Review of Arteza Colored Pencils

Arteza colored pencils are pretty new on the market. I mean compared to other brands we’ve all heard of like Prismacolor or Faber-Castell. I wanted to see for myself if these colored pencils would be a viable alternative to either of the other brands mentioned. Before we really get into this, I’d like to mention that I’m not an expert on colored pencils. BUT I do know how to determine the quality of a product. Read on to find out more.

All products used are linked at the bottom of the post.

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First, how did I compare these pencils to other brands? What did I base my opinion on for this review? I didn’t include all of this in the linked video. This is just for my blog readers! 🙂

I compared the variation of colors. How many colors were in the 72 pencil set of Arteza colored pencils. Were there enough colors to get a light, mid-tone, and dark?
I compared the vibrancy of the colors to other brands.
I compared how easy and well the pencil sharpener in an electric sharpener and a handheld sharpener.
I compared how easy the pencil layered on pencil paper.

Answers to my questions:

There is a good variety of colors in the set of 72. If you look at the pencil there is a designation in plus signs to tell you if the color is light, mid-tone, or dark. There’s an abundance of dark pencils with fewer mid-tone and light colors. It was a little frustrating to figure out the reasoning behind this system. So I pretty much ditched it and figured out my color combos by swatching the colors. Variation between colors wasn’t ideal but could be made to work.
The vibrancy of the colors is pretty darn good. While I was playing with these pencils, I colored a few different stamps. One set I colored with Prismacolor and one set I colored with the Arteza colored pencils. I asked Chip which one was brighter in color. He picked the Arteza colored image. I was a little shocked. He said overall he liked the Prismacolor colored pencil image better though.
I included sharpening because it’s important. The Arteza colored pencils are not nearly as soft as the Prismacolor colored pencils so they are super easy to sharpen with an electric sharpener or a handheld sharpener.
The colored core of Arteza pencils seems to have more fillers than Prismacolor colored pencils. The waxy build-up happened much faster with these pencils. Also, it wasn’t as easy to smooth color out. I colored with a super light hand and that didn’t help.

Would I recommend Arteza colored pencils?

If you want an inexpensive but pretty nice set of pencils to color in coloring books, this is the set for you. The price point is pretty good and the color options are great! In the end I wasn’t impressed with how the colors layered together. The colors to blend together very nicely but if you’re trying to get any depth, that might be difficult.

I think pencils are also great to have on hand if you want to add details to Copic coloring. You know like adding strands of hair after you’ve colored an image of a girl with long hair. Or adding really dark areas in a flower. But I wouldn’t buy these pencils for just that.

Check out more information in the video linked below.