Prismacolor dupe? Best budget coloured pencils? Let’s find out!
If you have watched reviews on Youtube, you might have seen Arrtx being compared to Prismacolor Premier pencils. While the names of the shades are mostly identical to Prismacolor, there are quite a bit of differences between the two. Read on for my review of Arrtx colored pencils.
Price
As of right now, these pencils are on sale at Amazon.ca for $30.39. Regular price is $37.99.
The Packaging
First off, the packaging is a sturdy cardboard box with foam insert to house the pencils. I appreciate the strong protection the box provided, especially since Amazon just tossed this box into a paper envelope (not even with bubblewrap). The insert is divided into two sets of merged rows, housing four rows of pencils. I wish that they used four foam inserts separately, just so when you take some pencils out, the other ones won’t shift into their place.
That’s not a deal breaker though, I can assure you! After all, at 20% off right now, this set of 72 pencils only cost $30, so to gripe about the insert would be truly nitpicking. 😛
Some Minor Cons
However, I want to get this one other minor complaint out of the way before the actual review of Arrtx Colored Pencils. While most of the colours on the barrels match the shades fairly closely, some don’t. Two such pencils are Lemon Yellow (above) and Yellow Chartreuse (below).
Incidentally, the two shades look like twins. I think they might have put the wrong core in the Lemon Yellow!
By the way, Arrtx has a swatch sheet you can download here, which is a great way to see the actual colours so you don’t use the wrong shade by the barrel. I swatched all 72 shades here:
Just from swatching (left side of each swatch=light pressure, right side=burnished), I got a feel for all 72 pencils. The metallic pencils are super creamy, probably the most impressive of the set. The lighter colours such as 20% Cool Grey and Warm Grey, Beige, Light Peach, Jasmine, Yellowish Grey and Cream feel more filler/binder heavy than pigment heavy. Their equivalents in Prismacolor, on the other hand, are much more pigmented, if I have to compare.
The mid to darker shades are very pigmented and creamy.
I feel that the smooth Bristol paper doesn’t do these pencils justice, as they are not as soft as my Prismacolor Premiers. I would suggest using vellum surface (which I used to draw the minion below) with these pencils.
Arrtx Colored Pencils Review: The Shade Range
Again, to nitpick on such a cheap set of pencils seems really unfair. Some people complained there are too many similar shades in the set, which is a valid point. Several shades of yellow run almost identical to each other with little variation in depth, as is the case with some of the blues as well.
On the bright side, Arrtx colored pencils provide quite a few warm and cool greys, which is nice to see.
Test Draw With A Minion
Since there are so many yellows and blues, the obvious choice to test these babies out is to draw a minion. I am drawing one with braces just so I can also review the silver metallic pencil in the set! 🙂
I was expecting these to be as soft as Prismacolor, but they are not. They have the feel of Art-n-Fly oil-based coloured pencils, just a tad softer and easier to blend. The white pencil is not like the Prismacolor one, which I liked to use for blending because it’s so creamy. The Arrtx white pencil is somewhat firmer and less waxy, hence less creamy to blend the other colours.
Again, at this price point it is not fair to compare. I am only pointing it out for the sake of the review, since so many called Arrtx colored pencils dupes for Prismacolor.
Breakage
I used a Kum hand held tiny pencil sharpener on these pencils. The Canary Yellow pencil broke all the way down to nearly half its length after colouring just the top of the minion’s head, but after I ran the same pencil through Dahle 133 sharpener, it stopped breaking and sharpened to a long, fine point. So if you don’t already have a Dahle 133 sharpener, I highly recommend it! It is gentle on the pencils and really sharpens to a fine point without breaking.
Thank goodness there are so many similar yellows in the set! So even though these are not open stock, you won’t have to worry about losing a pencil.
The pigment is fairly rich, though not as opaque as Prismacolor. The overall feel of these pencils is fairly similar to Prismacolor in my opinion, but not as soft or creamy. You can sharpen them to a very fine point with the Dahle 133.
I used 25 shades to draw the minion.
Wax Bloom
The biggest gripe I have against Prismacolor is wax bloom. Given how waxy Prismacolor Premier pencils are, it is not surprising that wax bloom is a major concern. To be honest, it is the reason why I bought Art-n-Fly oil-based pencils and Arrtx colored pencils. Most coloured pencils have a mix of oil and wax binders in them, so even oil-based pencils can have a bit of a sheen to them from the wax (depending on how much wax there is), but I was hoping to circumvent that without breaking the bank.
With Arrtx, there is no big wax bloom other than a little bit of wax sheen after about 5 layers. The sheen only surfaced when I burnished heavily.
Arrtx Colored Pencils Overall Review
In conclusion, the Arrtx colored pencils reviewed very well. There is no lightfast information, but at this price, I assume they are not lightfast. Many shades filled the gap in my Prismacolor collection very nicely. Are they Prismacolor dupes though? My honest answer is no, they are not. The shades are a very close match though.
Do I recommend them? Yes, I do. They are really good pencils and not just for the price. Just don’t expect them to perform exactly like your artist grade pencils. 🙂
