I've been trying to improve my drawings and I think I'm ready to try coloring. However I don't know what color pencil brand I should get. I always see artists at instagram use prismacolor but sadly it's not available here in UAE and I have to order it overseas if I want them. Any suggestions? Is prismacolor really worth the price and shipping?

I personally usually use prismacolor but I've found that Derwent, Caran d'ache, and Faber-Castell are good alternatives though. Prismacolors have a softer lead which makes them ideal for layering and blending but it's not an absolute that you must use Prismacolors though.

Ticonderoga makes a color pencil as well.

I'm not sure about availability of the above brands in the UAE though.

With Faber-Castell I've mostly used their watercolor pencils though so I'm not sure on their regular colored pencil lines though. I do however really like their watercolor pencil lines though.

Do you mean the faber castell artist grade? The more expensive one? There is derwent and faber castell here. I think the price is close if I would buy prismacolor online.

watercolor pencils

The watercolor pencils that I've usually use by Faber-Castell are these ones. As for their regular pencil set, polychromos are meant to be their artist grade line with layering and blending similar to prismas. The lead is going to be harder though.

In general, any type of artist grade colored pencil, prismacolor, faber-castell, derwent will be expensive though. In the states, the prismacolors are usually the most expensive in-store though, but artist grade colored pencils are going to be more expensive in general though.

Any watercolor pencils should work. Lower quality color pencils have more wax in them, so you can't put as many layers of color down. Watercolor pencils are almost pigment in a stick so you can layer a looot.

Is it any good if I use it like a normal color pencil? I don't think my sketchbook can handle water.

Polychromos are regular color pencils as far as I know. Faber-Castell has a watercolor pencil line and regular color pencil line. Polychromos are their regular line. If they're watercolor it'll say so on the tin. Also, I've used watercolor pencils without using them for watercolor purposes; it's just their color pigment can be diluted with water to be used as watercolors too.

With any non-artist grade layering will be harder. The pigment just isn't as rich or as concentrated.

Thanks for the info! I only ever tried the one's for students and it's so hard to blend. Hopefully, I'd be able to buy this month. Might try faber castell first since it's the one available.

You can absolutely use them without water like a regular pencil (or dab them with a little for more spread like a cheater).

I'd say quality wise is Rembrandt A++ and Derwent/ Prismacolor are Pretty Great

My only hits back for UAE are Fabercastell which I can't speak to personally but if Normandy is into them I'd trust it! They will say Watercolor Pencils on them -- everything else is just colored pencils and won't blend as well.

Thanks! I'd try to look for those brand too. There's still one big art supply store I haven't visited (there's only like 4 here).

PS I don't know if you've thought about paper but I find heavier paper easier to work with

Omg I'm on my phone so I've got ad autocorrect going The brand is Lyra Rembrandt. It will say aquarell for watercolor pencils.

Yeah, heavier papers are great for colored pencils. Stuff like Canson's colored papers work really well for colored pencils and I've used them in the past for artworks using colored pencils.

Specifically, I remember using the Canson Mi-Tientes line of papers for drawing in college and the tooth on them is really nice for colored pencil work.

I see. I'm currently using a non brand sketchpad. I'll look into those too. :)

I've never used colored paper before. That should be interesting. They should have Canson here, I've seen them while browsing. I don't understand why art supplies here are so limited.

Dunno how helpful this is since I don't actually use coloured pencils very often (I don't colour very often for traditional art alas). You can by all means colour in layers thus meshing different colours to create different hues.

I'd suggest the basic brand of pencil crayons that I use-- but it's been discontinued as of 4 years ago. Hahaha..... I still have an unopened box. A few brands of coloured pencils i've seen floating around: Prismacolor, Staedtler, and Koh-I-Noor. Aquarell for watercolour pencil crayons.

My top pick up until recently has been Prismacolor, but honestly it's better that you don't get them because they break /super/ easily and can cause wax bloom!

I'm now absolutely in love with the Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, even though I think they are more expensive than Prismas. The lead is bonded to the wood, so if your lead breaks, it's only the tip, while Prismas tend to shatter inside. Polychromos are also oil-based instead of wax based so they won't cause wax bloom! Other benefits is that they erase pretty well, they blend fantastically, and they are in general made pretty solidly. I've had no problems with them breaking on me like my Prismacolors do.

I've used Faber-Castell polychromos for years and in my opinion they're the best pencils out there, they blend wonderfully and I don't even use blending tissue anymore. Recently though I've been gifted Stabilo aquacolor, they're watercolour pencils and they're quite cheap but they work quite well as regular pencils and I've used them to integrate my polychromos since I can't afford all the shades I need, maybe give it a try if you can find those?

@.Sei Thanks for the help! I really want to try faber castell polychromos but it's a little out of my budget right now. I'm hoping to buy them maybe in 5 months.. I figured if I'm gonna buy them, might as well buy a lot of them in one go. But for now I think I'll buy prismacolor (it's a cheaper).

That seems like a good idea, I wish I could try them cause everyone seem to find them pretty good but they don't sell them here in Italy, lol; artist's struggles xD

Tell me about it.. there's very little choice here in Abu Dhabi so I have to buy them all when I go to Philippines on March.