Best colored pencils

I have Prismacolor for regular colored pencils and Arteza watercolor pencils. I did seek out reviews and comparisons that were not on etail sites, but in blogs and things like that, to inform my decision. I also found a good basic set of the Prismacolor at a warehouse store and I supplement with open stock from Michael's (usually on sale and/or with coupons). I am definitely enjoying the Prismacolors, though I don't have others to compare them to.

Prismacolor is my go to. Unfortunately some years ago the OG company was sold. The new quality control wasn’t as good and the pencils tended to snap. So wear you buy the m make sure the core is in the middle of the pencil and straight. It’s more stable.

THIS.

I have an many years old set of 72 which are great. I add to my colors one by one by going into Blick in person and choosing each pencil by checking if the color is somewhat centered in the wood.

Here's some info on pencils:
-Prismacolor Premier: softest of all brands-wax/creamy – works well with Gamsol
- Prismacolor Verithin: hardest of all leads – sharpens to fine point for detail
- Prismacolor Art Sticks: cover larger areas

-Caran d’Ache: wax based
- Pablo: wax based – good as base color
- Luminance: wax based – lightfast

-Derwent: wax based – detailed work

-Faber-Castell: Polychromos: wax/oil based, resists fading

-Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor: oil based

***Crayola: not artist grade
-a lot of wax
-little color
-dull and lifeless when trying to shade
-doesn’t work well with Gamsol


I have Prisma's and the Caran d'Ache. I use Prisma's the most. I love the blending results in addition to using Gamsol with them. The Caran's seem to be harder. They blend nice too. I just am partial to Prisma's.

That may even be one of the one I watched back when I was deciding....