10 Best Quality Colored Pencils 2026 in the United States

The Crayola Colored Pencils Set with 120 colors offers a wide variety of shades, which is great for kids and beginners who want lots of choices without buying multiple sets. These pencils have a smooth and creamy core, making them easy to blend and layer colors for creative effects. The pre-sharpened tips are convenient, allowing users to start drawing right away without the hassle of sharpening. The pencils are built to be durable and long-lasting, suitable for regular use in school projects or coloring books.

This set is well suited for young artists, school use, or anyone looking for a large assortment of colors for casual coloring and craft projects. The cores are softer to make coloring easier, which might reduce precision for detailed work or make the tips prone to breaking if pressed too hard. While the pencils blend nicely, they may not offer the rich, intense colors or archival quality that professional artists seek.

In summary, Crayola’s 120-pack provides a fun, affordable choice to explore coloring with plenty of shades. It is designed more for casual use than for professional or serious hobbyist needs where pigment permanence and a wider range of core hardness are important.

The Shuttle Art 136 Color Pencils pack offers an impressive variety with 136 unique vibrant colors, including 12 metallic shades, making it great for adults and kids who enjoy coloring, sketching, or doodling. The pencils have soft cores, which help in smooth coloring and easy blending or layering of colors. This softness makes shading simpler but may wear down faster with heavy pressure. The pigment quality is rich and vivid, ensuring bright results, though these pencils don’t specify lightfastness ratings, so colors might fade over long exposure to sunlight. The pencil leads are designed to resist breaking, which is helpful for everyday use and sharpening, and the wood casing feels sturdy. Having each pencil numbered and named along with a DIY color chart helps with organizing and choosing colors efficiently.

They come pre-sharpened and stored neatly in trays inside a solid plastic case, so they’re ready to use right away and easy to keep organized. While these pencils are versatile and affordable for hobbyists, artists looking for professional-grade lightfastness or harder pencil cores for detailed fine lines might want to consider higher-end options. This set is ideal for coloring enthusiasts who value a wide color range and smooth blending but are comfortable with softer leads and uncertain long-term color durability.

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils in a 36-count pack are highly regarded for their richly saturated pigments and ultra-smooth color laydown. These pencils are specifically designed for adults and are ideal for shading and creating smooth transitions due to their soft, thick cores. They also boast excellent lightfastness, meaning the colors are resistant to fading over time, which is a significant advantage for artists looking to preserve their work's vibrancy.

The cores are robust and designed to resist cracking and chipping, which makes them durable and reliable for detailed work, such as adult coloring books or intricate drawings. Additionally, the pencils are well-constructed with quality wood, ensuring ease of sharpening and longevity. The range of 36 colors provides a good variety for most artistic needs, although more extensive sets are available for those requiring a broader color spectrum.

One potential drawback is that the soft cores may require frequent sharpening, which could be a minor inconvenience for some users. However, the build quality and the performance in blending and shading make these pencils a solid choice for both amateur and professional artists who value vibrant, long-lasting colors.