Lyra Color-Giants Skin Tone Colored Pencils - Set of 12 count colored pencils With A 6.25mm Core - Highly Pigmented Pencils for All Artists - Durable Color Pencils Set for Drawing Coloring and More

These Lyra colored pencils are probably some of the best quality pencils around! The "lead" cores are just perfect--silky smooth feeling as they slide across the paper. My kids don't have to press super hard to get a nice rich color on their papers. That's something that always bugged me about the "cheaper" brands. My hands grow tired when I am doing even an average amount of writing or drawing with colored pencils because I have to press so hard to get any color. If they make my hands tire, imagine my young kiddos!! Not so with these! I love them and now my kids are more interested in coloring than they used to be. I bought these based on reviews and I'm not sorry I spent the extra money for the better brand.I bought the Skin Tone ones because usually a basic set of colors is lacking in the choices for this "area" of colors. Since kids draw people a lot, it makes sense to have good choices for that. I remember as a kid I was stuck using brown or yellow or tan for drawing faces and hands, and NONE of them really fit for ANYONE regardless of their skin color. Although I can't really give an educated review of the actual colors provided I will say that now we have more choices for coloring people now! Yay! I can also attest to the wonderful quality of all the LYRA colored pencils!! I'm a fan!

This set of twelve "flesh tone" pencils has a nice variety from light to dark. They do not have names or numbers, but with the wooden casing, they are easy to write a number on them and make a small chart for yourself (see picture). They are a larger pencil so you will need a large hole pencil sharpener. The comfort level will depend on whether you enjoy holding a larger pencil. Some find it more comfortable than a regular Prisma or F. C. poly, some find it less comfortable. I found it easy enough to hold the slightly thicker pencil. I am quite pleased with the options among just twelve pencils.

These pencils have large diameter cores, with a hard lead. They will stand up to heavy pressure, layering color in a variety of tints depending on the pressure used. I find the size comfortable in my grip, as an older person with less sensitive fingertips, but they require several layers or heavier pressure to get the same shade of color I expect. They probably work great for children who bear down hard while learning how to color, and with their diameter and harder lead, they will definitely be much harder to break than the smaller and softer pencils.

If there's one thing even many experienced artists agree on- it's the idea that getting the flesh tone to look just right for any given drawing is no easy task sometimes, and can make or break your work. That is where this set of thick pencils comes in. Instead of having to pick a base of your own and blend countless layers for a realistic look-these pencils already include many different skin colors. They can be used in any number of ways, as is and just filled in, mixed with one another and blended in....or used as a base with other colors and lightened darkened or highlighted to get just the look you need. They can also be used for landscape work- different shades for outdoor settings- even though they are termed a 'skin tone' set. So since they have multiple uses and ease the stress of doing portraits too, at the price they are well worth adding to your palate of colored pencils. They mix smoothly and easily and also layer quite well. You wont be disappointed.

Love the thickness of these pencils, so easy to hold with arthritic hands. The hexagonal shape helps to hold them, too and they don't roll around. Make sure to buy a large-hole sharpener. They come already sharpened. The wood on these smells amazing as you draw....my kittens are attracted to them.It's hard to color a light person's skin color with this set, it's more towards med-dark skin tones. The two light colors make the skin flat looking so look to add another of your other pencils to help, a light pink, light blue may help. These are amazing for hair color, you get a large selection to choose from. They also are amazing for landscape colors - I found myself grabbing these for trees and low-lights. The pencils are soft and don't take a lot of pressure to lay down color. These have been my new gp-to pencils for general coloring of landscape/people/animals...perfect earthen colors.