I have 7 complete sets of artist pencils. I also have a dozen sets of budget pencils. There is a big difference between these types of sets. I rotate which type of set I use. I have decided to only replace open stock pencils in the future. The artist sets are richer in color with an ease of use that really make a difference. It is subtle but so beautiful somehow. They are also so pleasurable to use. If I had to pick budget sets that seem to work the best for me, I would choose Artezia and Deli.
This was really useful, thanks. I've often wondered about this, particularly with the Brutfuner and Kalour, and all the other similar results that come up on Amazon if you search those brands. I'm an adult colourist and I'm currently using my Arrtx set in Christine Karron's Wildflower Folk which is a beautiful quality book - I normally use my Polychromos in it but I'm pretty happy with the results I'm getting with the Arrtx. Like you say the paper quality in adult colouring books varies massively so it does have an impact on how pencils perform and feel.
Thank you so very much for your donation, your continued support for me and this channel is staggering, I can’t thank you enough. There just aren’t the right words in the English language to portray my gratitude. I have been so incredibly blessed with an amazing community that has grown from this channel and the love and support you have all shown me is just out of this world. I don’t know what I have done to deserve such care and kindness. Thank you so much my friend.
Thank you. Your work is to be appreciated by so many in the future. Stay well and remain positive. Your work is to be recommended reading for future buyer's.
Thank you very much for this review, Im not an artist myself but a colouring book enthusiastic. Have learnt a lot in the past couple of years from your reviews & comments, my fab pencils are Castle arts and Arteza and I discover Castle ones thanks to your videos!! Thank you very much for sharing ❤
Thank you so much, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to know that the information in the video has either been of some help or just interesting. Thank you so so much for your support and for leaving your comment as well, thank you so very much.
Yeah you are completely right and it was things like that which made others, including myself, think they were the same pencil in different branding. I’m definitely going to compare the Marco Tribute, Phoenix Color, Nyoni and Seeing Essence. And just because this comparison was 6, I might add in different Brutfuner and Kalour pencils as well, not the ones I used in this comparison. Normally when I compare two pencils against each other, I will complete a piece of artwork, something simple like an apple. I draw the apple out and then trace it so that both images are identical, but I couldn’t do that for 6, it just would have taken forever. Thank you so very much for your support and comment I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it and I just love when viewers leave comments. For me personally, the most important part of my channel, is you guys leaving comments. The information I put out on my video reviews or written reviews is just the beginning of the conversation. When you guys leave comments or ask questions, it is you guys who continue the conversation on and provide amazing information from your own experience or ask amazing questions which only enhance the information I’ve put out in the video. I can’t thank you enough, I really appreciate your support and comment, thank you so very much.
@@TheArtGearGuide What a lovely and kind answer. A big thank you Harry for your channel and your work. Have a very nice day. And a very nice day to all of you "guys" too :)
Thanks so much Harry. Really interesting comparison. I use adult colouring books and have the Brutfuner square, which I really like, a 180 Kalour set which are better than I thought they would be but not my first choice, and a set of 120 Markart, which are also a lovely pencil with a great palette. (Markart are apparently are rebranded Nyoni for the US market although I'm in Australia). I'm giving the Arrtx to my niece - don't like them at all compared to the others. Your comments about the paper are spot on. Sometimes the different pencils just won't work as well dependent on the paper. I'll often do a test in a book just to try the blend ability of a particular pencil. At the end of the day, the old Prismacolor get the most use and the others are great for a change of palette.
Oh I am so sorry it came a bit late for you. After reading all of the comments so far, I have so much work to do and have been given so many ideas in order to help you guys make even better informed decisions when buying products. Don’t forget, I and this channel exist purely to help other artists when buying new products. So if there is a a product you are looking to buy, drop me a message and I will do a review of it before you spend your money or I might have already reviewed it and I can provide a link directly to that review. I have almost 550 reviews on my channel and so a lot of them get a bit lost, so always check with me if you are not sure. Thank you so much for your comment and support I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.
I've had the Brutfuner Square pencils for quite some time, but I've never used them or even swatched them yet. I have the Nyoni 72 set and they are similar to the original Star Joy set, that was sold before the Star Joy Gold pencil set came out. Great review as always Harry, take care!
I haven't used ANY of those brands, but I love collecting so many colors just for the fun of it! I definitely know that paper really does make such a huge difference in how a colored pencil lays down and whether or not I like the pencil, when it actually isn't the pencil's fault, but the paper's.
I think when we all get into colored pencils or art in general, we all end up collecting rather than just buying because we need a certain product, I know I do. My studio looks more like an art store at the minute due to all the products I have yet to review. Thank you so much for your comment and your support it means so much to me, thank you so much
I'm looking for a decent set of coloured pencils for adult colouring and I was looking at Brutfuner, Kalour and Arrtx. I've not heard about the other ones, but after seeing your video I will take some other brands into consideration. Very useful, as always ☺
All of the sets I showed in the video are excellent for adult colouring books in so much as they are not the most expensive pencils in the world, they don’t have any lightfast ratings worth talking about, but, they are decently pigmented and the cores are not super hard which in my opinion would require a paper with some tooth. I’ve not really delved too deep into adult colouring books and what I mean by that is, I’ve not taken too much interest in the various paper qualities inside every different adult colouring book. I of course love seeing the artwork artists create inside colouring books and as far as I am concerned, those who use adult colouring books are every bit the artist, I and many others are. For me it was a daunting and expensive task to purchase up a lot of different colouring books and study paper quality within each book. To know and understand the various paper qualities inside each book, would enable me to pin point a group of pencils that I could say work well inside this group of colouring books, but not so well inside this colouring book. From my understanding with a lot of adult colouring book artists, use the Castle Arts Gold Colored Pencils; in fact Castle have a selection of 5 adult colouring books they created specifically for their pencils. I would say of all the pencils I tested in this video, I don’t think the Seeing Essence would be particularly good for colouring books. The seeing essence pencils are a bit too hard and in my opinion work best on a velum type surface, a paper with a bit of tooth.
@@TheArtGearGuide Thank you for elaborating on this. I understand what you mean and I would never have expected you to test all of these coloured pencils in adult coloring books. There are people who do this and I can always refer to their channels. However, I value your opinion and reviews. You are honest, very thorough in what you do, and you create beautiful drawings. I like colouring because it's really relaxing. I can listen to a podcast, simply colour and turn my brain off. I have a few small/cheap/budget couloured pencils sets - they all work differently with different books. I would like to buy two larger sets (one with softer cores, and one with a slightly harder core for details) to have more options. I don't feel the need to invest in premium quality coloured pencils. It might change in the future - who knows 🤷♀ Noted on the Seeing Essence & Castle Arts Gold 👍
Well, I am glad I saw this video, because I was thinking about buying Brutfuhner, but I hate Kalour’s feeling so… I dodged a bullet I think. Thanks for this great comparison, yes I would like to see the Nyoni pencils vs Phoenix and maybe other brands.
I only have a copulof sets, none of the ones you mention. I got the polychromos, derwent coloursoft, luminance and just ordered the 150 set on a black friday deal of the chromoflow. I love the pencil and am looking for a budget friendly pencil. Thank you for doing all the work you do
just wondering....Even with the expensive pencils (the Holbeins, the Polychromoses, the Caran d'Aches), comparing different pigments with each other is a no go. Reds are always richer than the greens. Apples & Oranges. Comparing the same pigments between brands might have been more useful. What do you think?
You are more than welcome and thank you so much for your support and kind comment. It makes me so happy when I am able to help others no matter how small that help might be. Because of my injury I can’t do what I used to as an Elite Soldier, so this is the best I can do for now. Helping people make informed choices when they are about to part with their hard earned money, is important to me. I know how people struggle financially and so when they buy art supplies, for the most part it is a real treat for them, but at the same time could be a very necessary purchase if they are having difficulties with their mental health. Any way thank you so very much for your support and for dropping a comment it really helps the channel and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, thank you.
I have used Castle and Artex. I have gifted those and Prismacolor to local art students. I am pleased, but realize they are not professional quality, but good enough.
Ok. So first off you really should test similar colors as pigment affects performance. Second, you need a bit more research into the brands. It's understandable since you have much more experience with professional vs budget brands.. but just know many of these have more than one pencil formula under the same brand, and there are a million budget brands out there. Brutfuner and Kalour alone have at least four each (possibly more, it's been a minute since I have worked with either and they are constantly coming out with new sets). Castle Art has at least three. Nyoni has at least two. So we can't just compare brand to brand, it has to be pencil to pencil. White labeling is 100% confirmed, and you just need a wider scope to understand and identify the comparisons. For example, many of the black barrelled pencils are the same across multiple brands (including but not limited to Creyart, Soucolor, Shuttle Art, Brutfuner, Kalour, Colore, etc). Nyoni colored barrel and Markart are the same, not just the same core but literally identical. Hiforny colored barrels are the same as Kalour colored barrels. The Brutfuner squares are the same core as the Brutfuner colored barrels in the standard size sets but appear to be different to the huge 500 set (the 500 set are not as pigmented or soft, not surprising due to the cost difference). It's not just the budget pencils either, Mitsubishi Uni are the same core as Faber Castel Albrecht Durer, only offer fewer colors. They are identical in feel, performance, and color.. and even the numbers correlate although Mitsubishi added an 8 instead of a 1 (844 vs 144 both are the same cobalt blue, 826 vs 126 same carmine, etc). This is just the tip of the iceberg, could go on for days. I really wish one of these pencil collectors out there would set up a master comparison list and save folks some money. I've personally destashed all of my budget pencils, sure they are cheap up front and great for a first set, but over time open stock wins hands down. I don't need another 120 pencils, I just need a new olive green. The last to go was Arteza Expert (which was a unique pencil, majority wax content but transparent with lovely jewel like colors) but they went as well when Arteza decided to end their open stock availability (they also discontinued the 120 set reducing the colors by almost half even if you are willing to buy a full set replacement). There is a bit of open stock still hanging out on Amazon so if you want them get them while you can.
I have all the sets in the video, and they are certainly not the same. the 2 who are closest are Brutfuner and Kalour, but still not exactly the same. I prefer Brutfuner cause Kalour is harder and scratchy.The Marco tribute are horrible pencils and can't work with them in any coloring book I own. The arrtix are the softest I think but way different then all the others. Nyoni is a another one. however they look like Deli, they are not the same. the nyoni are great pencils and the comparison with the tribute pencils is way off in my opinion.
yeah, Brutfuner def feel smoother than Kalour. Kalour have scratchy bits in them. The Brutfuner feel like the same pencils… but with better quality control. I like my Marco Tribute though. But I use them in my sketchbook, so maybe they don’t work the same in colouring books? also I like to layer with lots of very light layers to build up pigment slowly rather than press down on the pencils to get maximum lay down in one go (I don’t like Prismacolors, for example, as they are way too soft for that), so maybe that’s why my feelings about them are different? I like to do the pressing down thing with Neocolors, but not with pencils, so I prefer smooth but slightly harder pencils, like Polys, Luminance, Holbein. But not too hard. I don’t like irojiten or Koh-I-noor
i have the kalour and the brutfuner and i agree with you....they feel different ...and i also have the brutfuner 72 skin tone and they feel more buttery than the brutfuner 72 classic set...i didn't try the arrtx because its way more expensive than those and i wasn't sure of their quality...
My goodness I completely forgot about the Deli, I am going to have to add those to a future test. Thank you so much for your comment it is fantastic. I completely see why the Marco Tribute don’t fit in with your needs and you are a perfect example, and other artists like you, as to why in my reviews, I try to demonstrate the pencils on a few different paper surfaces. A set of pencils might be excellent on a Velum surface or Fabriano Hot Pressed, but those exact same pencils on a Bristol Smooth might look and feel terrible. The Deli and Nyoni are very similar to each other as you quite rightly mentioned and they are also very similar looking to the Mitsubishi Uni pencils. The more I read these amazing comments the more and more work I have ahead of me but I love it and I feel refreshed, like I have a new lease of life. I love doing reviews but doing the same thing for ten years, requires a little something different along the way to mix things up. The Nyoni and Tribute may well be way off in terms of similarities, but I think in my next video of this type, I will test the Nyoni, Marco Tribute, Deli, Phoenix, Brutfuner 520 pencil and Kalour, (Not the Kalour set in this comparison). However I think I am going to have to test and demonstrate them on different paper types as well. When I was first sent the Marco Tribute, I completed some artwork on the Derwent Lightfast paper, but that paper is exceptionally high quality paper, 100% cotton, perfect amount of tooth etc. The artwork turned out really well, but I am not sure if I tested them on a smoother surface, which I am guessing would be more inline with a paper surface from an adult colouring book? I think I am going to have to buy a few different brands of adult colouring books and use them as part of my reviews. There are so many adult colouring book artists out there and I am neglecting them by not including the medium of their choice in my reviews. Which 5 different brands of adult colouring books could you recommend for me please to buy and use in my testing for reviews? Thank you so very much for your wonderful comment and for providing me with ideas that will keep me in my studio for the entirety of 2025 😂😂😂 thank you so very much.
@@TheArtGearGuide wow Harry, the amount of work and care you put into this channel is amazing. I am not a colouring book artist (nor specifically a pencil artist) but your comment here really shows how much you care about your reviews!!! I recently started my own channel (not this account) so I know just how much work that is, I am amazed! I recommended the Marco pencils myself and seeing the above comment I feel like I may have done a disservice to the colouring community! This is why your channel is such a valuable and unique source of information to anyone into pencil art. What a great idea to include the books! And it’s going to be educational and informative for all of us, even those who don’t use the colouring books! Keep up the fantastic work you are doing!
I@@TheArtGearGuideI'd try printer paper because many colorists use that for free pages online. Johanna Basford books have thicker smooth paper. Creative Haven books are more like printer paper. Amazon printed books are thinner and don't work as well with Castle Art pencils. Hope this helps.
I also wonder if manufacturers of coloured pencils change or simply the formulas of the cores change. So it's possible that brands like Kalour and brutfuner at one point share the same manufacturer and have the same pigment core formulas but later they could be produced by different manufacturers. Even if the manufacturer is the same, I suspect the formulas keep changing. How many iterations of kalour / brutfuner had we in the past?
I set my Brutfuner square pencils aside for a while. I was using them quite a lot for a while. Then, they started feeling “greasy.). What can I do to get a better finish?
I have Kolor and Brutfiner, I love both sets and I color on black and white printables and coloring books, I used to be a prismacolor but now I am full on Brutfiner and hate prismacolor now!
Watched this expecting to have my own bias that most are the same confirmed, but I own the 520 Kalour and the 520 Flower Box Brutfuner, and I don't find them to feel the same at all. Are those the sets you are using? I know that there are different Brutfuner sets, like square versus Flower Box vs Yellow Box,and they aren't even a match from set to set.
Thank you so much for your comment. The Brutfuner set I used in this comparison was the Square set, but I can’t remember if I mentioned this in the video or wrote it in the description. I have 5 different Brutfuner sets and I think about the same for Kalour. I would also like to compare all the Brutfuner sets in one video and the Kalour in a separate video. I don’t have the 520 Kalour set so I think I am going to have to try and save and buy that to review now that I’m taking everyone down this rabbit hole. Also Brutfuner have two sets of 520 and I only have the flower sets as you mentioned. The thought of reviewing another 520 colored pencils gives me nightmares 😂😂. The last time I reviewed the 520 Brutfuner set, it took me forever just to sharpen and swatch every pencil, that was when an electric sharpener would have been amazing. But you can find that review on my channel. I think I have a lot of work to do in trying to decipher the differences between all these pencils, if there is in fact any difference and publish my results here on the channel and people at least then will have an opinion and an open discussion about the pencils they may have some concern over replicating pencils they already own.
@TheArtGearGuide I only just finished swatching both sets myself. I plan to next use a Spectro 1 to measure all of my pencils to have LAB values of all the colors. I don't have the square Brutfuners, but I did also buy the Macaron 72 sets of both Brutfuner and Kalour, and the Kalour set is identical to the pencils in the Kalour 520 set, while the Brutfuner Macaron are different to the Flowerbox Brutfuner.
@wanderingbishop so would you say that the 520 Brutfuner and 529 Kalour are very similar with regards to the core? I’m not sure if I have understood you correctly which is totally on me, I’m not the brightest bulb in the box
Oh I see, I’ve not tried the Kalour 520 set yet so that was why I asked. I’ll have to get the Kalour 520 and give them a review. Oh my goodness, another 520 pencils to swatch 😂😂😂. Any way thank you so very much for chatting with me and sharing your experience and knowledge with me as well, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
God, I owned all of these in my collection before it got stolen away. Makes my chest hurt. I found some differences with most of them like with the original castle arts, it didn’t matter if it was marketed as a watercolour pencil or a regular pencil. They were both watercolour pencils. Lol.
They are just a little bit more pigmented than the Irojiten, but both pencils look identical, if you watch my individual review of the seeing essence, I show a side by side comparison of both pencils. Thank you so much for your support and comment I really appreciate it
Hullo Harry, I have enjoyed watching your videos and marveling at your pencil expertise! I have completed a total of four color pencil only artworks in my 40 year career as a freelance artist! I have used color pencils for details on watercolor paintings, marker art, and other mixed media projects. I honestly don’t believe that anyone should be concerned about lightfastness in coloring books, children’s books nor adult books! I have scanned images from coloring books to have more than one copy for my nieces and nephews to color and not have a fight over who gets the Spider-Man or Wonder Woman picture to color! I have also used pencils to sketch out the layout for a painting in acrylics or gouache even watercolor. I believe that several pencil lines are made in the same factory in China! You can change the core and wood containers and use the same machine for assembling them! I have seen pencils made at the Faber Castell factory in Germany and they ran their Poly’s on the same machine as their budget “red” line! I doubt that the Chinese are any different! Just cheaper materials for cheaper pencils. I have sent more than a few people to your UA-cam channel and they looked up the pencils they wanted to buy and you have helped me and them by your astonishing well done reviews! Thank you Harry.
Wow thank you so much my friend for that wonderful comment. I have been really suffering lately, actually suffering isn’t the right description; I’ve just had a difficult time. My mental health has really taken a knock due to some personal issues at home and that in turn has inflamed my pain so much. It’s just one of those things and I know so many other people who come to the channel are in the same way, so I don’t like to moan and complain. But your comment and the other comments I’ve been receiving have really cheered me up. I’m not sure what or why it is, perhaps it goes back to the work I did as a soldier, but I love helping people. It’s actually quite a selfish thing to be honest because when I have been able to really help people in terrible need get away from life threatening danger, the feeling I got was very self satisfying and serving. So what I do here on this channel is all I can do in terms of regaining a little bit of that feeling. I know it is only art supplies, but if I help someone understand a certain product much better than they had prior to purchasing, and my information confirmed to them the product is right for them or not, that makes me feel good. I love saving people a bit of money, that’s another reason I love doing so many giveaways. If I can give 120 set of Pablos, or a 120 set of Faber Castell Polychromos etc, all giveaways I’ve done on the channel, away, free to someone, it makes me feel good. I completely agree with you about the adult colouring books, I know people use luminance and lightfast etc pencils in colouring and that is absolutely their right to do that, but for someone new to pencils I’d never tell them or recommend they use such pencils in colouring books. Thank you so much for your comment and for recommending the channel to other artists, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, thank you so much.
Все карандаши прекрасно рисуют. Все очень хорошего качества. А Маркетинг упаковка слова слова - все это бизнес.!!! БИЗНЕС. Так что хорошо иметь небольшие наборы 48-72 ,и иногда покупать чтото новое ради эксперимента.
But you understand that when I select a music clip from the UA-cam Copyright Free library, the clips are what they are, I can’t make them louder or quieter in my editing software. You also know that you can turn the volume down a bit on whatever device you are watching on, it could be that the volume on your device is too high. I think the use of the word obnoxious is what has made my response a bit sharp, as if somehow I am trying to deliberately annoy people with loud music. It is incredibly difficult to create content that makes everyone happy, I used to get upset about this when I got comments like yours and I would frantically try to change whatever was being complained about. However, I now know this is an impossibility to please everyone and get everything right. At the same time I absolutely have no issue with people critiquing my videos or writing or whatever it is I am doing, in fact I personally feel that my videos are better now for me listening to certain critiques, but I certainly don’t get upset when criticism is aimed at me, so nobody has to soften the blow by saying something nice and then dropping the criticism. I am sorry you find the music loud, but the volume button on your device will change that in a second and then it will be the perfect volume for you.
Harry, your channel is a treasure. Thank you!
Thank you so much, you are far too kind, but it makes me happy that people find what I do helpful, at least in some small way.
@@TheArtGearGuidegood sir, you do not give yourself enough credit at all! Your videos are HUGELY helpful in more ways than one
I have 7 complete sets of artist pencils. I also have a dozen sets of budget pencils. There is a big difference between these types of sets. I rotate which type of set I use. I have decided to only replace open stock pencils in the future. The artist sets are richer in color with an ease of use that really make a difference. It is subtle but so beautiful somehow. They are also so pleasurable to use. If I had to pick budget sets that seem to work the best for me, I would choose Artezia and Deli.
The dedication, the music, the underlying mystery of a possible massive conspiracy theory regarding colored pencil manufacturers.
10/10 video 👍
This was really useful, thanks. I've often wondered about this, particularly with the Brutfuner and Kalour, and all the other similar results that come up on Amazon if you search those brands.
I'm an adult colourist and I'm currently using my Arrtx set in Christine Karron's Wildflower Folk which is a beautiful quality book - I normally use my Polychromos in it but I'm pretty happy with the results I'm getting with the Arrtx. Like you say the paper quality in adult colouring books varies massively so it does have an impact on how pencils perform and feel.
Enjoyed seeing the comparisons.
Thank you so very much for your donation, your continued support for me and this channel is staggering, I can’t thank you enough. There just aren’t the right words in the English language to portray my gratitude. I have been so incredibly blessed with an amazing community that has grown from this channel and the love and support you have all shown me is just out of this world. I don’t know what I have done to deserve such care and kindness. Thank you so much my friend.
Thank you. Your work is to be appreciated by so many in the future. Stay well and remain positive. Your work is to be recommended reading for future buyer's.
Thank you very much for this review, Im not an artist myself but a colouring book enthusiastic. Have learnt a lot in the past couple of years from your reviews & comments, my fab pencils are Castle arts and Arteza and I discover Castle ones thanks to your videos!! Thank you very much for sharing ❤
Thank you Harry, very helpful review, as always. ❤
Thank you so much, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to know that the information in the video has either been of some help or just interesting. Thank you so so much for your support and for leaving your comment as well, thank you so very much.
Hello, thank you for the review. I 've noticed that the Nyoni and the Brutfuner square pencils share 58 colors with the same number.
Yeah you are completely right and it was things like that which made others, including myself, think they were the same pencil in different branding. I’m definitely going to compare the Marco Tribute, Phoenix Color, Nyoni and Seeing Essence. And just because this comparison was 6, I might add in different Brutfuner and Kalour pencils as well, not the ones I used in this comparison.
Normally when I compare two pencils against each other, I will complete a piece of artwork, something simple like an apple. I draw the apple out and then trace it so that both images are identical, but I couldn’t do that for 6, it just would have taken forever.
Thank you so very much for your support and comment I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it and I just love when viewers leave comments. For me personally, the most important part of my channel, is you guys leaving comments. The information I put out on my video reviews or written reviews is just the beginning of the conversation. When you guys leave comments or ask questions, it is you guys who continue the conversation on and provide amazing information from your own experience or ask amazing questions which only enhance the information I’ve put out in the video.
I can’t thank you enough, I really appreciate your support and comment, thank you so very much.
@@TheArtGearGuide What a lovely and kind answer. A big thank you Harry for your channel and your work. Have a very nice day. And a very nice day to all of you "guys" too :)
Excellent comparison. Very thorough. I really appreciate the effort you put into all your videos.
Thanks so much Harry. Really interesting comparison. I use adult colouring books and have the Brutfuner square, which I really like, a 180 Kalour set which are better than I thought they would be but not my first choice, and a set of 120 Markart, which are also a lovely pencil with a great palette. (Markart are apparently are rebranded Nyoni for the US market although I'm in Australia). I'm giving the Arrtx to my niece - don't like them at all compared to the others. Your comments about the paper are spot on. Sometimes the different pencils just won't work as well dependent on the paper. I'll often do a test in a book just to try the blend ability of a particular pencil. At the end of the day, the old Prismacolor get the most use and the others are great for a change of palette.
The video I have been waiting for. Wish I had this information before buying sets of each. Lol.Thank you so much Harry.
Oh I am so sorry it came a bit late for you. After reading all of the comments so far, I have so much work to do and have been given so many ideas in order to help you guys make even better informed decisions when buying products.
Don’t forget, I and this channel exist purely to help other artists when buying new products. So if there is a a product you are looking to buy, drop me a message and I will do a review of it before you spend your money or I might have already reviewed it and I can provide a link directly to that review. I have almost 550 reviews on my channel and so a lot of them get a bit lost, so always check with me if you are not sure. Thank you so much for your comment and support I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.
I've had the Brutfuner Square pencils for quite some time, but I've never used them or even swatched them yet. I have the Nyoni 72 set and they are similar to the original Star Joy set, that was sold before the Star Joy Gold pencil set came out. Great review as always Harry, take care!
I haven't used ANY of those brands, but I love collecting so many colors just for the fun of it!
I definitely know that paper really does make such a huge difference in how a colored pencil lays down and whether or not I like the pencil, when it actually isn't the pencil's fault, but the paper's.
I think when we all get into colored pencils or art in general, we all end up collecting rather than just buying because we need a certain product, I know I do. My studio looks more like an art store at the minute due to all the products I have yet to review. Thank you so much for your comment and your support it means so much to me, thank you so much
I'm looking for a decent set of coloured pencils for adult colouring and I was looking at Brutfuner, Kalour and Arrtx. I've not heard about the other ones, but after seeing your video I will take some other brands into consideration. Very useful, as always ☺
All of the sets I showed in the video are excellent for adult colouring books in so much as they are not the most expensive pencils in the world, they don’t have any lightfast ratings worth talking about, but, they are decently pigmented and the cores are not super hard which in my opinion would require a paper with some tooth.
I’ve not really delved too deep into adult colouring books and what I mean by that is, I’ve not taken too much interest in the various paper qualities inside every different adult colouring book. I of course love seeing the artwork artists create inside colouring books and as far as I am concerned, those who use adult colouring books are every bit the artist, I and many others are.
For me it was a daunting and expensive task to purchase up a lot of different colouring books and study paper quality within each book. To know and understand the various paper qualities inside each book, would enable me to pin point a group of pencils that I could say work well inside this group of colouring books, but not so well inside this colouring book.
From my understanding with a lot of adult colouring book artists, use the Castle Arts Gold Colored Pencils; in fact Castle have a selection of 5 adult colouring books they created specifically for their pencils.
I would say of all the pencils I tested in this video, I don’t think the Seeing Essence would be particularly good for colouring books. The seeing essence pencils are a bit too hard and in my opinion work best on a velum type surface, a paper with a bit of tooth.
@@TheArtGearGuide Thank you for elaborating on this. I understand what you mean and I would never have expected you to test all of these coloured pencils in adult coloring books. There are people who do this and I can always refer to their channels. However, I value your opinion and reviews. You are honest, very thorough in what you do, and you create beautiful drawings.
I like colouring because it's really relaxing. I can listen to a podcast, simply colour and turn my brain off. I have a few small/cheap/budget couloured pencils sets - they all work differently with different books. I would like to buy two larger sets (one with softer cores, and one with a slightly harder core for details) to have more options. I don't feel the need to invest in premium quality coloured pencils. It might change in the future - who knows 🤷♀
Noted on the Seeing Essence & Castle Arts Gold 👍
@@TheArtGearGuidethis is a very helpful response!
Well, I am glad I saw this video, because I was thinking about buying Brutfuhner, but I hate Kalour’s feeling so… I dodged a bullet I think.
Thanks for this great comparison, yes I would like to see the Nyoni pencils vs Phoenix and maybe other brands.
I only have a copulof sets, none of the ones you mention. I got the polychromos, derwent coloursoft, luminance and just ordered the 150 set on a black friday deal of the chromoflow. I love the pencil and am looking for a budget friendly pencil. Thank you for doing all the work you do
just wondering....Even with the expensive pencils (the Holbeins, the Polychromoses, the Caran d'Aches), comparing different pigments with each other is a no go. Reds are always richer than the greens. Apples & Oranges. Comparing the same pigments between brands might have been more useful. What do you think?
Thanks so much for your hard work. Great info when I go to buy.
A lot of people said Brutfuner is the same as Kalour from the same manufacturer.
Very thorough review. Thanks
Hi Harry what a lovely honest review of these pencils thank u for sharing ❤❤❤😊😊😊xxxx
You are more than welcome and thank you so much for your support and kind comment. It makes me so happy when I am able to help others no matter how small that help might be. Because of my injury I can’t do what I used to as an Elite Soldier, so this is the best I can do for now. Helping people make informed choices when they are about to part with their hard earned money, is important to me. I know how people struggle financially and so when they buy art supplies, for the most part it is a real treat for them, but at the same time could be a very necessary purchase if they are having difficulties with their mental health. Any way thank you so very much for your support and for dropping a comment it really helps the channel and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, thank you.
I have used Castle and Artex. I have gifted those and Prismacolor to local art students. I am pleased, but realize they are not professional quality, but good enough.
This is so helpful. Thank you Harry!
Ok. So first off you really should test similar colors as pigment affects performance. Second, you need a bit more research into the brands. It's understandable since you have much more experience with professional vs budget brands.. but just know many of these have more than one pencil formula under the same brand, and there are a million budget brands out there. Brutfuner and Kalour alone have at least four each (possibly more, it's been a minute since I have worked with either and they are constantly coming out with new sets). Castle Art has at least three. Nyoni has at least two. So we can't just compare brand to brand, it has to be pencil to pencil.
White labeling is 100% confirmed, and you just need a wider scope to understand and identify the comparisons. For example, many of the black barrelled pencils are the same across multiple brands (including but not limited to Creyart, Soucolor, Shuttle Art, Brutfuner, Kalour, Colore, etc). Nyoni colored barrel and Markart are the same, not just the same core but literally identical. Hiforny colored barrels are the same as Kalour colored barrels. The Brutfuner squares are the same core as the Brutfuner colored barrels in the standard size sets but appear to be different to the huge 500 set (the 500 set are not as pigmented or soft, not surprising due to the cost difference).
It's not just the budget pencils either, Mitsubishi Uni are the same core as Faber Castel Albrecht Durer, only offer fewer colors. They are identical in feel, performance, and color.. and even the numbers correlate although Mitsubishi added an 8 instead of a 1 (844 vs 144 both are the same cobalt blue, 826 vs 126 same carmine, etc).
This is just the tip of the iceberg, could go on for days. I really wish one of these pencil collectors out there would set up a master comparison list and save folks some money.
I've personally destashed all of my budget pencils, sure they are cheap up front and great for a first set, but over time open stock wins hands down. I don't need another 120 pencils, I just need a new olive green. The last to go was Arteza Expert (which was a unique pencil, majority wax content but transparent with lovely jewel like colors) but they went as well when Arteza decided to end their open stock availability (they also discontinued the 120 set reducing the colors by almost half even if you are willing to buy a full set replacement). There is a bit of open stock still hanging out on Amazon so if you want them get them while you can.
I have all the sets in the video, and they are certainly not the same. the 2 who are closest are Brutfuner and Kalour, but still not exactly the same. I prefer Brutfuner cause Kalour is harder and scratchy.The Marco tribute are horrible pencils and can't work with them in any coloring book I own. The arrtix are the softest I think but way different then all the others. Nyoni is a another one. however they look like Deli, they are not the same. the nyoni are great pencils and the comparison with the tribute pencils is way off in my opinion.
yeah, Brutfuner def feel smoother than Kalour. Kalour have scratchy bits in them. The Brutfuner feel like the same pencils… but with better quality control. I like my Marco Tribute though. But I use them in my sketchbook, so maybe they don’t work the same in colouring books? also I like to layer with lots of very light layers to build up pigment slowly rather than press down on the pencils to get maximum lay down in one go (I don’t like Prismacolors, for example, as they are way too soft for that), so maybe that’s why my feelings about them are different? I like to do the pressing down thing with Neocolors, but not with pencils, so I prefer smooth but slightly harder pencils, like Polys, Luminance, Holbein. But not too hard. I don’t like irojiten or Koh-I-noor
i have the kalour and the brutfuner and i agree with you....they feel different ...and i also have the brutfuner 72 skin tone and they feel more buttery than the brutfuner 72 classic set...i didn't try the arrtx because its way more expensive than those and i wasn't sure of their quality...
My goodness I completely forgot about the Deli, I am going to have to add those to a future test. Thank you so much for your comment it is fantastic. I completely see why the Marco Tribute don’t fit in with your needs and you are a perfect example, and other artists like you, as to why in my reviews, I try to demonstrate the pencils on a few different paper surfaces. A set of pencils might be excellent on a Velum surface or Fabriano Hot Pressed, but those exact same pencils on a Bristol Smooth might look and feel terrible.
The Deli and Nyoni are very similar to each other as you quite rightly mentioned and they are also very similar looking to the Mitsubishi Uni pencils.
The more I read these amazing comments the more and more work I have ahead of me but I love it and I feel refreshed, like I have a new lease of life. I love doing reviews but doing the same thing for ten years, requires a little something different along the way to mix things up.
The Nyoni and Tribute may well be way off in terms of similarities, but I think in my next video of this type, I will test the Nyoni, Marco Tribute, Deli, Phoenix, Brutfuner 520 pencil and Kalour, (Not the Kalour set in this comparison). However I think I am going to have to test and demonstrate them on different paper types as well.
When I was first sent the Marco Tribute, I completed some artwork on the Derwent Lightfast paper, but that paper is exceptionally high quality paper, 100% cotton, perfect amount of tooth etc. The artwork turned out really well, but I am not sure if I tested them on a smoother surface, which I am guessing would be more inline with a paper surface from an adult colouring book?
I think I am going to have to buy a few different brands of adult colouring books and use them as part of my reviews. There are so many adult colouring book artists out there and I am neglecting them by not including the medium of their choice in my reviews. Which 5 different brands of adult colouring books could you recommend for me please to buy and use in my testing for reviews?
Thank you so very much for your wonderful comment and for providing me with ideas that will keep me in my studio for the entirety of 2025 😂😂😂 thank you so very much.
@@TheArtGearGuide wow Harry, the amount of work and care you put into this channel is amazing. I am not a colouring book artist (nor specifically a pencil artist) but your comment here really shows how much you care about your reviews!!! I recently started my own channel (not this account) so I know just how much work that is, I am amazed! I recommended the Marco pencils myself and seeing the above comment I feel like I may have done a disservice to the colouring community! This is why your channel is such a valuable and unique source of information to anyone into pencil art. What a great idea to include the books! And it’s going to be educational and informative for all of us, even those who don’t use the colouring books! Keep up the fantastic work you are doing!
I@@TheArtGearGuideI'd try printer paper because many colorists use that for free pages online. Johanna Basford books have thicker smooth paper. Creative Haven books are more like printer paper. Amazon printed books are thinner and don't work as well with Castle Art pencils. Hope this helps.
I also wonder if manufacturers of coloured pencils change or simply the formulas of the cores change.
So it's possible that brands like Kalour and brutfuner at one point share the same manufacturer and have the same pigment core formulas but later they could be produced by different manufacturers. Even if the manufacturer is the same, I suspect the formulas keep changing. How many iterations of kalour / brutfuner had we in the past?
Thx, very informative cause I wouldn't want to buy very similar colored pencils under a different name!🎉
I set my Brutfuner square pencils aside for a while. I was using them quite a lot for a while. Then, they started feeling “greasy.). What can I do to get a better finish?
I have Kolor and Brutfiner, I love both sets and I color on black and white printables and coloring books, I used to be a prismacolor but now I am full on Brutfiner and hate prismacolor now!
Watched this expecting to have my own bias that most are the same confirmed, but I own the 520 Kalour and the 520 Flower Box Brutfuner, and I don't find them to feel the same at all. Are those the sets you are using? I know that there are different Brutfuner sets, like square versus Flower Box vs Yellow Box,and they aren't even a match from set to set.
Thank you so much for your comment. The Brutfuner set I used in this comparison was the Square set, but I can’t remember if I mentioned this in the video or wrote it in the description. I have 5 different Brutfuner sets and I think about the same for Kalour. I would also like to compare all the Brutfuner sets in one video and the Kalour in a separate video.
I don’t have the 520 Kalour set so I think I am going to have to try and save and buy that to review now that I’m taking everyone down this rabbit hole. Also Brutfuner have two sets of 520 and I only have the flower sets as you mentioned. The thought of reviewing another 520 colored pencils gives me nightmares 😂😂. The last time I reviewed the 520 Brutfuner set, it took me forever just to sharpen and swatch every pencil, that was when an electric sharpener would have been amazing. But you can find that review on my channel. I think I have a lot of work to do in trying to decipher the differences between all these pencils, if there is in fact any difference and publish my results here on the channel and people at least then will have an opinion and an open discussion about the pencils they may have some concern over replicating pencils they already own.
@TheArtGearGuide I only just finished swatching both sets myself. I plan to next use a Spectro 1 to measure all of my pencils to have LAB values of all the colors.
I don't have the square Brutfuners, but I did also buy the Macaron 72 sets of both Brutfuner and Kalour, and the Kalour set is identical to the pencils in the Kalour 520 set, while the Brutfuner Macaron are different to the Flowerbox Brutfuner.
@wanderingbishop so would you say that the 520 Brutfuner and 529 Kalour are very similar with regards to the core? I’m not sure if I have understood you correctly which is totally on me, I’m not the brightest bulb in the box
@TheArtGearGuide no, Kalour is more scratchy, Brutfuner more creamy
Oh I see, I’ve not tried the Kalour 520 set yet so that was why I asked. I’ll have to get the Kalour 520 and give them a review. Oh my goodness, another 520 pencils to swatch 😂😂😂. Any way thank you so very much for chatting with me and sharing your experience and knowledge with me as well, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Many Thanks.
God, I owned all of these in my collection before it got stolen away. Makes my chest hurt. I found some differences with most of them like with the original castle arts, it didn’t matter if it was marketed as a watercolour pencil or a regular pencil. They were both watercolour pencils. Lol.
Very helpful, thank you 🙏🏻
Seeing Essense sounds like Irojen?
They are just a little bit more pigmented than the Irojiten, but both pencils look identical, if you watch my individual review of the seeing essence, I show a side by side comparison of both pencils. Thank you so much for your support and comment I really appreciate it
Great Video
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your support and comment thank you
Hullo Harry, I have enjoyed watching your videos and marveling at your pencil expertise! I have completed a total of four color pencil only artworks in my 40 year career as a freelance artist! I have used color pencils for details on watercolor paintings, marker art, and other mixed media projects. I honestly don’t believe that anyone should be concerned about lightfastness in coloring books, children’s books nor adult books! I have scanned images from coloring books to have more than one copy for my nieces and nephews to color and not have a fight over who gets the Spider-Man or Wonder Woman picture to color! I have also used pencils to sketch out the layout for a painting in acrylics or gouache even watercolor. I believe that several pencil lines are made in the same factory in China! You can change the core and wood containers and use the same machine for assembling them! I have seen pencils made at the Faber Castell factory in Germany and they ran their Poly’s on the same machine as their budget “red” line! I doubt that the Chinese are any different! Just cheaper materials for cheaper pencils. I have sent more than a few people to your UA-cam channel and they looked up the pencils they wanted to buy and you have helped me and them by your astonishing well done reviews! Thank you Harry.
Wow thank you so much my friend for that wonderful comment. I have been really suffering lately, actually suffering isn’t the right description; I’ve just had a difficult time. My mental health has really taken a knock due to some personal issues at home and that in turn has inflamed my pain so much. It’s just one of those things and I know so many other people who come to the channel are in the same way, so I don’t like to moan and complain.
But your comment and the other comments I’ve been receiving have really cheered me up. I’m not sure what or why it is, perhaps it goes back to the work I did as a soldier, but I love helping people. It’s actually quite a selfish thing to be honest because when I have been able to really help people in terrible need get away from life threatening danger, the feeling I got was very self satisfying and serving.
So what I do here on this channel is all I can do in terms of regaining a little bit of that feeling. I know it is only art supplies, but if I help someone understand a certain product much better than they had prior to purchasing, and my information confirmed to them the product is right for them or not, that makes me feel good.
I love saving people a bit of money, that’s another reason I love doing so many giveaways. If I can give 120 set of Pablos, or a 120 set of Faber Castell Polychromos etc, all giveaways I’ve done on the channel, away, free to someone, it makes me feel good.
I completely agree with you about the adult colouring books, I know people use luminance and lightfast etc pencils in colouring and that is absolutely their right to do that, but for someone new to pencils I’d never tell them or recommend they use such pencils in colouring books.
Thank you so much for your comment and for recommending the channel to other artists, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, thank you so much.
Все карандаши прекрасно рисуют. Все очень хорошего качества. А Маркетинг упаковка слова слова - все это бизнес.!!! БИЗНЕС. Так что хорошо иметь небольшие наборы 48-72 ,и иногда покупать чтото новое ради эксперимента.
I generally really enjoy your videos, but the loud music is obnoxious.
But you understand that when I select a music clip from the UA-cam Copyright Free library, the clips are what they are, I can’t make them louder or quieter in my editing software. You also know that you can turn the volume down a bit on whatever device you are watching on, it could be that the volume on your device is too high. I think the use of the word obnoxious is what has made my response a bit sharp, as if somehow I am trying to deliberately annoy people with loud music.
It is incredibly difficult to create content that makes everyone happy, I used to get upset about this when I got comments like yours and I would frantically try to change whatever was being complained about. However, I now know this is an impossibility to please everyone and get everything right. At the same time I absolutely have no issue with people critiquing my videos or writing or whatever it is I am doing, in fact I personally feel that my videos are better now for me listening to certain critiques, but I certainly don’t get upset when criticism is aimed at me, so nobody has to soften the blow by saying something nice and then dropping the criticism.
I am sorry you find the music loud, but the volume button on your device will change that in a second and then it will be the perfect volume for you.