Faber Castell 60 Piece Pitt Artist Brush Pen Set Gift Box

After dipping my toe in the water by trying my daughter’s 48 piece set, I had to buy this set of 60 for myself, as an early, errr, Halloween present, yeah. Just finished the swatches and here are the colors:Ivory (103), Light Yellow Glaze (104), Cadmium Yellow (107), Dark Cadmium yellow (108), Pale Pink (114), Apricot (116), Beige Red (132), Dark Chrome Yellow (109), Orange Glaze (113), Scarlet Red (118), Pale Geranium Lake (121), Coral (131), Deep Red (223), Deep Scarlet Red (219), Pink Carmine (127), Pink Madder Lake (129), Middle Purple Pink (125), Magenta (133), Lilac (239), Crimson (134), Purple Violet (136), Light Indigo (220), Sky Blue (146), Phthalo Blue (110), Ultramarine (120), Dark Indigo (157), Indanthrene Blue (247), Cobalt Blue (143), Ice Blue (148), Light Cobalt Turquoise (154), Cobalt Turquoise (153), Cobalt Green (156), Phthalo Green (161), Light Phthalo Green (161), Permanent Olive Green (167), Dark Phthalo Green (264), Leaf Green (112), Light Green (171), May Green (170), Earth Green (172), Chromium Green Opaque (174), Green Gold (268), Raw Umber (180), Terra-cotta (186), Sanguine (188), Cinnamon (189), India Red (192), Caput Mortuum (169), Dark Sepia (175), Nougat (178), Walnut Brown (177), Warm Grey (270), Warm Grey III (272), Warm Grey IV (273), Warm Grey V (274), Cold Grey I (230), Cold Grey III (232), Cold Grey IV (233), Cold Grey VI (235), Black (199).My daughter got these mostly for fancy lettering, but I bought them for sketching and coloring mixed media art. They are so smooth and flowy, the art practically creates itself (ok, I exaggerate slightly). Great pens and I’m happy to hear they’re pretty long lasting! Lightfast and permanent India ink with beautiful brush strokes.Would have liked more skin tones though. *

I had wanted to upgrade my pen set so I purchased a 60 brush pen set that was being sold at a good price. Colors blend well and range from light pastels to the deepest reds, blues, brown and black. Their white is a bit pale and transparent so I have had to switch to a guache acrylic for those moments in composing an image.The pens are about 4 dollars a unit so 150 dollars for 60 is a decent price. I would caution buyers to take the time to immediately open and check each pen for flow of color as there is a risk of dry pens being among the set. The first time I got 12 dry pens! I sent the set back and got an immediate replacement (thank you Amazon) which was fully functional and have used them since. I would jot the numbers of the pens as they start to dry and look to replace them online from art supply dealers that may have a better price. This way you always have your set of pens refreshed.

If you've ever used any of these pens, you know how they perform. The colors are amazing, though the set I received has five colors (114 light skin, 161 pthalo green, 220 light indigo, 239 lilac, 148 ice blue) that have replaced five "retired" colors listed on the enclosure (102 cream, 126 permanent carmine, 160 manganese violet, 174 chromium green opaque, 184 dark Naples ochre); I could not find these five colors offered for sale anywhere.The case is worth the few extra dollars I paid vs buying each pen open stock elsewhere; not only because it's a convenient place to keep them but also for the clever way that pulling the ribbon raises four of the five rows so the pens are easy to access.I've attached a quick drawing I did using 16 of the pens over white India ink (FB Big Brush). It's not a great drawing, but it does show off the richness of the colors.Incidentally, some other reviewer found the name "Indian red" to be racist. It is not; it is so named for the color of the soil in a part of India. If that's racist, so is Sienna, Burnt Umber and Venetian Red.

I love these markers - they’re my favorite for hand lettering. I love the amount of flex to the tip, and how fine the line can be. Very nice.That being said, Faber Castell ONLY honors warranty and guarantees when purchased from their specific list of authorized dealers - you will NOT get product support from them for brand new dried out markers etc. if you’ve purchased from ANYONE other than their official store at Faber-Castell.com, Altman Luggage Co., Blick Art Materials, Hyatt's All Things Creative, Jerry's Artarama Art Supplies, Lifelong Collectables, Marketfair Stationery, National Art Supply, Pen Place, or Plaza Artist MaterialsI had one marker out of 60 that was totally dried out, and they said that I’d have to go through the seller and/or Amazon to get a refund. I’m not going to bother, I can probably add a little alcohol or something to fix it - can’t make it any worse, at least.

I love all kinds of art supplies! I bought the 60 Piece Pitt Artist Brush Pen Set because of the beautiful color selection, value, and most importantly, because they have the biggest selection of light fast colors (each marker has a light fastness rating). I live in Hawaii, and low quality pigments fade quickly! So, when I buy art supplies, light fastness is the most important factor. I already have Holbein watercolors, Kuretake watercolors, Copic fine liners, some Copic Sketch Markers, Sakura Pigma Micron sets, Prismacolor colored pencils (bad light fastness) and Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils (excellent light fastness). I knew ahead of time these India ink markers do not blend well, and I’m fine with that. When I want to blend, I will use different media (watercolors or colored pencils). I will use these markers for bolder designs and lettering. So far I have made a color swatch with the markers on Bee Artist Marker paper, but next I will try Arches Hot Press and Strathmore Series 400 Bristol to see how that affects the look of brush strokes. I love seeing the professional names of the colors (such as Cadmium Yellow, such a juicy color in this set), and am looking forward to trying out some mixed media pieces.