Faber Castell Color Pencils Polychromos

When it comes to drawing it’s always better to use high-quality materials especially if you are a beginner. It can be very frustrating using a coloured pencil which doesn’t give the expected effect when applied to the paper and I don’t want you to get disappointed and give up before you even tried. Yes the artist grade sets are very expensive and sometimes not all can afford those but there are smaller sets which contain more than enough colours and you can always get additional colours you think you will need separately.

One of the best I used, and still am using are Faber Castell color pencils. I used many sets of that particular manufacturer and found that Polychromos is the one whit which feels the best working. It has so many great traits I don’t even know where to begin. First of all, you need to know that Faber Castell is a very old company producing quality materials for ages now.

Their products are very well known to the artists and widely used. All the materials used in production are of high-quality, attention is paid to the smallest details of the product and customer satisfaction is guaranteed.

Design

The pencil case is round barrel made of strong durable California Cedar which lays nicely in your hand and is very comfortable to use. Colours on each casing are a perfect match to the colour of the lead in it so basically what you see is what you get. The downside of that part of the design is that there is no name of the colour on the pencil itself which many artists prefer having but really I don’t see that as a disadvantage because as I said colours on the pencil case are what you get when you apply the colour on the paper. 

They come in sets of 6, 12, 24, 36, 60 and 120. Smaller sets come in nice metal cases with individual spacing for each pencil and bigger are placed in beautiful wooden cases. You can also purchase any of the pencils individually.

Usability

Oil-based pencil lead gives smooth and fine colour, when used the pencil easily glides on the paper leaving a nice and even trace. Tho its oil-based, the lead of Faber Castell color pencils is very strong and can be sharpened to use for smallest details on your drawings and it doesn’t crack even when you apply a lot of pressure on the pencil. Pigments used for the colour are intense and very permanent. Lead itself is 3.8mm which also adds to the strength of it.

Pencils are water resistant, smudge proof, acid-free with high lightfastness so if you are looking for coloured pencils that will make your drawings last for a long time these are definitely ones you should consider purchasing. Although the pencil lead is oil-based it can be mixed with wax-based pencils. There is a very wide range of different colours in the Polychromos series it comes up to 120 different colours but even if you can’t find the tone you need you can always mix them.

The feature I found most pleasing while working with these pencils is they cover large surfaces with such ease leaving nice even trace on the drawing paper and you can sharpen them to the point where you get so thin tip to work even on the smallest details and the tip never breaks.

Colours contained in 120 pack are:

White, Ivory, Cream, Light Yellow Glaze, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Light, Chrome Yellow, Dark Cadmium Yellow, Dark Chrome Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Orange Glaze, Dark Cadmium Orange, Light Cadmium Red, Scarlet Red, Pale Geranium Lake,Deep Scarlet Red, Permanent Carmine, Deep Red, Middle Cadmium Red, Dark Red, Madder Alizarin Crimson, PinkCarminee, Rose, Carmine, Light Purple Pink, Fushia, Magenta, Light Magenta, Pink Madder Lake, Middle Purple Pink, Crimson, Manganese Violet, Violet, Purple Violet, Blue-violet, Mauve, Delft blue, Dark Indigo, Indanthrene Blue, Helioblue-reddish, Cobalt blue, Ultramarine, Light Ultramarine, Smalt Blue, Cobalt Blue-greenish, Phtalo Blue, MIddle Phtalo Blue, Light Phtalo Blue, Bluish Turquoise, Prussian Blue, HelioTurquoisee, Cobalt Turquoise, Light Cobalt Turquoise, Cobalt Green, Deep Cobalt Green, Hooker’s Green, Dark Phtalo Green, Chrome Oxide Green Fiery, Phtalo Green, Emerald Green, Light Phtalo Green, LIght Green, Grass Green, Leaf Green, Permanent Green, Permanent Green OLive, Pine Green,Chrome Oxide Green, Juniper Green, Olive Green Yellowish, Green Gold, May Green, Earth Green Yellowish, Chrome Green Opaque, Earth Green, Caput Mortuum, Caput Mortuum VIolet, Burnt Carmine, Red VIolet, LIght-Red-Violet, Dark Flesh, Medium Flesh, LIght Flesh, Cinnamon, Venetian Red, Pompeian Red, Indian Red, Sanguine, Burnt Ochre, Terracotta, LIght Yellow Ochre, Naples Yellow, Dark Naples Ochre, Brown Ochre, Raw Umber, Bistre, Van Dyck Brown, Nougat, Burnt Umber, BUrnt Sienna, Walnut Brown, Sepia, Warm Gray VI,Warm Gray V, Warm Gray IV, Warm Gray III, Warm Gray II, Warm Gray I. Cold Gray I, Cold Gray II, Cold Gray III, Cold Gray IV, Cold Gray V, Cold Gray VI, Payne’s Gray, Black, Silver, Gold, Copper

Colours contained in 60 pack are:

White, Cadmium Yellow, Dark Cadmium Orange, Deep Scarlet Red, Magenta, Light Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue, Emerald Green, Light Green, Burnt Ochre, Walnut Brown, Black, Light Yellow Glaze, Dark Chrome Yellow, Pale Geranium Lake, Dark Red, Helioblue-Reddish, Ultramarine, Dark Phthalo Green, Earth Green Yellowish, Venetian Red, Raw Umber, Warm Grey V, Warm Grey II, Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Light Cadmium Yellow, Dark Cadmium Yellow, Permanent Carmine, Madder, Pink Madder Lake, Purple Violet, Delft Blue, Indianthrene Blue, Prussian Blue, Deep Cobalt Green, Pine Green, Juniper Green, Olive Green Yellowish, Chrome Green Opaque, Red-Violet, Medium Flesh, Sanguine, Naples Yellow, Van Dyck Brown, Burnt Sienna, Cold Grey II, Cold Grey IV, Deep Cobalt Green, Cream, Cadmium Orange, Middle Cadmium Red, Rose Carmine, Middle Purple Pink, Mauve, Dark Indigo, Cobalt Turquoise, Cobalt Green, Leaf Green, Pompeian Red, Dark Naples Ochre

Colours contained in 36 pack are:

White, Cream, Light Yellow Glaze, Cadmium Yellow, Dark Chrome Yellow, Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Orange, Leaf Green, Dark Cadmium Orange, Ultramarine, Pale Geranium Lake, Rose Carmine, Middle Purple Pink, Magenta, Light Ultramarine, Helioblue-Reddish, Cobalt Turquoise, Cobalt Green, Dark Indigo, Emerald Green, Earth Green Yellowish, Light Green, Walnut Brown, Raw Umber, Dark Naples Ochre, Burnt Ochre, Venetian Red, Pompeian Red, Black, Middle Cadmium Red, Deep Scarlet Red, Dark Red, Mauve, Dark Phthalo Green, Warm Grey II, Warm Grey V

Colours contained in 24 pack are:

White, Light Yellow Glaze, Cadmium Yellow, Dark Chrome Yellow, Phthalo Blue, Dark Cadmium Orange, Ultramarine, Pale Geranium Lake, Magenta, Light Ultramarine, Helioblue-Reddish, Emerald Green, Earth Green Yellowish, Light Green, Walnut Brown, Raw Umber, Burnt Ochre, Venetian Red, Black, Deep Scarlet Red, Dark Red, Dark Phthalo Green, Warm Grey II, Warm Grey V,

Colours contained in 12 pack are:

White, Cadmium Yellow, Phthalo Blue, Dark Cadmium Orange, Magenta, Light Ultramarine, Emerald Green, Light Green, Walnut Brown, Burnt Ochre, Black, Deep Scarlet Red

Cons

cost

Overall conclusion

This is one really good colour pencil, one I would definitely recommend to anyone. Working with such quality materials will make the process of creating very easy and extremely pleasant.

Yes, the price is high but go small, start with a little pack and just try and see if these are the ones that suit your drawing technique (i see no reason why they wouldn’t).  If you still didn’t make up your mind there are more good choices for you here.