Castle Art Supplies 120 Colored Pencils Set | Quality Soft Core Coloring Pencils for Adults, Professionals and Colorists | Protected and Organized in Presentation Tin Box

2021 update: I've been torn on whether I should update this review for a long time. I used my set earlier this year, and noticed a few things, now that I know more about using colored pencils as an adult. I paid just under $40 for this set, when they numbered, but unnamed (I can only tell I used a small coupon on the order, not if these were also on sale or what the full retail price was). After using Prismacolor Premier pencils, Polychromos, square Brutfurner (120), Deli (72 in tin with art depicting an Asian hut), and MarkArt (120), coloring with these was a bit more work than I expected. I used them on one image that I finished, but it lacked the color depth of a similar page I had finished with the square Brutfurner square set. A few weeks later, I started a new image with these, only to stop coloring it. It was just more work than I wanted to put my ailing dominant hand through. These are decent pencils, especially if you're learning. However, these are usually in the $50-55 range now (retail $69.99). If shoppers watch legitimate U.S. art supply sites, the 72 count set of Prismacolor Premier can often be picked up on sales for around $40. More rare, but still possible, watching legitimate set supply site deals, the full 150 set can be found for as low as $86-95 U.S. I believe both Dick Blick and Jerry's Artarama sell Prismacolor Premier through Amazon, so it might pay to watch for those sellers here at Amazon. Prismacolor Premier pencils can also be tried out and replaced "open stock," (purchased one pencil at a time) sometimes as low as $1.35 per pencil (instead of buying the whole tin again). Prismacolor Premier pencils aren't my favorite brand, but sometimes they can be a better deal overall. I'm not saying I hate these, because I don't. I just have other "budget-friendly" pencils are less work to use for me (with a dodgy hand). I color fairly regularly with all my pencil sets, with a few exceptions. I generally finish a picture or two with a set, and move on to another (and I don't have a huge collection). Do some research and make a choice that will work for you.Original Review: I've been curious about this brand of pencils for awhile. I had some gift cash I've been debating what to do with for quite some time. After ruling out some other options, I decided I'd either upgrade my Prismacolor set (I have the 72-count set) or try these. The price on these won me over, because if I really liked these, I'd have enough money left over to pick up a Qian Shan case (here at Amazon) for them, if I wanted to pick one up.First off, the packaging on these is nice. The outer container is a tin. The inside trays are a decent weight plastic. Instead of just having shallow finger-notches, the trays have bands attatched. I found them to be slight easier to handle than my other pencils' trays because of that feature.The colors lay down on paper smoothly, a few more than some of the others (some of the blues, greens, and "turquoise" or " teal" blends are amazingly smooth). Not that any of them has an unpleasant gritty feeling across paper, because they certainly don't. The pencils aren't so soft that they don't keep a decent point for a while, if you keep a light to medium hand, though. The "dipped" end of the barrels are actually a pretty good match for pigment. I colored a couple of pictures with them before I did my full swatch chart. My swatch chart was just printed on a fairly commonplace home laser printer on plain 8.5" by 11" paper (not Bristol or anything fancy), and making it was still pleasant. I just made a table in LibreOffice, printed it, and colored in boxes with the pencils arranged numerically. The color swatch chart I made shows me that there aren't many "so close you can't tell the color apart unless you stand in full sunlight hues" here, even better than the dipped caps. Organization of color families across the set, looking at them numerically, is decent, if a little broken. There are a couple groups of purples, pinks, and so on. I'm really impressed with the purples in this set, but I'm biased, purple is my favorite color. I'm also quite impressed with the pink, as well, and even though I use a good deal of pink in pictures, that color family isn't necessarily a favorite. People that use a lot of the "true" red family may be bit underwhelmed, but this isn't uncommon (that's where varying pressure and layering can come in. There is a nice offering of shades amongst the blues, greens, oranges, and yellows.As far as practical usage for colorists. They layer nicely, especially if you keep a light-hand and build color layers slowly. Using a tortillon or paper stump is possible for blending, if the tooth of paper used can take layers. I've found the best colorless blender for these to be Caran d'Ache Full Bright Blender ($5.39 for a pair at Dick Blick Art Supply site), with Lyra Rembrandt Splender Colorless Blender coming in second ($1.81 a pair at Blick), and Prismacolor's ($2.32 for a pair at Blick) last. I haven't tried solvents, such as mineral spirits. As far as sharpening goes, I haven't had to do too much, these keep a nice point. I've found my Staedtler graphite sharpener works best. The diameter of these were too small for the Revlon Universal Points Sharpener (for eyeliner) that works best for my Prismacolors. The Staedtler self-contained stainless school-style sharpener just kind of eats these.Overall, I'm very pleased with this set. If the formulas could be refined so that all of them go on as wonderfully smooth as some mentioned above, these could be even more of a budget-friendly rival to Prismacolor. Especially if this company could manage to sale replacement colors "open stock" like Prismacolor (one pencil at a time) once refined. I did pick up a Qian Shan case for these, because I really like this set a lot. The packaging is nice, but I'm extra clumsy after injuring myself. I'm using coloring as a form of occupational therapy to rebuild strength in my hand. The canvas case just helps me keep these organized--and protected--in a easier to handle way. I'm keeping the tin to put other art supplies in. It's too nice to toss away.

Pencils are very comfortable vibe colors I love the brand perfect for beginners in coloring books, I also order more of the same brand

Love these pencils and the wide variety of colors. They lay down nicely.

I absolutely ADORE these colored pencils. They are artist-grade, and the price can't be beaten for the quality that you get. Several things make me feel this way.The pencils are sturdy and sharpen really well. With a nice sharp pencil sharpener, you can get a great point without removing too much excess pencil, which means I know they will last for a while. Plus, I have not had a lead break, and I don't feel like it will ever be an issue.The colors are really saturated, and the pigments are vibrant and go down easily on paper. They are buildable, so you can use the same pressure and add layers of color until you get the deepness you desire, and they layer and blend flawlessly. Honestly, the ability to layer and mix is on par with some pencils I have used that cost three and four times as much as these. The color also goes down super smoothly, meaning you get great coverage and end up blending less, which I find a welcome change.These pencils also have a nice variety of premium artist's colors like cadmium, cobalt, and pthalo versions of many different colors. They provide you with a color test sheet so you can fill in all the boxes and see what all the colors are without having to continuously test them whenever you want to use them. Additionally, the colors are all listed on the lid of the tin, so you can reference them when you need to.The case is beautiful and would make a lovely gift for a budding or an experienced artist, and it makes them feel kind of special, almost as if getting to use them is a treat or a reward. On top of this, in case you get a killer guide on how to use the pencils to obtain certain looks and techniques, you can use that any artist or novice should be grateful for. There was great info in it; they provided a way to contact them if anything is amiss with the pencils you receive.The most unexpected thing was the lovely message the company sent me about a week after receiving the set. It was so thoughtful and such a lovely part of the purchase. Taking the time to wish for my enjoyment and to let me know I was appreciated for the purchase I made was the icing on the cake of the whole thing. Such a personal touch is something that I think people miss, and for the company to go out of the way to say they appreciated the purchase and to wish me the best took this purchase to the next level, and I was already thrilled with my choice.So, overall, this was a fantastic purchase; I would recommend buying these to anyone. Whether you are a novice or a really talented artist or if you fall somewhere in between like I do, I feel like these pencils would make anyone extremely happy. I am thrilled with my purchase and hope anyone else is too. I can't think of any pencils that would perform better for a better price, and they are worth every penny and then some.I want to add that I am just a really happy, satisfied customer and am not getting anything in return for this review except the hope that someone will find what I have to say helpful. I hope that others can find the same joy with these as I have. I can't wait to check out other Castle art supplies!!

I love these colored pencils but they're a little too soft for someone heavy handed like me. I wish they were more durable. Good quality wood. They're named and numbered to help find which one you need. Comes with a hand book and swatch card. Comes in a tin box within a box for extra protection. Great gift for anyone who does traditional art. The price is fair.

The first time I bought this set was for my grand-daughter who designs things for enjoyment and her school. It was my tern to get the set for myself as I do some design work myself. Love the soft colors I can work with as I work on using the colors to work with matching my DMC threads.