10 Best Colored Pencils For Artists 2025 in the United States

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils in the 150-count set are a solid choice for artists seeking vibrant, high-quality colors. Their biggest advantage is the wide range of 150 colors, offering excellent options for detailed and varied artwork. The soft, thick cores allow for smooth shading and blending, making them particularly suitable for techniques requiring rich gradients and shadows. The pigments are richly saturated and lightfast, meaning your artwork will stay bright and resist fading over time.

The KALOUR Premium Colored Pencils set offers a large selection of 120 vibrant colors, which is excellent for artists who want a broad color range to work with. The pencils have a soft core that lays down rich, vivid pigment smoothly, making it easier to blend and layer colors—great for sketching, shading, and coloring. Users especially appreciate that the cores are break-resistant, which helps with durability during use and sharpening.

The Arteza Watercolor Colored Pencils set offers a large and diverse selection of 120 vibrant shades, providing artists with plenty of creative freedom for coloring, blending, and layering. These pencils feature soft cores with lightfast pigments, ensuring that artwork is less likely to fade over time, which is important for durability and lasting color. The cores are designed to be break-resistant, helping prevent frustration during sharpening and use, making them suitable for both beginners and more experienced artists. The pencils come in a sturdy metal tin that keeps them organized and easy to carry around. Being watercolor pencils, they allow for unique effects when used with water, adding versatility beyond regular colored pencils.