Pencils reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 169 Reddit reviews across 13 subreddits and 40 posts to rank the best Pencils brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/ColoredPencils, r/pencils, r/mechanicalpencils, r/AdultColoring, r/Coloring. Top-rated brands include Prismacolor (4.1/5), Faber-Castell (4.4/5), Faber Castell (4.2/5).
Stats
Reviews169
Subreddits13
Posts40
Brands60
Products70
169 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Prismacolor
4.1
(24)
"Prismacolor Premier- available in sets as small as 12 and as large as $150- not necessarily cheap, but they're cheap for what they are and they're excellent."
"In the USA its prismacolor. Top quality, easy to blend and cheap."
"Prismacolor Premier is so soft and so fun to color and shade with."
"Prismacolor hands down."
"I recommend the Prismacolor Premier, which is very pigmented and easy for blending."
"I will def check out the prismacolor ones. If the quality is as good as it used to be, it definitely beats Crayolas."
"Affordable coloured pencils: Prismacolor."
"Prismacolors! I used those when doing professional illustration work"
"Prismacolors!"
"Prismacolor is what I use. I bought most of mine from a site called Cheap Joe's Art Stuff."
#2
Faber-Castell
4.4
(16)
"Faber-Castell Polychromos is harder and better at finer details."
"I recommend the faber castell 9008 steno. Comes in a couple grades and is very smooth and high quality imo."
"Erasers: Sakura foam or Faber Castell 18 71 20 dust-free."
"I got a 36 set of polychromos for about $50!"
"There's a difference with color ease, density and blending the Faber-Castell is much more rich."
"The best Faber Cast."
"In Europe Faber-Castell polychromos or caran d’ache Pablo or luminance are easier to find."
"Polychromos from Faber-Castell Hands down my favourite."
"My favorite nice affordable cp are Faber Castell black edition"
"Faber Castell are great too."
#3
Faber Castell
4.2
(11)
"Faber Castel Polychromos are really nice for things like outlining and details."
"Faber Castell Polychromos."
"I use Faber castell's polychromos for watercolor, good quality and you can buy specific colors individually."
"Faber Castell black edition. A few Polychromos open stock in favorite colors, try out before buying set as they are hard pencils."
"I like Faber Castell Black Edition."
"The polychromos are nice if you can afford them."
"Faber Castell Polychromos."
"Faber Castell Polychromos."
"Faber Castell Black Edition."
"I would do fabor castell... Either the student grade or you can do polychromos."
#4
Blackwing
4.4
(9)
"There is also the Blackwing essentials sampler which includes an excellent manual sharpener and point protector."
"Pencils: Blackwing 602 - plenty smooth and dark, doesn’t dull as fast as the matte and erases easier."
"I think you'd enjoy the 602 and the Matte versions of their pencils."
"I'm pretty basic and I love Blackwing 602s for writing."
"Lastly, I’ll use Blackwing matte for finer, personal notes."
"They are great pencils, but if you are looking for something around 8B, they may not be the tool for you."
"I would try out the Audition pack, which includes one of each grade of graphite that Blackwing makes."
"Creative tasks I can recommend a 602, 9852B, kitaboshi 9500 hb."
"Blackwing natural is hard to beat in my opinion."
#5
Pentel
4.7
(7)
"Pentel Kerry Sharp - superb design, comfortable."
"Came here to recommend the Kerry as well"
"The Pentel Kerry, I find, is great because it has a cap and its cap can be posted. It is a well-made mechanical pencil."
"I’d also highly recommend the pentel multi 8 which is something I didn’t know was possible and you can replace the leads with other ones."
"Pentel orenz nero with autoadvance mechanism. I've stopped looking at other pencils after buying this one."
"My recommendations would be the Pentel Twist Erase (0.9mm) and had a twist out eraser."
"The 0.9mm Pentel 209 is a robust option."
#6
Castle Arts
3.6
(8)
"You can get really decent pencil sets from Castle Arts for a good price"
"They're pretty decent for the price and have a good colour range."
"The Gold are awesome for the price in my opinion, pretty soft, nice colours."
"I have castle arts pencils, both their standard and gold ranges, and think they're great. Very soft and creamy with great colour payoff."
"I like castle arts"
"They’re fine for cheaper pencils."
"I think Castle Art works just fine."
"The colors were nice, I liked them overall."
#7
Derwent
4.1
(7)
"Derwent, Fabre Castel, prisma all felt like a big step up."
"Derwent. They all come packed in metal tins, and unless you're buying individual pencils, I've never had broken lead issue."
"Derwent or Faber Castell. Both brands are common in UK art stores."
"I suggest looking at the derwent or fabre castel ranges. Both do watercolour or oil / wax based pencils."
"They have loads of different lines of pencils, and there is something for everyone. Generally they are a high-quality brand."
"Derwent Chromaflow or Faber-Castell Black Edition are both good quality, but not too expensive."
"Also consider the Derwent Coloursoft."
#8
Brutfuner
4.0
(6)
"For budget pencils Brutfuner/Kalour/ShuttleArt/Soucolor - ETC ETC ETC - are the ones to buy."
"Brutfuner squares are good"
"My favorite budget for wax is Brutfuner Squares."
"The best set of budget pencils are the Brutfuner or the HuHuHero set."
"If you're gonna use them for coloring, I'd suggest Brutfuner square pencils."
"Brutfuners are cheap and plenty here. I substitute them for Prismacolors and Polychromos"
#9
Musgrave
4.8
(5)
"Musgrave sampler too"
"Musgrave has a sample pack also."
"Get the Musgrave seconds box. $5 plus shipping for 144 good pencils."
"Everything I’ve used from Musgrave is great!"
"Musgrave Greenbelt is a really nice pencil that recently came out."
#10
Staedtler
4.6
(5)
"Writes very smoothly."
"They're great!"
"For graphite, I prefer STAEDTLER Mars Lumograph 6B. Super dark, shows up under performance lights, and erases well."
"I don't have the colored pencils but i do have the fine liners and some other things from the brand, and i like them."
"Staedtler Noris."
#11
Kalour
3.8
(5)
"Just type in Kalour. It will bring up several size sets"
"I know this may sound ignorant, but I had never heard of the Kalour ones."
"Kalour coloured pencils for budget friendly were actually quite solid pencils."
"For pencils, an inexpensive option is Kalour. I love mine."
"Kalour - they are made in the same factory as brutfiner just have a differrent label and cost much much less"
#12
Mitsubishi
4.5
(4)
"Also a Mitsubishi 9852 B, standard pencil eraser combo and the eraser is incredible."
"I really like the Mitsubishi 9850 HB for everyday writing."
"Cedar Pencils: Mitsubishi 9852 or Mitsubishi 9850."
"Basically any Japanese HB should do the trick. Mitsubishi 9852EW."
#13
Caran D'ache
4.3
(3)
"Got a set years ago, on a sale. Still going. I love them so much."
"And Caran D'ache Pablo lines which are the more affordable lines."
"Caran D'ache all three brands have various levels of quality and price points."
#14
Amazon Basics
3.7
(3)
"For someone that age, Amazon Basic 72 set. I have a friend who's 12 years old and wanted to learn how to color."
"I’m enjoying Amazon basics"
"The pencils from Amazon, "Amazon Basics" is a 72 count set and are good for the price."
#15
Caran d'Ache Luminance
5.0
(2)
"Caran D’ache Luminous are the most expensive set you can buy and highly recommended."
"Professional artist level (high lightfastness): Caran d‘Ache Luminance."
#16
Rotring
5.0
(2)
"I've used my 0.7mm Rotring 600 for writing as a daily driver, and had no issues."
"I use my (still new; one month old) Rotring 600 0.7mm mechanical pencil for writing notes and drawing sketches. I love it!"
#17
Prismacolor Colored Pencils
5.0
(2)
"My favorite tool to colour with is Prismacolor colored pencils."
"I prefer colored pencils (Prismacolor) for coloring and my amateur art."
#18
Jetpens
5.0
(2)
"Yeah, Jetpens is awesome, they have an HB sampler that is nice."
"Jetpens has great samplers. Start with that."
#19
ProUse
5.0
(2)
"ProUse 241 even better but hard to get still."
"ProUse 171 is great."
#20
Crayola
4.5
(2)
"Crayola Colored Pencils"
"The cheapest most reliable and colour fast pencils you can get are the standard kid Crayola pencils."
#21
Caran d'Ache
4.5
(2)
"For colored pencils I like caran d’ache red/blue."
#22
Arrtx
4.0
(2)
"Arrtx, Arteza, black widow are praised for their quality and blendability."
"For the purposes you’ve listed, Arrtx 126 on Amazon."
#23
USA Titanium
4.0
(2)
"USA Titanium pencils - those write nice and dark."
"A few pencils I like are the USA Titanium."
#24
USA Gold
3.5
(2)
"I grew up with USA Gold. Despite having a bunch of overly fancy crap now due to being an adult, I still keep them around."
"They could be better, but they are a budget-friendly option that is way better than Dixon products."
#25
Platinum
5.0
(1)
"In my opinion the Platinum Pro Use 171 is the best. Firstly because it has no nock and you can still hide the guide pipe. Second because it has a lead cushioning system or hardening choice. Third because it's all metal and the design."
#26
Blick
5.0
(1)
"The Blick Premier. This M.P. (imo) *decimates* the graph gear 1000 in *every* way"
#27
TWSBI
5.0
(1)
"Twsbi Precision is one of the best regardless the price."
#28
Midori
5.0
(1)
"I like Midori MD. It's the only notebook I found that is toothy enough for pencils but can handle fountain pens and wet pens well too."
#29
Woomer
5.0
(1)
"I just got a set of 72 Woomer pencils... They go on the paper like satiny butter"
#30
Ohuhu
5.0
(1)
"I got to color with my Ohuhu ones tonight... They are glorious"
#31
Kum
5.0
(1)
"Ditto on Kum."
#32
Faber-Castell Polychromos
5.0
(1)
"Polychromos are made in Germany and I'm sure are a lot cheaper & are fantastic."
#33
Derwent Drawing Pencils
5.0
(1)
"Derwent drawing pencils are amazing. Made in England"
#34
Carpenter's Pencil
5.0
(1)
"Get yourself a carpenter's pencil and you won't regret."
#35
Stabilo
4.0
(1)
"I love the Stabilo Woody 3 in 1. Designed for children but has proved itself for me time and again in journalling with watercolour."
#36
KUM
4.0
(1)
"I would try a KUM two step sharpener and see if that works out."
#37
Schpirerr Farbens
4.0
(1)
"I love my Schpirerr Farbens for hobbyist coloring... set of 96 on Amazon for less than $45"
#38
Palour
4.0
(1)
"I just bought a 300 pack of palour pencils on sale at Amazon for $50 and I'm very happy with them."
#39
Starjoy Gold
4.0
(1)
"Starjoy Gold which are under $25 for 120 pencils"
#40
Kokuyo
4.0
(1)
"Kokuyo FitCurve, Sakura SumoGrip, Pentel Orenz models, Zebra Del-Guard, Pentel Twist-Erase are the pencils I found decent for cursive handwriting."
#41
Carl
4.0
(1)
"Got Carl crank sharpener and with proper using it's able even to sharpen 8B from Mars Lumograph Black, which is ... soft."
#42
Holbein
4.0
(1)
"Holbein Colored Pencils and Derwent Drawing - I prefer soft and non-scratchy"
#43
Moleskine
4.0
(1)
"For me, the moleskein cahier journal for their texture."
#44
M+R
4.0
(1)
"M+R Brass, KUM two step, Apsara long point. Any of the three should work."
#45
Prismacolor Juniors
4.0
(1)
"I also found a 6 pack of Prismacolor Juniors for $.99. I like them the best."
#46
NicPro
4.0
(1)
"NicPro 1.3mm from Amazon which is the same as the Rite in the Rain mech pencil!"
#47
Daiso
4.0
(1)
"Totally was gonna recommend checking out Daiso!"
#48
Decomposition Notebooks
4.0
(1)
"Decomposition notebooks? They’re quite cheap, and the recycled paper works just fine for pencils."
#49
Colourpencilshop
4.0
(1)
"If you need to buy online and want Prismacolor open stock there is the Colourpencilshop also."
#50
Derwent Chromaflow
4.0
(1)
"Derwent Chromaflow has my vote. More affordable than alternatives, soft, good colour payoff, easy to blend and made for colourists."
#51
Prang
4.0
(1)
"Prefer Prang as they are very vibrant in colors."
#52
Ohto
4.0
(1)
"Ohto MS01 similar and easy to obtain."
#53
Art-n-Fly
4.0
(1)
"I have the 48 count art-n-fly oil based pencil crayons (£18 i think) and i think they're really good for cheaper pencils."
#54
Uni
4.0
(1)
"Even in hb it doesn't smudge much."
#55
Giotto
4.0
(1)
"If you want something a bit cheaper giotto is also a good choice."
#56
Caran d'Ache Pablo
4.0
(1)
"My personal favorites are the Caran dAche Pablos. They are expensive here in the US but last a long time and are very opaque on black."
#57
Soucolor
4.0
(1)
"These have a great range of colors and they blend pretty well."
#58
Lyra
4.0
(1)
"Maybe open stock of multiple brands so she can see exactly what she's comfortable with. Or even Lyras."
#59
Crayola Premier
3.0
(1)
"Crayola Premier are a good starter pencil but I think Kalour are the same quality or maybe even a titch better but cheaper."
#60
Crayola, Cra-Z-Art, Five Below
3.0
(1)
"I’ve used a variety of cheaper pencils (Crayola, Cra-Z-Art and even Five Below)."
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