Arteza Professional Colored Pencils Review

Arteza is a fairly new American company founded in 2015. producing high-quality art materials. In time they became very competitive on the market along bigger well-known companies in the same field, both in quality and in the price of their products.

A product that drew my attention is Arteza Professional colored pencils sets. This is an artist-grade colored pencil which can easily compete with the top grade professional colored pencils for its quality, durability and performance.

Arteza Professional color pencils can be purchased only in two sets one is 48 pencils set and another is 72 pencils set. They do not come open stock which is one of my biggest if not only remark for this excellent product.

Most artists prefer using some colours than others which means they run out more quickly and it would be very convenient having the chance to buy only the certain pencils you need.

Appearance

Pencils come in nice quality protective tin boxes. They are wax based and 4 mm wax lead is protected with sturdy round 8mm barrel. The color on each pencil barrel is exactly the same as the color what you get when you apply it on the paper.

On each pencil, there is a name and a specific number for each color written in silver letters along with the marking for lightfastness shown with stars. One star meaning the color is able to resist fading from 10 to 25 years, two stars from 25 to 100 years and three stars from 100 and above.

Colors that come in 48 pencil pack are:

Ivory, Tumeric, Lemon, Pumpkin, Yellow Ochre, Sunflower, Camel, Orange, Blood Orange, Rose Red, Carmine Red, Crimson, Magenta, Plum, Eggplant, Peony, Pink Macaroon, Peaches and Cream, Apricot, Lilac, Lavender, Amethyst, Blueberry, Ultramarine, Peacock Blue, Periwinkle, Aegean Blue, Indigo, Turquoise, Ocean Blue, Lime, Pear, Spring Green, Matcha, Mint, Emerald, Moss, Forest Green, Coyote, Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown, Garnet, Dark Chocolate, Cocoa, Noir, White Quartz, Elefant Grey and Space grey.

The colors that come in 72 pencil set are:

Ivory, Tumeric, Lemon, Pumpkin, Yellow Ochre, Sunflower, Tuscan Sun, Honey, Camel, Orange, Blood Orange, Rose Red, Carmine Red, Crimson, Magenta, Plum, Eggplant, Peony, Pink Macaroon, Peaches and Cream, Marmelade, Apricot, Fuschia, Fruit Punch, Flamingo, Coral, Purple Iris, Ube,  Lilac, Lavender, Amethyst, Blueberry, Ultramarine, Peacock Blue, Periwinkle, Aegean Blue, Robin Egg Blue, Mykonos Blue, Indigo, Turquoise, Ocean Blue, Yellow Saphire, Lime, Pear, Absinthe Green, Spring Green, Matcha, Mint, Emerald, Basil, Fern, Sage, Jade, Shamrock Green, Moss, Forest Green, Coyote, Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown, Garnet, Cinnamon, Passion Fruit, Dark Chocolate, Cocoa, Noir, White Quartz, Elefant Grey, Space Grey, Smoke, Pewter, Charcoal and Espresso

Basic characteristics and performance

Wax based 4mm lead is great for blending and layering with very little blooming and almost no flaking while drawing which makes these as good as any of more expensive artist grade pencils. Lead is also break resistant so it can be sharpened to a very thin point and won’t break even after a bit more aggressive use.

Barrels are round which can be a downside for many artists who prefer gripping a hexagonal barrel pencil but it is all in getting used to the pencil you draw with and the price is more than affordable so I think these are worth getting used to. Barrels are made of quality wood so you won’t have problems sharpening them but even so I recommend you use an electric pencil sharpener.

Pigments are strong, bright and lively. Lightfastness is good in most of the colors. My biggest remark is that there aren’t many colors to choose from but since they blend so well this won’t be a major problem. Still would recommend you to spend a little bit extra and go for the bigger set.

Cons

• Not enough colours
• No smaller sets 
• Cant be purchased open stock so if you need a replacement you have to buy the full set

Overall opinion

Great color layout, nice bright pigments, no breaking issues with the lead of the pencil, no flaking and almost no blooming even when several layers of color are applied and really competitive price may be something that will push you towards purchasing a set of these.

I won’t go so far and say they are the best or even close to heavy hitters in the color pencil industry but if you are on a limited budget I will certainly recommend buying a set of these. I think we can expect much more from this company and this brand since they are relatively new on the market so they still need to learn and improve and hopefully add more colors to the set.

If you have any questions regarding the subject you can leave them below and i will be more than happy to answer them.