I started my collection by buying only a few pencils to try, quickly they became my most used pencils. Recently I’ve purchased the 120 count set.
The pencils are a pleasure to work with, they blend easily, and you can apply many layers. The cores are silky, but not too soft. These pencils hold the point well and don’t need to be sharpened often.
Polychromos spread a good amount of pigment, even if applied lightly. The colours are saturated and very beautiful. Even after many layers, there will be no shine, characteristic I love about them. I really like the matte finish, the way light goes through the layers of colour.
Available in different formats: 12, 24, 36, 60 and 120 count, or can be easily purchased one by one, they are available open stock. This is a great advantage when you are considering investing in a larger set. Being able to replace the most used colours, means once you buy a set, you’ll always have it complete.
It would be great to have some more colours on the set, particularly pastels like sage green, mint and cloud blue. I would hope that Faber-Castell could produce a special edition only with pastel colours one day, it would be great!
Polychromos are rated for lightfastness, their capacity to keep the colours bright and not fade when exposed to light.
This is one of my favourite sets, I love working with them. Smooth, pigmented and good finish – there is no dust or smudging. Beautiful results and lots of fun when colouring with those wonderful pencils.
FC Polychromos FC at Amazon.com
The Colouring Times 