BEST OIL BASED Colored Pencils (POLYCHROMOS Alternative?)

[@tcconnection]

The details you include for viewers are unparalleled, you are so appreciated

[@ShoshiPlatypus]

Excellent review and comparison. I've just bought a 36-set of Polychromos and anticipate being mega thrilled with them. I also bought the full 72-set of Amazon Basics after reading excellent review of these pencils - I'd love to hear your opinion of them! I already have a set of 72 Derwent Coloursoft which are excessively soft and waxy, and the Amazon Basics seem to fall somewhere between these and the Polychromos, so I think I've now got all bases covered. New subscriber!

[@BitsOfLifePaperCrafs]

Thank you for taking the time to do such an in depth comparison of these two oil based pencils. Being on a tight budget I generally have to take my pick of the budget brands. If you have some time in the near future, I would love to see a comparison of the Castle Art Gold to the Schpirerr Farben brand. So far the SF are my favorite budget oil based pencils. They only come in 72 or 96 counts, but they are very smooth and pigmented.

[@FatCat11cz]

Thank you for the comparison. Good job. I must say that as a beginning colorist, for the price of the Polys, I purchased the following Castle Arts products: 120 soft pencils, 120 gold pencils, 48 pasteltints, 48 metallics, and the 120 watercolor pencils. Hmmmmm

[@Thechristianremnantnomad]

Good for you. Becouse if you are good at being a colorist or a artist yoi have good technic you can do really awsome art with the castle art products just as good as with the expensive brands . which i do own those also but i fell in love with castle art soft touch pencils so i have 2 120 packs. And i also bought the castel pastels i love them. And now i got the 120 count water color pencils inlove them too i have never went wrong yet with my castle art purchases i love them

[@cyanoxicrose]

Wow! I am thinking of purchasing those exact same sets! How are they working out for you? Will you please let me know?

[@FatCat11cz]

@@cyanoxicrose I still use them. I have no desire to buy anything else. I. Nowhere near a professional artist, just coloring for fun and relaxation.

[@cyanoxicrose]

@@FatCat11cz that's great. I'm looking for colored pencils for my coloring books. I don't want to use my expensive ones for that. Thanks for the feedback.

[@IaconDawnshire]

I love Castlearts I just wish I could custom order specific colors to replace the ones I used up

[@foreseengust]

Polycromos are my favorite colored pencils, but I'm afraid to use them because of how expensive they are. I never had any breakage issues with prismacolors, but I still prefer polychomos. I've tried the Brutfuner and Raam Refine, they were pretty good, but nothing really feels like Polychromos. Actually, the polycromos don't wear down very quickly, so they do last. This video felt like a love letter to them and I appreciate it.

[@HomeLifeWithLove]

At least with Polychromos pencils, if you break one or run low on one or some, you can replace them individually. You don’t have to replace a full set if you use up your black or favorite red.

[@shawnajacobs5757]

Check out Nyoni and MarkArt. They're are similar to Holbien which may be like Polychromos. I don't have those yet.

[@cheri_bling]

I thought you had a pillow on the corner of your desk until that cute little head popped up.

[@ladynym89]

I love those videos. There is something I really appreaciate about some brands (like Faber Castell), and it's their sustainability, you know exactly where the pencils come from. Many other brands are made in China and sometimes two boxes of the same product are different.

[@Hguychildandyouth]

I love the swatch charts you make available! They are so well thought out by the both of you. My daughter and I are looking forward to printing them and getting to work. Thank you so much.

[@tcconnection]

Yes, a black pencil battle would be great!

[@evelynl.4554]

Yes! Thank you for this review!!!! Yes, yes, yes! Exactly what I needed to make my decision! EDIT: (after watching video) I’m not surprised that Polychromos won, and I would expect it to for the price range! Castle Arts can also hold its own against Polychromos for being an economic colored pencil. I appreciate the effort and thought you put into testing the pencils! The majority of testing points that were graded are not important factors for me when using CPS, and other points are a matter of technique for me. For example, crumbs don’t bother me. I usually lay down colored pencil in multiple very light layers to get the smoothest blending possible so I NEVER get crumbs because of my technique. For blend-ability of the colors, I personally thought the Castle arts looked more beautiful than the streaky looking Polychromos. For blending, I use different techniques including multiple very light layers and once the colored pencils are near burnished and how I want them, I finish off the blending with odorless paint thinner/mineral spirits to make sure there are no white specks of the paper showing. The white specs happen because of the tooth and crevices of the paper. Then when the piece is finished I lock it in with spray varnish because ALL pencils rub off when touched no matter what the companies claim. The only thing that really matters to me is if the pigment is richer than store brand crayola and that it works with my own personal techniques to create vibrant and rich colors. I use many different techniques to get smoother blending which I have applied to my now dwindling Prismacolor and my used up FC Polychromos, and I’m sure I can apply my techniques to castle arts pencils to get the same beautiful results. And so, because of my personal techniques and new budget, I am convinced that the Castle Arts is perfect for me. Your videos have really helped me and I appreciate it so much! I am most likely going to go with castle arts soft and the pastels instead of gold because of the price point , because many people say they prefer the soft and because in another one of your videos the soft seemed to perform as good as gold. The only thing I’m wondering about is how the castle arts will perform over watercolor and with India and acrylic ink for my mixed media pieces. I would love to see a video of you using Castle Arts over dried watercolor !! Anyway, thanks so much and have a beautiful and blessed day!

[@pattytolliver2651]

I'm all for the black pencil comparisons. Love those Polys.

[@vivvv2630]

Hi, Jennifer! Thank you for the thorough video! I’ve heard many people say that you have to “learn“ how to properly use the FC Polychromos pencils. Do you have any videos on this? I recently received a set, and would love to get up the learning curve quickly.

[@elainebrown160]

Love my polychromes but I have not tried the Castle Art Gold. Thanks for the comparison.

[@marybarcenas8929]

Hi guys thank you so much for this helpful videos. I'm from México and polychromos are very expensive here, i'm happy to know i have other options.

[@alanaherbert8510]

I managed to score the 120 set of Polychromos in a wooden box for under $200 AUD (about $145 USD) in June 2021. The case itself is a work of art, let alone the pencils. We can’t easily get Castle Arts pencils here in Australia, they end up being about the same price as Polychromos.

[@Ivefuckinghadenough]

Thats scam but any Faber-Castell product here in Turkiye is really expensive, but not Castle Arts. It's one of the cheapest brands here. I'm going to buy a full set of Polychromos when I move back to Germany.

[@sherleysreallife]

Enjoyed the video. I think we got lots of information. Thank you Jennifer.

[@tracylamb5272]

I really like your videos/ comparisons. Could you compare Brutfuner oil based to Castle art Gold? I think that would be very informative.

[@Melisendre]

I have the soft touch and some of the other good budget pencils. I like them all especially the soft touch. But I was on the point that some of my pencils were getting smaller and smaller. And some other colors I have never used. So I decided to switch to an open stock brand. Now I own 60 Polychromos. It's enough to start with. You don't need 120 colors. I also learned that it's not only the pencils. I own coloring books from different publisher and the paper makes a huge difference. I was not so happy with the polychromos but currently I tried another coloring book and I very satisfied with the result.

[@nizzevianna]

I really love your videos and how detailed they are. They are amazingly useful and aid a lot when choosing brands and kind of materials. The soft and gold comparison and this one are great to see differences between wax and oil based cores. If anything I'd love if you could add coloring actual drawings on them. As much as I LOVE swatches seeing them "in action" gives a more realistic notion of how they work and there's few videos that take that in consideration in reviews. A small sped up clip of you actually using them in coloring with a few comments on how it feels to actually use them and if that changed your impression on any test previously made for example would be really helpful. Lastly I confess that there's one thing that got me curious, and that is the pigmentation of the pasteltint pencils on other media like the black and toned papers. I wonder if the white in it would make it pop better or if that would make them more transparent. I also wonder if using a white pencil as base first in the black paper would make any difference in them and the metalic ones. Thank you for another fantastic vídeo!

[@sallytreloar6425]

Would love to see a comparison between castle gold, black widows and arteza! Think the are more affordable most widely used pencils.Thanks for this really helpful.

[@cherylbirchard9482]

I'm on the fence with the Gold pencils, I have the soft touch and are very happy with those. Looking forward to the comparison!!

[@taikatalvi1973]

Hello Jennifer and Happy Easter from Germany. I wanted to tell you that you make really great videos and it's a lot of fun and it's also very easy to understand your language. That's sometimes a bit difficult with other videos by Americans. By the way, I am also a big fan of Castle Arts products and paint with them a lot. Keep it up. Greetings from Alexander from Berlin👍👍👍

[@marjoriewinston8275]

Thanks for the head to head contest between these two.

[@deekelly5415]

Thanks for the review. My deal breaker is that the castle pencils are not available in individual pencils.

[@debmcgowan9852]

No surprise who won. I have both and use both and more... right now I'm on love with Widow. It's a journey to find what works best for me in my location of north Texas. Thank you both for this extreme pleasure of watching this "battle." It was a lot of fun and educational!!

[@emilyharrington2219]

The sound was really interesting to me as a theatre and music person. It sounded like they were different pitches which is really cool.

[@JMHaleSeattle]

Thank you Jennifer, Steve, &’Rosie too. After trying a couple ‘bargain’ priced sets, I’m staying with the good stuff. So - Polychromos, my favorites. And for Xmas, I got some Luminance pencils - wowee! Getting to used to those on a page now. / TY for the thoughtful work. Always interesting! 🤓🐶

[@Colorfullife2046]

I love your videos they are always so informative,I have all the castle art pencils on my wish list I think they look amazing tyfs.

[@lawrenceballard7471]

Thank you, Jennifer and Steve! You guys are awesome and are forever in my prayers. I hope I win because I've never had any of the Castle Art products!! :-)

[@Mirrigold]

Superb video with loads of really useful information, glad Steve mentioned about the wax look because, for me, the Gold still feels way more like a wax based pencil not an oil one, they have that "soft/squish" in their core than the Polychromos. Plus, as they lay down on the paper, they don't feel like an oil pencil which is - imho anyways - a much "drier" feel even when they're superbly pigmented like the Polychromos. I felt the Gold were probably more "oily" than the Soft but still not an oil-based feeling pencil for me and I totally agree with you about the "skating" feeling with the Gold after about four/five layers, again leads me to thinking they're not really a true oil pencil like the Polys, Pablos, Derwent Lightfasts etc. I have been lucky though that I don't seem to get crumbs with my Gold pencils (using them in Colouring Heaven magazines mostly rather than coloured pencil paper, so that might be a factor). I'd love a "best black" video!

[@m1churr0]

THANK YOU FOR COMMENTING THIS

[@ninaanns7226]

Loved your new post. Love learning new things to look for. Never knew there was so much thought to what sort of pencil. Btw Rose is absolutely adorable 💕

[@roseannmalone3169]

Wow wow wow stunning giveaway, bless you both so generous. Love your videos, watch them lots, the information you give in them is amazing and certainly helped me in the past .

[@uniquelyunexpected8241]

These pencils would be a fantastic birthday gift!!! I love how thoroughly you compare and test pencils.

[@dianaallen7586]

Wow I would be happy to win even one of these. Thank you for the comparison.

[@marvelenia6702]

The big plus for the faber castell polychromos is that you can buy open stock. I think it is really a big nono if you cannot buy open stock. It makes me hesitant to use my favorite colors..

[@elenak5969]

I would love to Test These! Great work as always 👍🏼🌸

[@krislair8019]

I'm not so sure about the gold, mainly because of the price. But I would love to win the set to be able to find out myself. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.

[@webpig711]

Didn't scroll through all the comments, so I don't know if somebody already said that: Polychromos no longer have serif lettering of the colour name. It is now an sans serif/Arial type font.

[@ArtJourneyUK]

Will the Tri-Tone workbook be based on the Soft Touch or Gold Castle Arts pencils (plus Pastel Tints)?

[@juttabaxter7760]

It's not the quantity, it's the quality that matters.

[@StnFlwr]

I don't have much experience, but I've been using the Gold 72 set and really like them for coloring. My dahl crank sharpener works beautifully. Only thing is they aren't available open stock, which is why I wanted to see your comparison. But I still can't make up my mind. 😆

[@melmarz4664]

the best deepest darkest black coloured pencil is the ivory black by derwent drawing. Having used from crayola to derwent lightfast and everyone in between

[@NelaDunato]

It's true, Derwent Drawing has a very dark black value, but I find that it leaves plenty of white spots compared to Polychromos since it's so soft. It gets blunt and crumbly, whereas the Polychromos makes a more consistent layer throughout. The combination of both might work better than each of them individually? (I'm talking about dry pencils, no solvents. I personally don't use solvents.)

[@melmarz4664]

@@NelaDunato I agree maybe together they would make an excellent combo and same here i try to avoid oms as best i can

[@jicolourist]

It would be nice to see you do a coloured picture with the castle arts vs FC Polychromos

[@mjpete27]

I hope you do the soft touch from castle arts they look to be the better pencils, but that is always a choice right? Wonderful video Thank You!

[@claudiakoprinock1501]

I really appreciate your videos. Your husband really backs you up. That is the all-American business! Bravo for you guys. I’m happy your view on the polychromos. I would be so angry at ppl who just amituar coloring complain that the polychromos are too fat and they don’t blend. You understand the professional artist. You know we want the sharp point that stays pointed longer than prismacolors. Polychromos are just sure and tried. They are the best. The wood is even from their own trees. They care about their pencils. Their tins aren’t junky but strong. I’ve had mine 8 yrs. and I put piles of books on it and it didn’t wear out. Castle arts are a good budget pencil. You should listen to Reanea Clark video on Brufuner square pencils. She found out about all the budget pencils. They basically come from one stock of pencils. She also said Polychromos Faber Castell are the best. Thanks again. The caliper is used like when you go fishing. Put the pencil between the nose then a number comes on the screen. God bless thanks again!

[@christineingram55]

Even though I love my polys I still would love to have a go with these Gold pencils.But at the moment their a bit out of my reach .!will put some away as you have to have the full set.I keep my polys in a case as well as their Durers.The whole range of colours of the pencils is actually 175 I believe .I must get the chart from Faber Castel and mark all my colours off lol 🥰

[@karenhowsmon2494]

Thank you for the time you have takin to do this comparison . I am interesting in entering the give away but it may have closed. Cannot find a specific place to do that

[@whooohknewwhooohknew4469]

This was a fun video. I bought star joy gold. It is getting great reviews

[@ladyspurs]

I love my castle arts pencils. But I’m looking for a comparison sheet for Prismacolor pencils and castle. Every color-along uses Prismacolor pencils, and I would love a quick chart to look at for those. Thank you.

[@irenecallahan6518]

I love how thorough you are when you do these reviews. They are always so interesting. Please enter me in your incredible giveaway. You are so generous. I always look forward to your videos.

[@kimrichmond6308]

I liked the idea of the sound comparison- - hopefully you’ll add that to the new testing layout.

[@artandmorewithrachelnicole]

Love the Oil Based Colored Pencils 😊

[@janicehayashibara5271]

I love the castle arts gold coloured pencils but mine went through hard times in the mail and two kept breaking when I tried to sharpen them 😭

[@dhm304100]

I have liked the Amazon Basics and Deli colored pencils. For being fairly budget colored pencils, they are fun to use!

[@michellemccombieX]

Very cool way of comparing. Comparing is something I do a lot because I am a pencil collector of course lol. I've just never broken it down quite like this. So its cool. What would make it even better would be if we could find a way to hide which pencil is which. Then do the tests. I only say this becuase of watching people compare pencils a lot and from my own experience. And we're all biased when it comes to certain ones. And no matter how hard a lot of us try, there are times we choose our favorites no matter how close it might be. But anyway, either way, this is great! I'm going to start doing it this way from now on.

[@russellwatts4179]

I would like to see you compare Scholastic brand colored pencils against F B Polychromos. At effectively 1/4th the price, I have found them to be remarkably similar but I would really appreciate your input.

[@paulaajohnson2597]

I've always liked Schpirerr Farben oil-based pencils. To me, Castle Arts pencils have a cheap, waxy feel and dull pigmentation.

[@spookywife7673]

I just discovered your channel. Now I been trying to find time to binge watch your videos. I am feeling lucky on on your giveaway as the drawing is on my birthday. I own on set of polys but been on fence with the gold castles pencils. So if don’t win. I taking my birthday money to get my first set. Thank you for great Content.

[@joycevaughn8522]

I really enjoy this video I learn a lot each time thank you so very much

[@Thechristianremnantnomad]

I only like the castle art soft touch i have prisma premier and faber castel polychromos i use castle art soft touch becouse they are between a prisma and a poly chromos so i bought 2 120 count castle art soft touch to use along with my other pencils. I am loving my castle art soft touch

[@camushii]

thank you for reviewing these! as a sidenote your makeup looks so pretty!!

[@steveh1088]

Thank you for the comparison. It seemed like you had your mind made up pretty early on.

[@tbm7187]

So debating if I want the golds or not. I already have a dup oil blend. But poly's are so expensive!

[@joangee2423]

Great comparisons. Keep the info coming. Love watching.

[@Cara84de]

try the dahle 133.. never any breakages anymore and it's also surprisingly cheap! Also it doesn't leave masks in the wood

[@deannareti7205]

Cool jen and Steve God Bless you both 💯🙏😊🙏

[@oliviahancook5195]

I do have both gold and soft castle arts which I do like a lot but I dont think I push hard on the pencils as you do.

[@LeeDee5]

Polychromos are unmatched. A few years ago I would've been the person looking for the best alternatives but now my mindset is that stick to the best instead of constantly looking. I know Polys are pricey but they also last longer which saves you money in the long run.

[@487tiedomi]

This would be so amazing to win and I do lives on my FB coloring group and I will mention it as well

[@bethmegansmith4642]

I have Just brought a 60 set and will order the rest open-stock if I like them

[@wendymaddock7705]

Rosie beautiful xx I love her pillow bless her she a good girl xx I have 4 cats and one of my cats RIVER love me colouring in xx she sits on my book she never runs off with my pencils I’ve got a pic of her on my worlds of flowers xx enjoyed the video xx

[@debmcgowan9852]

Thanks for the oportunity to sign up for the "giveaway!" I look forward to winning!! 😁

[@patriciahilmerthaaksma2593]

I like the polychromes but I must see I’m very surprised over te castle

[@theresabellflower8123]

What paper do you use to print your sheets on?

[@ArtistOnTheRoad]

Thank you for another great video!

[@janetshaffer423]

How are Polychromos for skin tones?

[@therasiathecook]

I am not sure if you did that... but I would love to know ur opinion about Lyra Rembrandt polycolor or koh inoor polycolor...

[@lovethelordjesuspraisethel3286]

Ms Jennifer..May I say I LOVE YOUR PINTEREST PAGE!! Sooo many Beautiful Drawings.. I know As SOONNN As I can..I WILL be purchasing.. I need Ink in my Printer..AND WHOAA.. I Seen prices at one store about doubled 😳.. soo I'll be looking elsewhere.. oh, you use ALOT..Of ink.. is there a place You know of or Any on here that the price is not too bad??.. Love hugs to you and all..🙏🤟❣

[@isabelwilliams3357]

Six years with prisma premiere and love them immensely.😊

[@iapprove8392]

Wouldn't a very sharp pencil penetrate the tooth of the paper and get rid of those white speckles? Thanks.

[@panchmishalirannaghar]

Absolutely beautiful sharing dear friend...

[@marytesta3003]

Pencils are so confusing. I love all of your reviews and wish I saw these before I got the 150 Prismacolor pencils.

[@iamwooth1729]

I love my prismacolors but I guess it depends on what you're into when it comes to colored pencils.

[@marytesta3003]

@@iamwooth1729 I feel like I spend more time sharpening than coloring. I like them ok. I'm not an artist selling so for me I wouldn't have invested as much knowing more about other brands. I do like the open stock concept though for sure.

[@iamwooth1729]

@@marytesta3003 I guess I've lucked out cause I haven't had much issues sharpening them. I use the Kum sharpener tho. I've also seen good things about the Brutfuner and Arteza colored pencils. Gotta give them a shot to see if they're a good alternative to Prismacolor. 🤔

[@angiepangie989]

I've got the same box in my online cart, I just so happened to pick up three single Prismacolor premier pencils at hobby lobby and I fell in love. I'm a basic bitch tho and I've only ever really used crayola pencils so coming from Crayola the Prismacolors are amazing me lol. Do you regret it?

[@cindyduran4236]

Excellent job and great information!

[@tbm7187]

And now for your lovely assistant! 😂👏

[@ladyinblack3398]

Polychromos are easy to to read but the Lumin a nice are troublesome to read in silver on the tiny surface.

[@gabrieledrewery5910]

For pencil appearance I would award the win to Faber Castell because I don't have to look hard to find the color I want as the outside is the color on the inside.

[@constance9789]

Which 120 Polycromos size pkg do you recommend, I don’t know why the different pricing per all the 120 pkg with 3 different price range Amazon. Which one?

[@emilyharrington2219]

I would love to see a video like this comparing like crayola colored pencils to a better brand. I’ve heard and know the better one is better but I would love to see exactly what that means and see how the experience with crayola would head to head compare to a more expensive brand.

[@aghost9694]

Now I'm not seeing my last comment. I've tried downloading the colored pencil battle a few times and it keeps coming up as the other one (the name of it escapes me right now). Can you please look into it? I'd love to have the battle one.

[@4pawshppytails]

Great give away, good luck everyone

[@nattyw495]

I really appreciate your review of art supplies thank you. I had surgery on my arm can you recomd a rezlly soft colored orncil brand till i get my strength back i thought if i could i just like to color to help tegain strength and mobility and dexterity back.....ive been watching so many colored pencil videos to try to determine just a soft colors pencil i d just purschase a medium size set of of poly chromosomes to help..with my rehab of mobilitythank you again look foward to watch your watercolor review......Mikelle art mom✍🎨👩‍🎨

[@aghost9694]

Question about oil based pencils. I'm very sensitive to certain smells. I bought a budget oil set and had to return them bc the smell was so bad it almost instantly gave me a headache. Unfortunately it has kept me from buying the polys. Could it be from the fillers and such used in the budget sets?

[@jicolourist]

I did not find my Poly smell at all. You can always air pencils out over night if they initially have a smell. It is usually the fact of the packaging that causes the smell.

[@aghost9694]

@@jicolourist I let them air out for a few days and it did nothing to help. I wish it had bc I loved the color range.

[@katemmart]

My polychromos set had no smell when I I opened it. I could barely smell the wood, compared to my Derwent color soft pencils which smelled heavily like wood when I first opened those. But like the previous poster said, if you get some pencils with a smell you can always leave them open somewhere usually in a day or less that smell will go away.

[@Stardancer11]

I have never had a problem with off gassing odors with my polychromos sets. Had a terrible off gassing odor when I opened the Castle Art Gold's. 🤷

[@aghost9694]

@@Stardancer11 thank you for saying this. I considered the golds and so glad I didn't order them. I really love everything I've seen so far about the polys but still apprehensive to jump.

[@leeweesbreeze9001]

Awesome Jennifer

[@AFAskygoddess]

❤ I love your sweet fur baby ❤

[@leneprior1044]

Thank you for this information

[@Stardancer11]

I personally do not like the Castle Arts Gold pencils AT ALL. I do like the Castle Arts SoftTouch pencils better than the Gold's but not a Castle Arts fan overall. LOVE my FC Polys! 💖

[@deannareti7205]

I wud love to get some Polychromos

[@cathycathywild5145]

j ai les 120 castle art soft j ai voulu les completer par une boite de 24 polychromos puis j ai eu l occasion d avoir les 60 couleurs classique de faber castell pour 14 euros, je me suis dit quils completeraient mes 24 polychromos mais en fait dans les couleurs classiques ont retrouve les couleurs des polychromos et comme j aimais mieu la precision de la mine des couleurs classique j ai revendu mes polychromos, je trouve que le melange castle art et couleurs classiques va tres bien! je vais acheter aussi les blackwood de faber castell pour dessiner sur papier noir et coloré car je trouve que castle art polychromos et couleur classique ne sont pas tres bon sur papier noir ou couleurs foncées

[@fabienneplouffe7344]

je te croit son les meillieur. j aime quand tu compares les crayons pour nous dire les quel sont bon ou moyen ou plus bas prix . et comment les etuliser wow. bonne journée.

[@kevinwossidlo7421]

Hi from a french Canadian from Quebec