Faber-Castell Pencils [Review]

Littlehelp3r
Jul 29, 2015
4 min read

So I wanted to review my beloved Faber-Castell pencils. They're nothing new and they aren't special additions or anything but I thought I'd still do it for those who want them but need persuading because of their price.

There's no doubt about it - Faber-Castell pencils are expensive (like any good art brand - or just art supplies in general) but are they really worth their price?

Short answer? Yes

Long answer? Keep reading ---

So these specific pencils come in a tin of 24. They're the colour grip ones that also turn into water colour ones when you apply water from a brush.I got mine for WHSmith and the only reason I got them was because they were half price (reduced from £20.00 to £10.00) but that's not because they aren't worth their full price but because 1.) I didn't know how good they actually were before I actually bought them and 2.) I like looking for deals --- This deal was excusively for WHSmith, I don't know the prices exactly for any other shops/websites but I'll try to find some other quotes and insert them at the bottom of this page ---

INCLUDED IN THE TIN

Inside the tin is a plastic container that holds the 24 eco-friendly pencils that are different shades of colour. They transend from white through to warm tones (reds, yellows, pinks, oranges etc) then through to cold tones (blues, purples etc) and then those of nature tones (greens and browns) and finally black and grey.

A BREAK DOWN OF THE PENCIL

As I said before these pencils are colour grip ones meaning they are triangular shaped and have small bumps in rows of two going up them. They also have a tag printed on them saying 'name' however I'm not sure if its for the buyer to write their name on them or if it's for the name of the shade (but if this is the case, there is no name indicating what the specific shade of the pencil is). The colour grip on these pencils mean they are designed to fit comfortably into the artist's hand so that prolonged usage doesn't hurt as much as normal shaped pencils. There is also a water colour feature which means if you add water using a paint brush you can blend tonnes together to create a smooth transition or if you simply want to create a water colour look however one thing I found when using water is that if you don't apply enough of the colour before hand, the shade is very light and it is very hard to build more colour on top (this is because when the page is dampened by the water, the area you are working on gets thiner and applying a sharp, harsh edge like a pencil tip tends to rip it up and the colour that is put down mixes with the water goes very dark so its hard to judge how much you do and don't need) however I'm sure with practice, you can become accustomed to them.

The sad thing about Faber - Castell pencils (or any beloved art supply) is that when you start using them, they gain a life span and if you're like me (obsessed with art - what can I say? It's my happy place, it's part of how I self express) that life span isn't very long and when their life bar runs low its time to restock. Restocking unfortuately gets very expensive. Due to their soft tips (which are lovely to work with), added pressure runs them down quickly so reserve how much you use them or the pressure you use etc or be prepared to spend some monies.

I've only used them for enough time to know how they work, I am still looking to see if I can find pencils of an equivilent quality but a much lesser price to replace them when doing casual drawing so I can reserve these beauties for my A-Level art project but I will definitely buy these again because they're just so nice to use.

SUMMARY (FINAL THOUGHTS)

Well all in all these pencils are brilliant. They have a comfortable grip, they leave a nice colour on the page and they look really nice when finished with a wet brush. However on the couple occasions that I've tried to sharpen the pencils, there are splinters and rips left where the sharpener has ripped at them. Don't get me wrong, they still sharpen but they don't look very pretty. I want to put it down to my sharpener (manual metal one they usually have in schools) but just keep it in mind that it could happen to you if it isn't the sharpener. That and the question of "how much colour do I put on the page?" when using a wet brush are the only problems I have with these beautiful pencils. They are arranged nice and their box is pretty so over-all they're presentation and quality are both really good!

PRICE COMPARE