KINGART® PRO Colored Pencils, Soft Core, Set of 24 Unique Colors

My 9 yr old LOVES this set of colored pencils. Leaps and bounds beyond Crayola colored pencils. Can’t compare to other art brands but these pencils are great for shading, sharp tip work, and anything else you’d want a colored pencil to do.

Colored pencils is a very vast area of art. There is a wide variety of pencil types and quality. Let's see how this measures up.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
Before I continue, I wanted to give you some insight into my experience with colored pencils. I have a wide collection of colored pencils and my goal is to make realistic art that is similar to what you might see in a painting. I enjoy art the style of Karen Hull (look her up if you have not heard of her) so I like to have really nice pencils. For sketching, I don't mind using medium to beginner quality pencils just to get ideas of color combinations, or other quick sketching of things.

WHAT ARE THESE PENCILS LIKE?
These pencils come in a tin and they are really well laid out. The pencils are black with silver writing and the ends are colored to give a very good indication of the lead color in the pencil. There is a pamphlet inside to welcome you to using the products from this company and a light foam sheet to keep the pencils from damage until they are purchased and opened for the first time.

COLOR SELECTION
See attached photo.

HARDNESS?
These are not overly smooth on paper, but they are not so hard that they leave indentations in the paper either. They are not overly scratchy like some pencils can be, although a few colors were harder to use than others.

WHAT QUALITY PENCILS?
These are what I would call good beginner quality. They are not quite as basic as the kind of colored pencils you purchase in the back to school bin like Roseart or Crayola, but they are not nearly as nice as Prismacolor, Derwent or Lyra. They are nowhere near as nice as the truly high quality pencils such as Caran D'Ache, Faber Castell, or High Quality Derwent.

WHAT MIGHT THESE BE GOOD FOR?
This set is excellent for practicing with. You can learn to blend colors. You can use them in coloring books. You can learn pressure and color intensity by using these. You can also use them for basic quick sketches when you want to pack a kit that you travel with- in case they get broken, you won't feel like you would if your $7 a pencil gets broken.

THE BOTTOM LINE
For a good solid beginner pencil set, this is a nice beginning. A step above back to school grade, these are good to practice with, learn from, and do quick sketching with.

MY RATING
FIVE STARS for beginners, THREE STARS for artists who want to use them seriously. Averaging that out, I came up with FOUR STARS as my rating. Everyone is looking for something different, so it depends on what you are looking for as to how these might fill that need for colored pencils.

This set of color pencils has been ideal to mix with pastels when painting. The soft core makes them ideal for fine detail and the pigments are nice and rich. They are also great alone for color drawing and artwork. They are exactly what I was needing to complete my pastel setup.

Even though I'm a beginner with colored pencils, I bought some very high end pencils and love them. But I find that I'm often reluctant to use them precisely because they're so nice and so expensive. So I got this very well-priced little set and am able to get myself to use it much more freely. Because the pencils behave so differently both in the amount of pigment they lay down and in the way they blend, there are many techniques I can't practice with them. Still, I find myself using them casually and often, which is good for me in so many ways. Recommended for beginners for sure.

I like these color pencils. I like the fact that they have the end colored to represent their color and their color name and number printed on the pencil as well in case you use up a pencil or two. I used them for coloring in stamps and they worked very well. They came pre-sharpened and I ended up dropping a few and had to resharpen them and in an electric sharpener that was easily accomplished. These will come in handy into my adventure into the world of art.