I think colored pencils are one of the most approachable art mediums because many artists are familiar with graphite and when they look to expanding their work to include color – colored pencils are a natural next step.
If you’re curious about my pastel art supplies, I shared a comprehensive list on a previous guide below:
Similar to pastels, some of the supplies in this post will overlap with my pastel supply list. Please do not view this as a mandatory supply list. Every artist will have different personal preferences for what they like for paper, pigmentation, etc. I always recommend that an artist purchase pencils in a small assorted set or a handful of individual colors (open stock) prior to investing in large or complete sets.
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Colored Pencils
- Faber-Castell Polychromos (available in sets of 12, 24, 36, 60, 120)
- Caran d’Ache Luminance (available in sets of 12, 20, 40, 76, 80)
- Derwent Drawing (available in sets of 6, 12, 24)
- Derwent Lightfast (available in sets of 12, 24, 36, 72, 100)
- Prismacolor (available in sets of 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, 132, 150)
Paper
- Strathmore Artagain black (available in pads 6”x9”, 9”x12”, 12”x18” [24 sheets per pad])
- Canson Mi-Tientes Pastel Paper (available in pads 9”x12” in earth tones and gray tones [24 sheets per pad])
Pencil Sharpener
Erasers
- Kneaded Eraser
- Pentel Clic Stick Eraser
- Staedtler Rubber Eraser
- Tombow Mono Zero Eraser (round 2.3 mm)
Blending Supplies
- Solvent – Gamsol by Gamblin
For tips on how to use Gamsol and similar mineral spirits to blend colored pencil, please check out the tutorial from Lachri on YouTube here.
Have a colored pencil supply I didn’t mention here that you love? Leave your recommendations below!
-Lauren