I had heard fairly positive reviews of Colore brand colored pencils in the various coloring groups I participate in on Facebook, so I was eager to try this set out for myself.
I have several different sets of colored pencils in my collection, but I was interested in this particular product because I loved the cute tin they came in. I received a 72-count Prismacolor set for my birthday last year and I’m obsessed with how convenient this makes storage after you’re done coloring. Since I know not everyone is willing or able to splurge on Prsimacolors, I was intrigued by the idea of a more affordable alternative.
What I love:
- The colors are intensely pigmented. You don’t need to press hard at all to get a nice coverage on the paper.
- Every color has a unique identifying number so you can easily keep track of your favorite color palettes.
- There is a particularly nice selection of greens, which is great if you enjoy coloring lots of nature themed images.
- There are multiple shades of the same color that are very close together, which lets you create some interesting ombre effects on your pages.
What I’m not thrilled with:
- There are no good skin tones in this set.
- You have to be careful if you tend to press hard when you color. You’ll snap the lead if you press too hard.
- I had some trouble finding a handheld sharpener that would sharpen these to a suitable point. I ended up getting the best results with my trusty electric sharpener.
Overall, I think this is a respectable buy for the colorist on a tight budget or someone who wants to buy pencils for an older child who enjoys art. They’re currently $19.88 on Amazon, which makes them a little over $20 cheaper than a comparable set of Prismacolors. If you don’t care about the fancy storage tin or would be happy with a smaller set, you can pick them up for $10 to $15. They seem to go on sale fairly regularly too.
Even if you already have several sets of pencils at your disposal, these may still be worth the money. There actually aren’t too many duplicate colors in the Colore set vs. my current set of Prismacolors, so I can myself regularly using both in the future.
[Top photo is a page from the free Happy Coloring PDF adult coloring book. Bottom photo is from Stress Less Coloring: Butterfly Gardens.]