Faber Castell 48 Classic Colour Pencils + 2B Pencil & Sharpener

When I was three decades younger, I used to fill the backmost pages of my notebooks with sketches of just about anything I could draw.  I usually sketch in school and mostly during classes.  I know it wasn’t a good idea to begin with, but if you had a last name that began in letter "V" you'd end up being asked to sit at the back along with other children whose surnames started with y, u or z. Far from the teachers prying eyes, it was not long until I found myself filling up my notebooks with crayon sketches.

Fast forward to today’s era,  I notice a big leap in the development of art tools. Back then, I was fine with crayons and watercolors and they were an indispensable kiddie art tools. Now, we have oil-based and wax-based color pencils which can really color drawings more vividly and lively.

Despite my love for art, I am extremely new to color pencil. From reviews, I’ve read that the best two brands around are Faber Castell Polychromos and Prismacolors.  It’s unfortunate that in Papua New Guinea, these two are non-existent.  About a month ago, however, Star Office Works in RH Gordon Branch started selling the Faber Castell Classic Colour Pencils in 12’s, 24’s 36’s and 48’s.

The 48 pieces in suitcase-like plastic container is what I bought.  It costs around K40 to K50. The color pencils are safely tucked within the coves to hold them firmly in place. The red handle is designed to slightly elevate the case on a flat surface at a fixed angle when shifted downwards. I’m not sure how can this be of any help to me but a kid might find a use for it, like a mini-table perhaps?

Hey, now look at that. It also comes with one graphite pencil and a sharpener! 

I have a low grade 12-pieces color pencils before which I bought mainly out of curiosity and in comparison to it; Faber Castell Classic Colour Pencils have bigger lead in diameter.

I was a bit excited to try and draw anything and this is the first drawing that I made with it on a 165g sketch pad. The colors are vibrant and it’s a bit softer compared to my Faber castell water color pencils. It’s easy to blend too.  I haven’t tried the polychromos or prismacolor before so I can’t really say if this is good or not.  

Looking closely though, we can see that this is not quite an artist-grade tool but we can surely draw whatever we want with it.  

Here's my second attempt to sketch a color pencil portrait with Miss Destiny Nickelsen as the reference person. I noticed that I spent the black faster as opposed to any other color despite the only areas I used it up with are the hair, the dark undershirt and the eyes. 

I'm thinking that if I do another portrait, i'd consume another 25% of that remaining black. If I use another media as a replacement for black, I might prolong its life. The classic color is also available in 12 sets which is relatively cheaper so I guess I'd just have to buy the 12's to replenish the black.

I think it's a good idea and money-wise to begin with this type of color pencil when leaning how to use it and then shift to a more expensive and artist-grade tools like Polychromos later when I feel like I'm ready for it.



Update: (07 June 2016)

I must take back what I said when I mentioned in this blog that FBCC was not an artist grade. Now I believe that it is not the tool that sets the standard for a good art but rather it's the talent of the artist itself. This is Iya Eugenio's art. She used Faber Castell Classic Colour Pencils to color this portrait sketch and the secret to that smooth skin tone as she said was perseverance. 

Pretty talented girl I must say.


Update: (02 February 2017)

I've been following miss Iya Eugenio's artworks, particularly her sketch of Avril Lavigne. Last year around June, I had brushed upon one of her works (this) which was then a work-in-progress and I was amazed by the fact that it was drawn with Faber Castell color pencils.  

If you wish to see her other artworks, you may want to visit an FB Group, Guhit Pinas, of which she is a member. A remarkable member I'd say. 

She also has her own page to showcase her artworks. If you like getting astonished by color pencil arts, it's a high time that you visit her page, Isiya's Art. If you find her work inspiring, please feel free to leave a comment or click the Like button to show appreciation. 

Have fun!


Update: (27 July 2019)

I haven't been drawing anything with color pencil for like two years now and I have lost track of what's going on in the art groups that I am a part of. Anyway, just today, I was able to come to my blog and check the comments. One of the comments is for this post and I kind of wonder what has happened to Iya's Avril Lavigne color pencil artwork. 

Unfortunately, the FB links that I've posted here no longer work. But I managed to search for her new FB account (I guess) and have found this public post of her. So without permission from her, I just grab this wonderful artwork and posted it here. Iya, if you're reading this, I hope you won't get mad. Thank you for completing this lovely artwork. I truly like this.