This month’s My Fave Monday Feature is Faber-Castell’s Polychromos coloured pencils. When I started using coloured pencils as a serious art medium at the beginning of 2015, I was under the impression that most coloured pencils were relatively the same. As I started joining more groups online for coloured pencil artists and also started doing more research, I discovered this was not quite the case.
My first investment was on a set of Prismacolor Premier pencils, that I knew were widely known and also that I could get for a discounted price from one of my go-to art stores. This seemed like the best option for me in terms of investing in a brand and type that was more of artist quality. As my journey continues along, I really fell in love with this medium and decided I wanted to try out some other brands that were highly recommend by other artists I like and respect. I bought a selection of the Polychromos pencils and was hooked. The feel and ability of the pigments to work well with various blending mediums was awesome. I decided to save up and invest in the 120 pencil tin after that.
Although I still enjoy using my Prismacolor for certain projects and effects, the Polychromos pencils were a great upgrade when I decided I wanted to start being able to sell my coloured pencil pieces. Due to some issues with lightfast ratings on some of my favourite colours within Prismacolor, it seemed like a worthy investment for the longevity of my work. As you can see with the laundry list of product specifications below taken directly from Faber-Castell, the quality and level of attention to detail that was put into this product really impressed me further. In my time using these pencils they have proven to become some of my absolutely favourite to use.
Specs/Pros:
- Full length pencil: 175mm Lg x 8mm Dia
- Lead diameter: 3.8mm
- Smudge-proof and water-resistant thick oil pastel lead, soft colour stroke
- The Faber-Castell color match system encourages combining with other Faber-Castell color products
- Barrel shape: round
- Type of wood: California Cedar
- Break-resistant due to (SV) bonding
- Glued over the entire length of the pencil and on both sides, which increases break resistance
- Strong bond and high quality wood provide better sharpening characteristics
- Painted pencil cap reduces moisture absorption and warping
- Fits standard pencil sharpener
- Recommend using sharpener designed for colored pencils with correct shallow angle
- Use only hand-held sharpeners for longer pencil life
- Water based finish is environmentally safe
- The lightfastness rating is printed on every pencil barrel using a one, two or three star rating system based on the Blue Wool Scale test standard which is comparable
- Available as individual pencils or in various assorted sets
- Wood from sustainably managed forests. (yay environment!)
Cons:
- Can be expensive to buy the full set and cost per pencil is more than other brands ( but not as much as Caran D’Ache…yikes!… but I still love you too)
- Not available at all art stores (at least not where I live)
- Not available in as many colours as some other brands
- Not as easy to initially blend compare to other wax based pencils (in my opinion)
For more information on this product you can visit Faber-Castell’s website here:
Please Note: I am in no way being paid to promote this product. The opinions in the blog post are my own.
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