Faber-Castell Polychromos and Pitt Graphite Matte Gift Art Set, 1 Count (Pack of 23), Multicolor 23

Great, but a bit expensive.

My oldest is really creative, always drawing pictures from her imagination and free handing things she sees that she wants to draw. I knew these would be perfect for her and she loves them! High quality, great colors, and perfect for her to have a special set that is her own.

This colored pencil gift set is BEAUTIFUL, from the presentation to the high quality pencils you really are getting your money's worth. The box it comes in is sturdy, attractive, and does a great job of keeping the pencils safe during transport. Faber-Castell has a great reputation for art supplies and these do not disappoint - the colors are vibrant, they keep their point, and allow for detailed work and fine lines. They set down very smoothly on paper. When it comes to blending they are not as soft and blendable as the other high quality colored pencils but they are truly wonderful and allow for fine detailed work. These will last a really long time in comparisons to other high quality colored pencils. I'm very impressed with these and would highly recommend them.

This is a nice pencil set with a beautiful variety of colors. It also includes some graphite pencils, a pencil sharpener, an eraser (for the graphite pencils) and a little instruction booklet. They all come in a sturdy, strong box for storage.The colors are vibrant and beautiful, and I love that each pencil has the color name printed on the side. It's so nice to have a color name as a reference. It contains a nice variety of colors for the size of the set.The instruction booklet explains how you can use different amounts of pressure and hold the pencils at different angles to get different results. And while that is definitely true and following the instructions really does help to get the look you are desiring, I just feel that it's harder to achieve the results I'm after with these pencils compared to another well-known brand of high-end colored pencils. These don't feel quite as smooth or as pigmented to me. The colors are not as rich. While they are still beautiful in their own right, it feels like I have to work harder with these to get the same result that I can get more easily with the other brand of pencil.However, they still do a really nice job and I can see myself using them for certain projects. If you love to color or you have an artistic or crafty person in your life, these would make a great and thoughtful gift.

I have used Prismacolor colored pencils since high school, and I have never been tempted to try any other brands. I was really surprised by how much I like these pencils, maybe even more than my old and trusted set. While being comparable in quality and pigmentation, I did notice that these pencils do not have the wax buildup that my other pencils have. They also come pre-sharpened, which may not seem like a big deal, but it saves me a lot of time. Overall, a really lovely set of basic colored pencils and equally nice graphite pencils for sketching.

I picked these up as a gift for my wife since she likes colored pencils and usually doesn't buy pencils of this caliber so I thought it would be a nice change. She told me they were noticeably nicer than the ones she was previously using and colored with both to show me the comparison. These are very pricey but if you're into it, they're nice and it's worth it!

Faber-Castell is the gold standard in all things pencil, and this set is a top of the line collection of most of the colors you could imagine needing: 40 colored pencils, 8 matte black pencils in various hardnesses ranging from HB to 14B, an eraser and a pencil sharpener. Each pencil is coated in a comfortable, shiny coating, has an elegant ferrule on the top that matches the pencil's color, and is engraved with the color ID number and name.I watched a documentary on the Faber-Castell factory recently, and I was really surprised by how detailed their manufacturing process is - they really do put a ton of extra care and attention into making these over your average pencil manufacturer, and you can feel that effort in every pencil stroke. It's a real treat creating with these, and if you have either an aspiring or experienced artist in your life who works in the medium, I'm confident this would be an appreciated gift. (Or, if you're the artist, it's a "treat yourself" investment you won't regret.)If I had one bit of criticism it's that the box isn't particularly premium compared to the pencils - it's just two formed plastic carrier trays. At this price point, I would have liked to see a tin, or at least a slightly higher grade tray that could be stored in a drawer or tin. Not a deal breaker, though.

These are great! You can definitely tell the difference between these and other normal pencils. Never in our lives did we think it would be worth buying anything more than the $1-$5 pack of pencils from the store. Still, this is an heavy investment but, if you take care of them then they will go a long ways in making professional-quality drawings.