spend the next hour sitting with the tin of pencils on my lap just touching, feeling and yes, I'm not too embarrassed to admit, smelling all those beautiful pencils in their tin, and just appreciating the look of them all. I think I was a bit afraid of being disappointed by the pencils so was hesitating in using them. However I took a very deep breath (or two) and decided to take the bull by the horns and get one of those very expensive colouring books that I had previously bought and proceeded to colour one of the images. Oh my, what a difference, I don't think I truly believed there could be such a marked difference in colouring pencils, but I can honestly say that in my opinion all those positive reviews were well founded and true, I have found that the pencils are smooth to use, comfortable to hold, and as a novice as long as you use the correct paper to give yourself the best chance of success, if you lay down the colour lightly you can build up multiple layers to get deep vibrant colours and they are blendable so long as you lay down the colours lightly from light to dark. As I have already stated I am crafter/hobbyist not a professional artist and so my review is given from the perspective of someone who does not have the foggiest idea of what they are doing so some readers may think I am talking out of my ear or that what I have written is complete bunkum, however I do genuinely believe that as long as you follow a few basic rules and guidelines when using them you should, hopefully get good results. However If you are a Professional artist/colourist you might not find my review very helpful as you probably have different expectations from the use of them. I can safely say I am very happy with my purchase, starting with how easy it was to place my order and pay for it all the way through to the delivery and most importantly, both the tin and the pencils arrived undamaged. I am happy with the quality of the pencils I received, they arrived well packed and in pristine condition. I would hope and expect that anyone purchasing the above from Amazon would have a similar experience and be as happy with their purchase as I am. Because for me on this occasion this has been an excellent buying experience. All of the above is my opinion only but I hope it is helpful.

The complete set of the Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils as 3 trays of 40 each inside a metal tin. These are true artist grade pencils (a term which is widely misused) with highly pigmented thick cores all of which have lightfast ratings, which are also available as open stock. The barrels are rounded and the pencils come pre-sharpened. They have excellent weight and thickness and their high quality is apparent as soon as you pick them up and start to use them. Polychromos are at the harder end of the spectrum of colour pencils, while still being soft enough to be a pleasure to use. This means they hold their points well and are more durable than softer pencils and are exceptional at fine details, shading and layering. The colour range is great with tones just far enough apart, and includes an exceptional range of greys, something some other sets tend to blank on. Do not expect to find punchy neons or artificial colours here, but the set is perfect for any natural/realistic art from landscapes, botanicals, cityscapes and still life through to animals and portraits. 3 metallic pencils are included which are good for metallic coloured pencils, but you should not expect any metallic coloured pencil to appear truly metallic in the way some other media can. Do note, that as with any truly good pencil, the best results do require good paper. While the price may seem a lot to those used to budget pencils, for anyone who uses their pencils a lot, the thick core, durability and ability to replace the pencils you use most as singles rather than the whole set make these better value than a quick glance at the price may imply, and they are one of the cheaper options of professional artist grade coloured pencils. For amateurs and colourists who may not care about lightfast ratings they are still a pleasure to use and they put a smile on my face when I use them. I would note that the tin, while it provides excellent protection for the pencils in transit, is not the easiest to use the pencils from on a day to day basis and you may wish to consider artist drawers or a folder-style pencil case with individual loops. If you are moving to this tier of pencils I would advocate checking out video reviews of the different artist grade brands from a variety of sources first, and potentially consider buying a couple of open stock singles as a test to ensure they are the right choice for you before investing in the full set. (Edit 23/12/2025: Added swatch of Polychromos as 1, 2, 3 and heavy layers on Strathmore 300 Bristol Vellum)

Like many other artists in our interesting times I've reacted to the twin constraints of more time and less space by focusing on different media. I already owned lots of coloured pencils but didn't own a full set of any of them and didn't use them much . I soon realised that they had many advantages - clean to use, easy to set up and pack up and safe for others around me - so decided to buy a full set. This gave me the excuse to get out and play with all I owned before I lashed out on a set, in a spirit of research. At the risk of being even more boring than usual others may be interested in why I finally plumped for the Polychromos. First off I wanted a quality brand that sold single pencils to keep up my set. I also wanted a high degree of colour fastness, good build quality and reasonable value for money. (I love many of my Derwents but the light fastness is poor on some, Luminance are good but I feel are over-priced and the Prismacolor seem to have quality issues since they shifted production to Mexico.) Polychromos ticked all these boxes and were easy to erase, layered brilliantly and were far less prone to developing a waxy bloom than the other brands I owned. I am delighted with my set. The build quality is good, they sharpen very well with a manual sharpener,the whole pencil being painted in the correct shade makes selection easy, the pencil names are meaningful - mostly by pigment name - and there is a a marvellous range of colours. The only downside is that the white is not very opaque. However the same is true for every brand I own except for the Luminance, so I recommend buying single pencils of these. The Polychromos work really well on Clairfontaine Paint On paper which allows you to erase cleanly and rework without damage. I am having tremendous fun with them. I am exploring lifting off layers with Blu-tack and Magic tape ( which work well when things go wrong) and am upping my game by watching online tutorials. I haven't used solvents as these don't seem necessary with these and don't go down well in communal space.. If you are considering buying a big set of quality coloured pencils these are lovely colours, well made, great value for money and I recommend them.

These pencils were purchased as a gift for my wife. She has become hooked on adult colouring books. She has tried several different pencils but these have proved to be the best she has used. I am an armature artist and I have tried them and I have to agree. The pigment comes off the pencil easily . With some pencils you can rub all day and get little colour off the pencil. These only need a light touch to release colour ,and blending with these pencils is so easy . Because of the way the pigment comes off the pencil you can put one colour on another and produce some excellent effects. The range of colours in this set is as much as any artist could need. The tin case is sturdy and the pencils are in lift out trays making for easy use and storage. I know this set is expensive but if you are a profesional artist or like me and my wife serious amateurs they are worth the money. The different results you achieve with this quality pencil compared to a cheaper pencil is really noticeable . The other good thing to mention is they don't break into pieces when being sharpened even though the lead or pigment is fairly soft. This set is expensive however it will last for a heck of a long time ,there is a huge range of colour and the quality is fantastic. Also you can achieve such better results. There is nothing worse than trying to produce a piece of art only to be dissapointed at the result because of the quality of the paint or pencils. The polychromos are available in smaller sets so you can build up your set slowly rather than spend a lot in one go. Try a smaller set you won't be dissapointed the results will encourage you to do more with your art.

These are great quality coloured pencils. They are nice and soft, and blend well. There is a good variety of colours and show up well on both dark and light paper. They give a professional finish. They are a high price point product, however you are getting a high quality product. For me, definitely worth the price asked. Would recommend.

I know it is a matter of taste. Some people prefer softer pencils, other harder; some like waxier ones, and others drier. If you are not sure what is right for you, don't buy this set - at least not yet. The best thing to do is to purchase single pencils of different major quality brands before jumping in and buying a whole tin. But do go with a quality brand as they will be consistently the same quality through the entire range of colours, through the entire pencil, and from one purchase to the next. A few years after I started painting and drawing, I got a job working in an art supplies shop, and during my ten years there, I got to try out quite a few different kinds, especially everything from Derwent, but most of the ones we stocked weren't quite right - at least not for me. My favourites were the natural and mostly muted colours of Derwent Drawing. When I had some projects on track requiring extensive colour pencil work in brighter colours - and always being one to love having a big set of things - I went with Faber Castell that I had tried briefly in a shop in London a few years earlier. I immediately liked the consistency of them, which I guess I'd describe as neither too soft nor too hard, but just right. They are not as waxy-feeling as Derwent Drawing, but softer and waxier in consistency than Derwent Artists that I found a little bit hard and sometimes slightly brittle and more prone to breaking during sharpening. The colours are lovely and strong, I find it easy to make the line both faint and strong as needed, they sharpen well and keep their point long enough for detailed work, and - quite importantly - they work really well on my favourite drawing paper (Canson 1557). I'd not recommend them unreservedly to anyone; I think it is important to try out different kinds as artists like different qualities as well as using different papers. One that might be perfectly suited to a smooth paper might not work as well on a paper with a bit more texture. Additionally, some people use a very light touch when drawing, others use more force. If everyone liked the same, there would only be one high-quality brand of colour pencil in the world. Luckily there are several to choose from. If, after careful testing, you find that Faber Castell's Polychromos have the right characteristics for you they are certainly colour pencils of a consistently high quality that will give you a lot of creative pleasure, and I can recommend buying the big set.

I've been wanting the full set of Faber Castell polychromos for ages but could never afford them, having only tried 3 open stock pencils I wanted the whole range. I was so happy when there was a Black Friday deal and they went down in price by such a substantial amount that I was able to get them, though I would have gladly saved up the full price for them. I was not disappointed they are excellent pencils and you get exactly what you pay for. The colours are brilliant and they blend amazingly. I'm still learning to use them but they have helped improve my colourings, I have quite a few good quality colouring books now so decided I needed good quality pencils to use in them. The tin is lovely and for laying out on the table. I have purchased a pencil case for them, but only as I was worried about them being secure when I transported them back and forth from university and home. Definitely recommend, though I also suggest purchasing and trying some open stock pencils first to know for definite they are for you before spending so much money, as I know polychromos aren't for everyone. I tried open stock prismacolors as well and didn't like them as much as the polychromos so I recommend others who are unsure about which high up brand of pencil you want to purchase, get some open stock first and see which works best for you

Fabulous! I wondered if these might be seconds or damaged because of the amazing price, but they are absolutely perfect. Well done Amazon! Gorgeous quality, beautifully presented and arrived in pristine, perfect condition.