Thank you for covering this underappreciated and undervalued medium! FYI for anyone who is interested in colored pencils the $350 price is direct from Faber Castell. In the US, if you purchase from an art supply store, you’ll pay significantly less (I’ve never paid more than $200 USD for a full set of Polychromos). The same is true for purchasing individual pencils. I usually pay about $2-$3 USD for one Polychromos pencil. Also, if you’re just starting out, it’s worth buying a small set of different brands to see which ones you prefer.
There are sets which are with wooden case and other stuff that is that much. I have bought all the 120 open stock in 2021-2 slowly and it cost me 170 euros , the full pack cost the same with the tin case as a bonus. But Luminance are out of my reach, they cost 2-3 times more than faber ones, and I am not a pencil artist.
And in Europe, you pay even less for a full set of Polychromos. On the other hand, here in Europe, you pay over the odds for a set of Prismacolor Premiers (NOT a professional brand, in my eyes, by the way). It's the price of importing products that adds to their price.
It's also not a bad idea to build up to them rather then starting with them. Get used to learning shading and caring for your medium. As stated in the vid you can start with a few pencils or slowly upgrade from some of the better brands but not as premium. This is true for all mediums, not just colored pencils. I'm not saying start with crap, but mid to upper scale is best until you find yourself ready to go all in on your investment.
A decade++ ago I bought some colored pencils that tasted different based on what color they had. I suppose they were something in between pencils and awful tasing candy. I gave them to a friend’s kid. Who is still alive to this day and now as an adult is more into eating sweets than drawing. [Correction… typed ”fiend’s kid”… But no… it was actually a friend’s kid!]
So awesome you commented on the video. You do absolutely stunning work. I did wonder what you could do with a budget set of pencils. It is said that if Jimi Hendrix played a budget Squire guitar, he would still be Jimi. Was curious if you ever challenged yourself, now that you are well into your career and have advanced tools, to see what you're capable of using suboptimal pencils. Would be interesting to know. 😊
Your art is incredible, and it's great that you're able to run a business selling it and teaching others as well. One of the things I'm always curious about with every job and career are the hard parts. Everyone always sees the highlights but they never see the struggles and frustrations, so I'm wondering what those are for you
@@grllwrfr Thank you so so much! I've been drawing most of my life but I set up the business 8 years ago after dropping out of university (studying marketing). I actually failed art at college because they wanted me to create all abstract work so I am completely self taught.
Please do a story about the amazing Hahnemühle papers (also from Germany). They are famous among both traditional fine arts artists (for watercolor, pastel, drawing etc) and photographers or "digital fine art" artists (for inkjet printing). I would love to see a video about how they make such high quality papers and understand the craftsmanship behind it.
I was surprised that Bethany 'only' had £600 worth of pencils, I was expecting her to say something like £2000, and even that wouldn't be crazy given the quality of her work and how much each masterpiece sells for.
I love the FC Polychromos. They're the best. Also the best tip I ever heard by an artist: don't use the cheapest material to teach your kids. The results will be so bad, they'll lose interest before they even started. I wouldn't exactly buy them polychromos, but there are good alternatives for kids :)
The same for musical instruments! I’d have my music teacher (trumpet player) bring me his students flutes, and 9/10 had leaky or broken keys behind their failure to learn*. It’s so easy to become frustrated when nothing you try allows you to progress! And we already struggled to get and keep students as the least popular path at our fine arts school. *The tenth usually had braces. Unfortunately the nemesis of flutists.
@@christieapAbsolutely… The professional harmonica manufacturers and their retailers made a mistake back in the last century when they started ”spitting out” cheap harmonicas. But the quality was so poor that it lead to kids and adults alike giving up on their playing. I got one of those. And never come to play it (while decades later I got a good quality harmonica and: WOW!) So the manufacturers/retailers really created a loss of future sales for themselves Really… I got poor quality musical instruments because my parents didn’t know better and couldn’t afford much better, but my musical interest was too great so I kept on playing anyway. And today so much cheap art material and musical instruments are sold. And unfortunately too many these days seem to neither buy from those who know what is a reasonable quality, nor investigate what is reasonable stuff. At least when they buy for their kids. And I would argue that capitalism has changed substantially. And “demand” doesn’t mean “what we actually want”, but “whatever is the absolutely cheapest” in many areas of consumption. Not saying that there isn’t cheap stuff that isn’t good. But usually you have to pay a bit for quality.
I always suggest buying beginners the student grade or middle grade of a quality brand even if there are less pencils than a cheaper kit. RoseArt will make anyone think they're terrible at coloreded pencil
For a couple of decades, the pencil I'd recommend for kids would be the Staedtler ergosoft, comes in packs of 24 and 36 for cheap, and they're *almost* on the level of polychromos. Unfortunately, Staedtler has discontinues them as of a year ago, so finding them is difficult now, but some places still have stock. If you can't find those, the Uni 888 is good, the Caran D'Ache supracolor is fine, and the derwent chromaflows are okay. ---- Cheap pencils don't lay down a lot of colour, so you get washed out pictures, and they're difficult to work with. Often the lead is very hard, or very crumbly, or worst, both. Anyone of any age using cheap pencils is going to conclude that they don't know what they're doing, or they're bad at art. It's *much* better to buy a small set of decent pencils than a large set of bad ones.
Yes! Kids need to learn with at least semi-decent materials so that they don't get discouraged. I got 60 pencil sets of prismacolor scholars for around 20CAD for my kids. I work at an elementary school, and I made a bunch of mini watercolour sets with decent student grade paint for the kids to try out in art club. I gave them some cheap watercolour brushes too. (No plastic bristles!) The school only provides the garbage chalky tempra pucks, and if that's the closest you come to trying out watercolours, of course you'll think you're crap at it.
Even the cheaper Faber-Castell options are a grade above other brands. Only takes a session with these pencils to notice the difference. Been using these pencils for watercolor paintings (special kind of pencils).
I think there are a couple other brands that are competitive with the FC polychromos too. Stadetler Ergosoft, Uni Mitsubishi 888, Tombow Irotijen, Caran D'Ache museum aquarelle. If you like watercolours, that last is specifically designed for watercolour, and they're phenomenal!
The best ones I use are Caran D’ache Luminance because they won’t fade in sunlight. Faber Castell polychromos are also close. Best ones for sketching or for the first layers are Caran D’ache Pablo. Prismacolors are nice but lots of colors will fade.
I mainly do watercolor, but with colored pencils are you not finishing with a protective UV matte finish or does that ruin the look of the pencil that you want? I do this to my watercolors that I want to last vibrantly, even after using expensive pigments.
I think they are just different, there is no real better or worser between those two brand (Catan D’ache and FB Polychromos) - each have their own benefits. I like both
I love colored pencils and have a few high end sets. Nobody ever pays the “retail price” stated on the company’s website. Polychromous pencils, for example, can be found for around $200 for a 120-pencil set. I bought them for even cheaper when they were on sale a couple of years ago.
That seems about right. $3 a pencil would mean it’s produced for $1 in materials. I would be cautious about using something below that quality. Maybe as a kid the cheap stuff is fine. But as an adult, the good stuff in any industry is usually worth the cost.
@@Patrick-y4d1z and most of the pencils will last very long as you dont use all the colors equally so you only need to reorder some of the colors more frequently
@@Patrick-y4d1z These are not "hobby" quality pencils. These are of "professional" quality. In other words these pencils are meant to be used to make art for sale by those whose income is based on selling their art, where customers demand longevity. For hobbyist there are much cheaper pencils that are not as good when considering lightfastness but are nearly as good in workability.
I'm a professional artist and it makes me so happy to see the work and engineering going behind each of those high quality pencils! ✏️✏️✏️ Thanks BI for showcasing them today in this episode! 🎨🖍️🖌️
Crayola is definitely made for kids. The sound (and smell) of the Crayola is very soothing- a throwback to my childhood. The Faber Castell is completely silent. Very good video.
Stein is such an unassuming little town, you'd never think such a household name produces there. Staedtler has its headquarters just a few kilometres away in Nuremberg. Kaweko also comes from Nuremberg
As a professional artist, I really appreciate videos like this. Polychromes pencils are hands down the best pencils I’ve used. They are well worth the investment.
I absolutely love pencils I am an artist and collector and i wouldnt take a million dollars for my pencil collection. There is nothing like the feeling you get opening a tin of brand new pencils. Priceless.
Faber-Castell is such a great company and the quality/price ratio of their products is quite good! An idea for a new episode: Why are fountain pens so expensive? Specially those with gold nibs (Example: a Graf von Faber-Castell Magnun can cost almost 1300 USD!)
I guess fountain pens have become something of a luxury/lifestyle product in places where they aren't the common implement of choice for learning/teaching to write, or even for adults. In France at least there's usually a range of affordable options in supermarkets because until more recent years it was what you were taught with and expected to use throughout mandatory education unless you really couldn't handle them. And of course if you're wiling to import from China there's a vast range from the surprisingly cheap but perfectly serviceable, to luxury.
A lot of fountain pens are high price specifically because there's a collector market and they do limited runs. These super high price pens don't cost that much because of functionality or materials, it's more like collecting art. If you want low priced fountain pens, there's three good recommendations I have. First is the platinum preppy. It's really cheap at the $5-10 price point, and it's a great pen for someone who wants to try out fountain pens, but isn't sure. Second is the Lamy Safari - generally costs $15-20, comes in a huge range of colours, and it's a decent workhorse that's low maintenance. Many people swear by the Lamy Safari and never get anything else. Third would be the TWSBI ECO. It's around $40-50 and it's a little more "premium" feeling than the lamy. I like it because it writes very smoothly, and has an inbuilt resevoir for ink (so you can fill it from a bottle without a converter)
I love this kind of content. I have several sets of colored pencils, some are over 40 years old. I love knowing how they are made and why some are more pleasing to use than others.
Thank you for including some detail about the hardness of the cores vs the creaminess. Usually one finds out by trial and error which brands are best for blending and which are best for detail. Also thank you for including information on lightfastness, as a professional artist it is important to understand which colors are fugitive.
Bottom line, is if you're making a living with your skill set then you buy better tools, this has been true regardless of what that tool happens to be.
When you hand out cheap tools to students, then students learn that the tool is crap and they tend to lose interest in the skill. When you hand out quality tools, the students may learn that they can focus on the craft instead of needing to comprimise thus developing interest and even passion for the craft. Bottom line, quality always pays off.
I don't have a good eye when it comes to art. But man is that artist gifted. Those were some of the most amazing pieces of art I have ever seen. They actually look like real photographs
But that’s the thing. Her ability is very impressive but excessive realism doesn’t add much to a picture, you might as well just take a real photograph.
@@glockenrein as an artist who also does not enjoy hyperrealism, I'd just like to point out that there are plenty of professionally taken photographs that add a lot of character and intrigue to reality. I really don't see the point in devaluing forms of art that appreciate reality as it stands. We can push stylized artists up without kicking realism artists down.
@@LilChuunosuke I agree. I’m just extremely tired of people going on about how modern/abstract art is trash and shouldn’t be worth a lot of money and doesn’t need skill or talent and photorealism now THAT’S REAL art. So I tend to reflexively go the other way although you’re right of course.
Absolutely fascinating! Thank you for sharing this insightful information about colored pencils. Who knew there was so much science and precision behind their production. Superior quality and craftsmanship is well worth the price! I also loved the feature artist, Bethany ... Her works were amazing and so photo realistic! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
When Bethany Vere investes days, maybe even weeks on a piece, she deserves the price for the piece she demands. Besides, it is a noble thing to capture a loved pet and family member in the best and most professional possible way so that the impression lasts at least a lifetime.
My grandmother was an artist and she gave me a lot of her colored pencils to use when I took an interest in drawing. I always thought they were amazing pencils compared to the ones mom bought me later. Fascinating to learn about the difference in quality now.
The difference shows particularly in the light fastness, the pigment load and the blendability. I find that light fastness in particular is a huge factor that affects price. The caran d'ache luminance pencils are a good example of the highest end. From here it's all about the different pigments that get used and how easy they are to get a hold of or to make. Studio quality/grade is the term that you'll see used for the "medium" quality. It's between student (think like younger students) and artist/professional grade.
I never would've considered how much variety in quality exists in something so seemingly simple as colored pencils. I suck at drawing or coloring anything, so Crayola is right up my alley, but that lady's animal portraits are incredible!
excellent. FC are among my favorites, One thing I really appreciate is that colors across their lines is the same. They also have an excellent range of pinks and purples.
I love the Polychromos from Faber-Castell and also the Luminance from Caran D'ache. In addition to the advantages mentioned in the report, they don't break when sharpened, which cheap pencils often tend to do, and the color core is nicely centered, simply perfect pencils. It is simply a pleasure to draw with them.
That was absolutely beautiful and flawless work. Makes me want to try those pencils. I mostly work in acrylic but have used colored pencils, primarily Prismacolor.
Such a great video, l can’t draw for nuts but l do appreciate the dedication of the artist and Faber-Castell. I love seeing the the quality of the work and the pencil. Awesome coverage Business Insider, Thankyou. 😊
This took me back to my childhood. Colored pencils were my favorite medium then and I was really happy when my parents gifted me my first set Faber-Castell colored pencils.
This is so cool! I’m currently studying Properties of Materials and seeing how something like the diameter of the pigment particles makes such a large difference is so awesome.
Those animal portraits are extremely impressive, and it's very cool to see the level of work that goes into the higher end art products. As an amateur, this is well beyond the level I would need. But I can totally understand how someone at her level would need that kind of quality.
I love colored pencils! You can really tell the difference between school grade and artists pencils. Faber Castell makes some of the best pencils I've used and their construction quality remains top-notch unlike Prismacolor which I also like but has seen a downgrade in construction quality through the years.
It would be heaven to visit this amazing factory. Every coloured pencil I own is a Faber Castell. My favourite are the limited edition 120 watercolour pencil box.
It is all utility. Crayola serves a purpose. Higher end pencils aren't for the typical gradeschool student. I think I need to get back into art now. I always loved higher ends pencils as my medium.
I like using a combination of the smooth core pencils Prismacolor, Caran d'Ache, Faber Castell on a smooth bristol paper. I usually then smooth and soften with a layer of white pencil on most of the piece. Really is a great medium to feel very controlled of the results, unless you get a random tip break that jabs the pencil to an unwanted spot.
I love Faber Castell brand and I have their coloured Polychromos pencils, watercolour pencils, paper crafter crayons and pitt markers among other pencil brands for on the go drawing. Their colours stay consistent between different art mediums. But I would love to check out the Caran D'ache pencils too. It was wonderful to watch the process of making their pencils. Thanks!
Having worked for Crayola, they buy all their pencils from Faber. The reason they are more chalk than wax, is because more wax causes the “lead” to break in the barrel and consumers complain. Adding chalk creates a stronger lead but “cheapens” the color vibrancy and lay down.
I live in Nuremberg which right next to Stein where Faber-Castell is located. Love them and all their products. They have an awesome flagship store in Stein. I use the Polychromos for my art but I also love their budget pencils for kids. I use them in my teaching job.
Lightfastness is a bit overrated. Yes, it is important if you sell your work, but you can never give guarantees. If customers buy art they usually do not preserve it like a museum nor hang their art in a room without daylight. So the colours will always fade in time. How ever it does make a huge difference if the used medium is Crayola or Polychromos. The art with polychromos will last longer, but not ‘a hundred years’ like some company’s advertise with ;-)
This video is correct, you need these pencils if you want to sell your art, lightfastness is they key and the cost is not that high in the long run. When you cut corners you can see, quality control issues, defective products etc
My wife is the artistic one, having seen the difference between “quality” art mediums and typical classroom mediums, I think it’s like comparing McDonalds to a ranch owned burger joint. Comparing the two at face value doesn’t make sense until you take a bite from each. But if you don’t know how to compare the two then a pencil is a pencil and a burger is a burger.
The only reason to buy these as a pro is lightfastnes. Otherwise there is barely any difference between these and cheaper alternatives. Also, sharpening Prismacolors is a pain in the ass. They break like crazy. Their production moved to Mexico because its cheaper there, and their quality became cheaper as well. The price of course, didnt.
I so appreciate, that you can buy some of these expensive pens as singles in some places. It gives new artists the change of trying out the different between good a and bad products. That is how I started out buying Faber Castell Pitt Artist pen brushe's
this video reawakens my obsession with school supplies LOL. the last thing i need is an artist-grade set of colored pencils - alas, i have no talent - but dang it i WANT them!
When i was a child i wished for something as good as crayola, the cheap generic pencils we got were horrible 😆 I'm not much of an artist, i mostly sketch concepts for my 3D art but even I can appreciate a good quality pencil. 😊
Yep my full Faber Castell set of 420 cost me over $500. Worth it though!!! The quality is tangible, the cores are thicker and such high quality, even compared with other brands like the american one starting with a "p" 😉 I go back to F-C year after year because, for someone who is a fine artist like me, they simply ARE the best 👌🏻
Amazing video and Bethany’s artwork is stunning! I feel like Crayola got a bit shortchanged here though, I don’t think they market themselves toward artists so the comparison is somewhat unfair, but the difference in quality was interesting to see nonetheless.
That is an old school factory! Have been a colored pencial artist since the '90s ... and even then they seemed so expensive ... Cheapo, school-grade pencils hurt my soul.
I like Faber Castell's pencils as much as Staedtler's. They're not the famed Dixon Ticonderogas, but they carried me through school in Germany reliably.
my most expensive pencil crayons are prismacolour and compared to crayola they are much better but also double/triple the cost. but they are so much better to work with, would love to try these ones but im not a good enough artist to warrant spending that kind of money on pencil crayons
I started doing pencil art with Crayolas, and in the end got a LOT of mileage out of them, but the effort required to actually achieve that level of color vibrancy was physically exhausting (to say nothing of the pressure imposed on the paper -- if you are using a book of drawing paper you'll NEED a firm separator under the current sheet). Picking up actual professional-quality pencils (in my case, Prismacolors), I immediately discovered they were able to achieve the same result I was already producing with my Crayolas, but much faster and with far less effort on my part.
I took my set of polycromose ( 24 ) to my younger cousins’ house ( 7 and 8 respectively ) and the older one said “these are really good pencils”. Hopefully I’ll get the full set of 120 for my birthday next month
Thank you for covering this underappreciated and undervalued medium! FYI for anyone who is interested in colored pencils the $350 price is direct from Faber Castell. In the US, if you purchase from an art supply store, you’ll pay significantly less (I’ve never paid more than $200 USD for a full set of Polychromos). The same is true for purchasing individual pencils. I usually pay about $2-$3 USD for one Polychromos pencil. Also, if you’re just starting out, it’s worth buying a small set of different brands to see which ones you prefer.
There are sets which are with wooden case and other stuff that is that much. I have bought all the 120 open stock in 2021-2 slowly and it cost me 170 euros , the full pack cost the same with the tin case as a bonus.
But Luminance are out of my reach, they cost 2-3 times more than faber ones, and I am not a pencil artist.
And in Europe, you pay even less for a full set of Polychromos. On the other hand, here in Europe, you pay over the odds for a set of Prismacolor Premiers (NOT a professional brand, in my eyes, by the way). It's the price of importing products that adds to their price.
I just use their classic lineup. Bcuz im poor
I just bought the 120 for 160US. Worth every penny.
It's also not a bad idea to build up to them rather then starting with them. Get used to learning shading and caring for your medium. As stated in the vid you can start with a few pencils or slowly upgrade from some of the better brands but not as premium. This is true for all mediums, not just colored pencils. I'm not saying start with crap, but mid to upper scale is best until you find yourself ready to go all in on your investment.
As a kid I liked the taste of Crayola more than Faber Castel.
I agree who cares how well it goes on paper if ur just going to end up eating them anyways
That comment really took me out !!
That's the only honest criteria a "young artist" is looking in tools for the craft, proper taste 😂
A decade++ ago I bought some colored pencils that tasted different based on what color they had. I suppose they were something in between pencils and awful tasing candy. I gave them to a friend’s kid. Who is still alive to this day and now as an adult is more into eating sweets than drawing.
[Correction… typed ”fiend’s kid”… But no… it was actually a friend’s kid!]
There are a few brands that have a terrible smell and it is too distracting to use. The smell stays on your hands even after washing a few times. 🤢
I really hope you grew up to join the US Marine Corps! (crayons give less splinters when chewed)
Thank you so much to business insider for the feature on my work and i! If anyone has any questions, just let me know and I’ll be happy to answer ❤
your work is beautiful! how long have you been making art and did you have any formal training?
So awesome you commented on the video. You do absolutely stunning work. I did wonder what you could do with a budget set of pencils. It is said that if Jimi Hendrix played a budget Squire guitar, he would still be Jimi. Was curious if you ever challenged yourself, now that you are well into your career and have advanced tools, to see what you're capable of using suboptimal pencils. Would be interesting to know. 😊
Your art is incredible, and it's great that you're able to run a business selling it and teaching others as well.
One of the things I'm always curious about with every job and career are the hard parts. Everyone always sees the highlights but they never see the struggles and frustrations, so I'm wondering what those are for you
Your work is amazing, hyper-realism artists always baffle me, so much detail.
@@grllwrfr Thank you so so much! I've been drawing most of my life but I set up the business 8 years ago after dropping out of university (studying marketing). I actually failed art at college because they wanted me to create all abstract work so I am completely self taught.
My goodness Bethany is a magician. I’ve never seen such realistic and expressive animal portraits in my life.
Please do a story about the amazing Hahnemühle papers (also from Germany). They are famous among both traditional fine arts artists (for watercolor, pastel, drawing etc) and photographers or "digital fine art" artists (for inkjet printing).
I would love to see a video about how they make such high quality papers and understand the craftsmanship behind it.
Agreed. Hahnemühle and St. Cuthbert's Mill are my go-to brands. Far better than Archer's, in my opinion.
Wait. Do they sell sketch/ drawing books?
@@quinnzykir Hahnemühle sells lots of sketchbooks.
Agreed... I am a photographer, and only use Hahnemühle digital papers for my printing.
@@sonyakinsey4376 give me the link
7:00 the artist's pencil renderings of animals is absolutely stunning.
Thank you so much!
I was surprised that Bethany 'only' had £600 worth of pencils, I was expecting her to say something like £2000, and even that wouldn't be crazy given the quality of her work and how much each masterpiece sells for.
At this time. How long would it take to consume the pencils? I can imagine her going through $2k over the course of a year.
I concur
I love the FC Polychromos. They're the best. Also the best tip I ever heard by an artist: don't use the cheapest material to teach your kids. The results will be so bad, they'll lose interest before they even started. I wouldn't exactly buy them polychromos, but there are good alternatives for kids :)
The same for musical instruments! I’d have my music teacher (trumpet player) bring me his students flutes, and 9/10 had leaky or broken keys behind their failure to learn*. It’s so easy to become frustrated when nothing you try allows you to progress! And we already struggled to get and keep students as the least popular path at our fine arts school.
*The tenth usually had braces. Unfortunately the nemesis of flutists.
@@christieapAbsolutely… The professional harmonica manufacturers and their retailers made a mistake back in the last century when they started ”spitting out” cheap harmonicas. But the quality was so poor that it lead to kids and adults alike giving up on their playing. I got one of those. And never come to play it (while decades later I got a good quality harmonica and: WOW!)
So the manufacturers/retailers really created a loss of future sales for themselves
Really… I got poor quality musical instruments because my parents didn’t know better and couldn’t afford much better, but my musical interest was too great so I kept on playing anyway.
And today so much cheap art material and musical instruments are sold. And unfortunately too many these days seem to neither buy from those who know what is a reasonable quality, nor investigate what is reasonable stuff. At least when they buy for their kids. And I would argue that capitalism has changed substantially. And “demand” doesn’t mean “what we actually want”, but “whatever is the absolutely cheapest” in many areas of consumption. Not saying that there isn’t cheap stuff that isn’t good. But usually you have to pay a bit for quality.
I always suggest buying beginners the student grade or middle grade of a quality brand even if there are less pencils than a cheaper kit. RoseArt will make anyone think they're terrible at coloreded pencil
For a couple of decades, the pencil I'd recommend for kids would be the Staedtler ergosoft, comes in packs of 24 and 36 for cheap, and they're *almost* on the level of polychromos.
Unfortunately, Staedtler has discontinues them as of a year ago, so finding them is difficult now, but some places still have stock.
If you can't find those, the Uni 888 is good, the Caran D'Ache supracolor is fine, and the derwent chromaflows are okay.
----
Cheap pencils don't lay down a lot of colour, so you get washed out pictures, and they're difficult to work with. Often the lead is very hard, or very crumbly, or worst, both. Anyone of any age using cheap pencils is going to conclude that they don't know what they're doing, or they're bad at art. It's *much* better to buy a small set of decent pencils than a large set of bad ones.
Yes! Kids need to learn with at least semi-decent materials so that they don't get discouraged.
I got 60 pencil sets of prismacolor scholars for around 20CAD for my kids.
I work at an elementary school, and I made a bunch of mini watercolour sets with decent student grade paint for the kids to try out in art club. I gave them some cheap watercolour brushes too. (No plastic bristles!) The school only provides the garbage chalky tempra pucks, and if that's the closest you come to trying out watercolours, of course you'll think you're crap at it.
Even the cheaper Faber-Castell options are a grade above other brands. Only takes a session with these pencils to notice the difference. Been using these pencils for watercolor paintings (special kind of pencils).
Watercolor pencils!
I think there are a couple other brands that are competitive with the FC polychromos too. Stadetler Ergosoft, Uni Mitsubishi 888, Tombow Irotijen, Caran D'Ache museum aquarelle. If you like watercolours, that last is specifically designed for watercolour, and they're phenomenal!
The best ones I use are Caran D’ache Luminance because they won’t fade in sunlight. Faber Castell polychromos are also close. Best ones for sketching or for the first layers are Caran D’ache Pablo. Prismacolors are nice but lots of colors will fade.
I mainly do watercolor, but with colored pencils are you not finishing with a protective UV matte finish or does that ruin the look of the pencil that you want? I do this to my watercolors that I want to last vibrantly, even after using expensive pigments.
The price tag dont lie.
In my country Caran d'ache is 4x Polychromos.
You also need an insanely delicate touch to use prismacolors without constantly shattering them- and god help you if you ever drop one
I think they are just different, there is no real better or worser between those two brand (Catan D’ache and FB Polychromos) - each have their own benefits. I like both
For real! I moved from Prismacolor Premier to Polychromos, absolute big difference!
I love colored pencils and have a few high end sets. Nobody ever pays the “retail price” stated on the company’s website. Polychromous pencils, for example, can be found for around $200 for a 120-pencil set. I bought them for even cheaper when they were on sale a couple of years ago.
Links please?
She's such a talented artist. 🤯
Aw thank you so much!!
Talent is only applicable to the natural ability of someone starting out with a craft, not if they've been doing it for years and years.
@@BethanyVerethere's a lot of people that call themselves artists but if anyone truly deserves the title it's people like yourself. Mind blowing work
People can practice and develop a "talent" in something, but starting out really good and progressing really fast - that is "gifted".
no way in hell would a normal person drawing for fun would be able to draw with that level of intricacy and realism lul
As an artist I really appreciate this information. It’s a treat to my eyes to see the behind scenes from one of my most trusted brand.
That seems about right. $3 a pencil would mean it’s produced for $1 in materials. I would be cautious about using something below that quality. Maybe as a kid the cheap stuff is fine. But as an adult, the good stuff in any industry is usually worth the cost.
Indeed. And while £350 is a lot of money, you have to think that any hobby really is nowadays.
@@Patrick-y4d1z and most of the pencils will last very long as you dont use all the colors equally so you only need to reorder some of the colors more frequently
Откуда вы знаете, что на материалы ушёл один доллар? У вас есть информация о ценах на сырьё, закупаемом в промышленных масштабах?
It would entirely depend on the task you're trying to accomplish if high-end stuff is worth it.
@@Patrick-y4d1z These are not "hobby" quality pencils. These are of "professional" quality. In other words these pencils are meant to be used to make art for sale by those whose income is based on selling their art, where customers demand longevity. For hobbyist there are much cheaper pencils that are not as good when considering lightfastness but are nearly as good in workability.
I'm a professional artist and it makes me so happy to see the work and engineering going behind each of those high quality pencils! ✏️✏️✏️ Thanks BI for showcasing them today in this episode! 🎨🖍️🖌️
Crayola is definitely made for kids. The sound (and smell) of the Crayola is very soothing- a throwback to my childhood. The Faber Castell is completely silent. Very good video.
Stein is such an unassuming little town, you'd never think such a household name produces there. Staedtler has its headquarters just a few kilometres away in Nuremberg. Kaweko also comes from Nuremberg
Also Stabilo and Lyra are in the region
Actually, most lucrative businesses in Europe are in small towns - lower costs, lower taxes more land to expand if you need.
As a professional artist, I really appreciate videos like this. Polychromes pencils are hands down the best pencils I’ve used. They are well worth the investment.
I absolutely love pencils I am an artist and collector and i wouldnt take a million dollars for my pencil collection. There is nothing like the feeling you get opening a tin of brand new pencils. Priceless.
Faber-Castell is such a great company and the quality/price ratio of their products is quite good!
An idea for a new episode: Why are fountain pens so expensive? Specially those with gold nibs (Example: a Graf von Faber-Castell Magnun can cost almost 1300 USD!)
it honestly reeks of cartel, even the finest tips wont be that expensive and the rest of the pen just depends on the material.
I guess fountain pens have become something of a luxury/lifestyle product in places where they aren't the common implement of choice for learning/teaching to write, or even for adults.
In France at least there's usually a range of affordable options in supermarkets because until more recent years it was what you were taught with and expected to use throughout mandatory education unless you really couldn't handle them.
And of course if you're wiling to import from China there's a vast range from the surprisingly cheap but perfectly serviceable, to luxury.
@@TheWretchedEgg12some pens are artworks themselves. Nakaya and Namiki have incredible pieces.
A lot of fountain pens are high price specifically because there's a collector market and they do limited runs. These super high price pens don't cost that much because of functionality or materials, it's more like collecting art.
If you want low priced fountain pens, there's three good recommendations I have.
First is the platinum preppy. It's really cheap at the $5-10 price point, and it's a great pen for someone who wants to try out fountain pens, but isn't sure.
Second is the Lamy Safari - generally costs $15-20, comes in a huge range of colours, and it's a decent workhorse that's low maintenance. Many people swear by the Lamy Safari and never get anything else.
Third would be the TWSBI ECO. It's around $40-50 and it's a little more "premium" feeling than the lamy. I like it because it writes very smoothly, and has an inbuilt resevoir for ink (so you can fill it from a bottle without a converter)
I love this kind of content. I have several sets of colored pencils, some are over 40 years old. I love knowing how they are made and why some are more pleasing to use than others.
these pencils from farber castell are my favorite to work with and it was one of my most beloved gifts for my birthdays way back then
Thank you for including some detail about the hardness of the cores vs the creaminess. Usually one finds out by trial and error which brands are best for blending and which are best for detail. Also thank you for including information on lightfastness, as a professional artist it is important to understand which colors are fugitive.
Bottom line, is if you're making a living with your skill set then you buy better tools, this has been true regardless of what that tool happens to be.
When you hand out cheap tools to students, then students learn that the tool is crap and they tend to lose interest in the skill.
When you hand out quality tools, the students may learn that they can focus on the craft instead of needing to comprimise thus developing interest and even passion for the craft.
Bottom line, quality always pays off.
And FC is considered a semi-budget brand, too. The first time you use a Caran d'Ache, your heart melts on the paper with the wax.
Polychromous is not budget at all! Caran d’Ache is just overpriced 😂
@@le2382 I disagree with both statements.
"Things" are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
Using both together is the best! The results are gorgeous!
They are both great, they just have different benefits
I don't have a good eye when it comes to art. But man is that artist gifted. Those were some of the most amazing pieces of art I have ever seen. They actually look like real photographs
I’m impressed by her talent. Worth every cent
But that’s the thing. Her ability is very impressive but excessive realism doesn’t add much to a picture, you might as well just take a real photograph.
@@glockenrein as an artist who also does not enjoy hyperrealism, I'd just like to point out that there are plenty of professionally taken photographs that add a lot of character and intrigue to reality.
I really don't see the point in devaluing forms of art that appreciate reality as it stands.
We can push stylized artists up without kicking realism artists down.
@@LilChuunosuke I agree. I’m just extremely tired of people going on about how modern/abstract art is trash and shouldn’t be worth a lot of money and doesn’t need skill or talent and photorealism now THAT’S REAL art. So I tend to reflexively go the other way although you’re right of course.
Absolutely fascinating! Thank you for sharing this insightful information about colored pencils. Who knew there was so much science and precision behind their production. Superior quality and craftsmanship is well worth the price! I also loved the feature artist, Bethany ... Her works were amazing and so photo realistic! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
When Bethany Vere investes days, maybe even weeks on a piece, she deserves the price for the piece she demands.
Besides, it is a noble thing to capture a loved pet and family member in the best and most professional possible way so that the impression lasts at least a lifetime.
My grandmother was an artist and she gave me a lot of her colored pencils to use when I took an interest in drawing.
I always thought they were amazing pencils compared to the ones mom bought me later. Fascinating to learn about the difference in quality now.
I would’ve liked the comparison between low, medium, and high-grade colored pencils to see if there’s a difference between medium and high grade
The difference shows particularly in the light fastness, the pigment load and the blendability.
I find that light fastness in particular is a huge factor that affects price. The caran d'ache luminance pencils are a good example of the highest end. From here it's all about the different pigments that get used and how easy they are to get a hold of or to make.
Studio quality/grade is the term that you'll see used for the "medium" quality. It's between student (think like younger students) and artist/professional grade.
@ thanks for the info 🙂
I’d like to learn more about Bethany’s work. It’s quite unique
I never would've considered how much variety in quality exists in something so seemingly simple as colored pencils. I suck at drawing or coloring anything, so Crayola is right up my alley, but that lady's animal portraits are incredible!
excellent. FC are among my favorites, One thing I really appreciate is that colors across their lines is the same. They also have an excellent range of pinks and purples.
I love the Polychromos from Faber-Castell and also the Luminance from Caran D'ache. In addition to the advantages mentioned in the report, they don't break when sharpened, which cheap pencils often tend to do, and the color core is nicely centered, simply perfect pencils. It is simply a pleasure to draw with them.
That was absolutely beautiful and flawless work. Makes me want to try those pencils. I mostly work in acrylic but have used colored pencils, primarily Prismacolor.
Faber is SO worth it. I love how smooth they are and how colorful they wind up being.
Such a great video, l can’t draw for nuts but l do appreciate the dedication of the artist and Faber-Castell. I love seeing the the quality of the work and the pencil. Awesome coverage Business Insider, Thankyou. 😊
I recommend grabbing a small nice set. You might just be surprised....
I loooove my Polychromos pencils, you get what you pay for in my opinion. Just excellent quality.
No clue how or why this was recommended to me but I sure dig it. What a cool thing to watch :)
This took me back to my childhood. Colored pencils were my favorite medium then and I was really happy when my parents gifted me my first set Faber-Castell colored pencils.
This is so cool! I’m currently studying Properties of Materials and seeing how something like the diameter of the pigment particles makes such a large difference is so awesome.
What a great video and what a talented lady!
Thank you so much!!
Those animal portraits are extremely impressive, and it's very cool to see the level of work that goes into the higher end art products. As an amateur, this is well beyond the level I would need. But I can totally understand how someone at her level would need that kind of quality.
I love colored pencils! You can really tell the difference between school grade and artists pencils. Faber Castell makes some of the best pencils I've used and their construction quality remains top-notch unlike Prismacolor which I also like but has seen a downgrade in construction quality through the years.
Polychromos are my absolute favorites and I tried almost every professional CP... just magnificent!
I love my Faber-Castell color pencils, and the series 9000 drawing pencils, too. Worth the price.
As a paper crafter, colorist and materials scientist this was very enlightening and enjoyable.
It would be heaven to visit this amazing factory. Every coloured pencil I own is a Faber Castell. My favourite are the limited edition 120 watercolour pencil box.
She is one incredibly talented artist, those animals look so beautiful
It is all utility. Crayola serves a purpose. Higher end pencils aren't for the typical gradeschool student. I think I need to get back into art now. I always loved higher ends pencils as my medium.
I quit for 30yrs. Started back and loving it more than ever.
I like using a combination of the smooth core pencils Prismacolor, Caran d'Ache, Faber Castell on a smooth bristol paper. I usually then smooth and soften with a layer of white pencil on most of the piece. Really is a great medium to feel very controlled of the results, unless you get a random tip break that jabs the pencil to an unwanted spot.
That's what I do as well.
My eyes refuse to believe those art pieces were all pencil coloured. Gifted.
So many things top notch come out of Germany. They take pride in quality.
This was such an interesting video. I tend to use mainly Polychromos and Caran d’Ache in my work and now I know why they are so good!
The color pigments mixed workers,
already creates an artistic masterpiece.
I wish I had some of these machines to test pencils! 😮
Ah ah ah ! That would have saved you a lot of time!
This just reinforces my decision from many years ago of buying my full set of faber polys they are such a gorgeous pencil
Crayolas have their own uses too, they're great in their own way!
I love Faber Castell brand and I have their coloured Polychromos pencils, watercolour pencils, paper crafter crayons and pitt markers among other pencil brands for on the go drawing. Their colours stay consistent between different art mediums. But I would love to check out the Caran D'ache pencils too. It was wonderful to watch the process of making their pencils. Thanks!
Having worked for Crayola, they buy all their pencils from Faber. The reason they are more chalk than wax, is because more wax causes the “lead” to break in the barrel and consumers complain. Adding chalk creates a stronger lead but “cheapens” the color vibrancy and lay down.
I live in Nuremberg which right next to Stein where Faber-Castell is located. Love them and all their products. They have an awesome flagship store in Stein.
I use the Polychromos for my art but I also love their budget pencils for kids. I use them in my teaching job.
Lightfastness is a bit overrated. Yes, it is important if you sell your work, but you can never give guarantees. If customers buy art they usually do not preserve it like a museum nor hang their art in a room without daylight. So the colours will always fade in time. How ever it does make a huge difference if the used medium is Crayola or Polychromos. The art with polychromos will last longer, but not ‘a hundred years’ like some company’s advertise with ;-)
My luminance carandache pencils are few but incredible. So expensive, but the way they perform is so clearly superior to an average pencil.
I,m 66 years old and colored all my life .i just love it. Thank you for this info. Very interesting to me.💖XO DB
This video is correct, you need these pencils if you want to sell your art, lightfastness is they key and the cost is not that high in the long run.
When you cut corners you can see, quality control issues, defective products etc
Couldn't agree more!
I like the part she says, "Only half of the pigments will give you cancer."
same lol
My wife is the artistic one, having seen the difference between “quality” art mediums and typical classroom mediums, I think it’s like comparing McDonalds to a ranch owned burger joint. Comparing the two at face value doesn’t make sense until you take a bite from each. But if you don’t know how to compare the two then a pencil is a pencil and a burger is a burger.
The only reason to buy these as a pro is lightfastnes. Otherwise there is barely any difference between these and cheaper alternatives.
Also, sharpening Prismacolors is a pain in the ass. They break like crazy. Their production moved to Mexico because its cheaper there, and their quality became cheaper as well. The price of course, didnt.
I so appreciate, that you can buy some of these expensive pens as singles in some places. It gives new artists the change of trying out the different between good a and bad products. That is how I started out buying Faber Castell Pitt Artist pen brushe's
this video reawakens my obsession with school supplies LOL. the last thing i need is an artist-grade set of colored pencils - alas, i have no talent - but dang it i WANT them!
This takes me back to all of my college material prices as an art major 😅
she is so talented,the painting is so lifelike,
i lived close to that factory my entire childhood and it was like wonderland to enter their store
Have absolutely zero interest in pigments or pencils, but as a photographer those colors are stunning
I never knew colored pencils could do what Bethany does with them. She's awesome.
I still have most of my set from college. Obviously I don't use them as much as a commercial artist, The colors and range of 'shades' is great!
When i was a child i wished for something as good as crayola, the cheap generic pencils we got were horrible 😆 I'm not much of an artist, i mostly sketch concepts for my 3D art but even I can appreciate a good quality pencil. 😊
I haven't used colored pencils since I was kid but now I want a set of Faber-Castell's!
This videos are so interesting to me. It reminds me of being a little kid and seeing how crayons were made on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.❤
Yes, that orange crayon in the video :)
If people think pencils are expensive, they should see how much artist-quality watercolor paper costs.
Yep my full Faber Castell set of 420 cost me over $500. Worth it though!!! The quality is tangible, the cores are thicker and such high quality, even compared with other brands like the american one starting with a "p" 😉
I go back to F-C year after year because, for someone who is a fine artist like me, they simply ARE the best 👌🏻
They really are.
Sounds good on paper, but idk how well they'll do in practice
Once you try oil based coloured pencils, you are ”spoiled” for good! They are so buttery and vibrant!
So are the ones referred to as wax-based.
0:33 either she is drawing on a photo or her skills are god tier.
Looks like a printed stencil of the image
I've only used mid-tier colored pencils (like $70) but they feel so amazing
Please do for watercolor and acrylics too!! ❤I enjoyed this episode. I love my faber castell polycrhomos than prisma
Amazing video and Bethany’s artwork is stunning! I feel like Crayola got a bit shortchanged here though, I don’t think they market themselves toward artists so the comparison is somewhat unfair, but the difference in quality was interesting to see nonetheless.
That is an old school factory! Have been a colored pencial artist since the '90s ... and even then they seemed so expensive ...
Cheapo, school-grade pencils hurt my soul.
I like Faber Castell's pencils as much as Staedtler's. They're not the famed Dixon Ticonderogas, but they carried me through school in Germany reliably.
Would never imagined the tech and development behind simple pencil
I wonder where all the reject pencils go… I wonder if they donate them, we want to know! :-)
Maybe some of them are used for the durability and coloring performance tests.
That lady knows what she is doing 😮😊
I love my FC poly’s and they smell amazing.
my most expensive pencil crayons are prismacolour and compared to crayola they are much better but also double/triple the cost. but they are so much better to work with, would love to try these ones but im not a good enough artist to warrant spending that kind of money on pencil crayons
Can’t help but love those pencils!❤❤❤
As a German Faber- Castell is my First Choice ❤❤❤
My neighborhood 🤩 Staedtler and Schwan Stabilo are also around
“There’s nothing more expensive than a cheap pencil.” I’ve had my FC colored pencils since 5th grade, roughly 26 years ago. I used them monthly.
Bro, you never had to pay for a divorce🤣
I started doing pencil art with Crayolas, and in the end got a LOT of mileage out of them, but the effort required to actually achieve that level of color vibrancy was physically exhausting (to say nothing of the pressure imposed on the paper -- if you are using a book of drawing paper you'll NEED a firm separator under the current sheet).
Picking up actual professional-quality pencils (in my case, Prismacolors), I immediately discovered they were able to achieve the same result I was already producing with my Crayolas, but much faster and with far less effort on my part.
I took my set of polycromose ( 24 ) to my younger cousins’ house ( 7 and 8 respectively ) and the older one said “these are really good pencils”. Hopefully I’ll get the full set of 120 for my birthday next month