The Best Colored Pencils

After considering dozens of colored-pencil sets and spending six hours testing 13 popular sets, including one marathon two-hour session with about 60 kids and parents, we’ve decided that our top pick for someone shopping for their first colored-pencil set is Prismacolor’s Premier Colored Pencils ( 24-count or 72-count ). In our tests, these pencils were among the best at color application, blending, and durability. They lay down rich, vibrant color and are as fun to draw with as pencils from sets twice the price. We recommend these pencils for any beginning colored-pencil artist or coloring-book enthusiast, or even for a serious child artist.

Although Prismacolor’s Premier Colored Pencils are considered artist grade, we think they’re a great choice for most people—from older elementary-school-age kids to adults—because they’re so satisfying to work with and affordable. They’re also widely available at art-supply stores and online, in case you ever want to replace or add colors. The pencils are well-made and easy to sharpen, and they come in a durable metal box. The 24-count offers enough colors for most beginners, but if you want to expand your palette, the 72-count set is a great upgrade. (You can also buy packs of 36, 48, 132, and even 150 pencils, if you prefer.)

If the Prismacolor Premier set sells out, we recommend getting the 24-count Staedtler Ergosoft Triangular Colored Pencils set. These pencils were equal to the Premier pencils in vibrancy, in the quality of the lead, and in durability. We also prefer the Staedtler packaging—a grooved plastic case that turns into a stand. But these pencils are about 35 percent more expensive (roughly $1.12 per pencil, compared with the Prismacolor Premier 24-count’s roughly 85¢ per pencil). If you want a better case, get this set. Otherwise, we don’t think it offers quite as good of a value for most people.

The 24-count Prismacolor Scholar Colored Pencils set offers good quality at a great price. When we compared this set against the Premier set, the Scholar pencils were almost as good as their artist-grade counterparts, but the lead was firmer and didn’t lay down as smoothly. This set comes in a less comprehensive color range, and the plastic packaging is less durable than the Premier set’s metal case. The pencils in the Scholar set come out to about 55¢ per pencil, so they’re just a bit cheaper than the Premier pencils (85¢ per pencil). But if you want to invest in a bigger set—say, for a kid who wants a lot of colors—those cents can add up, and the Scholar pencils may be the way to go.

If you’re investing in a colored-pencil set, we recommend getting the Prismacolor Premier Pencil Sharpener to keep your pencils pointy. This was our favorite of the five new sharpeners we tested in 2018, and the favorite of our panel of kid testers. It has a small hole for sharpening standard colored (or graphite) pencils, and a larger hole for cutting colored pencils at a shallower angle (as well as for oversize pencils). The integrated shavings container allows you to sharpen without standing over a trash can, and its cover lets you throw it in a bag without worrying about escaped shavings. We think the sleek design will appeal to artists of all ages.