When we look for best color pencils, we actually open more question than we are able to answer. What is best for one person, is of no real value for the other. So the best tip we can offer on the quest for the best coloring pencils is pretty simple:
Experiment!
Yes, every fact should be backed with an experiment and checking for colored pencils, no mater if we need them for kids or we have artistic aspirations, is no different. My list would be relatively simple:
1. Start!
(With something generic) In my country this would be probably twelve pack of Pelikan or Faber-Castell, in USA this would be Crayola, somewhere else probably something else. But you always have to start somewhere. Coloring pencils are available in packages and 12- or 24-pack is in most cases best value for the money. If you are not in a hurry, you can look around, check prices and wait for discount.
You can get 12-pack of Pelikan which is pretty good quality for 99 cents (we have Euros, not Dollars) and you can do just about everything with this pack already. Maybe you already know 12 is not enough and you want to start with 24. This is o.k.
But if you don’t have a clue, there is a chance some colors will hardly be used in 24-pack, so 12 is probably better option for beginners. And two 12-packs are in most cases cheaper than on 24-pack anyway.
2. Observe!
After using your colored pencils for a while you will probably notice many different things. Some will be more important to you and some less, but it is good to write your observations down.
Do you have enough shades of every color? What color is most used from your pack? What color is less used one? Are they feeling good in your hand? Too fast, slow on the paper? Can you mix different colors well? What about erasing? Sharpening? What would you like to improve?
With a list of observations you can make a new step – buy another pack or maybe few individual coloring pencils. The later option can come quite expensive because one can cost you as much as full 12-pack. But without experimenting you can’t know what serves you well and what not.
3. Compare!
If you tried several brands of color pencils on different sorts of paper you probably have a lot of data to compare. But you will probably be surprised when you actually write this data down and make a comparison.
Some brands will disappoint you and some will prove their value. Maybe you discovered you need different, non standard dimensions of colored pencils for some tasks and different for the others. It is good to know jumbo and delta are not for children only. It is good to know children can use them too…
Now you just have to decide what is best for you, for your projects and buy stuff which serves you best at most affordable prices. This doesn’t mean you know everything already because from time to time new brands will pop up and some old brands will go through changes. And you will probably experiment with different techniques, improve existing ones, in short, you will go through different drawing stages, just like kids do.
But you will be ready for that, right?
Now you just have to create and enjoy!