www.penciltopics.co.uk
BRANDS
Please bear in mind that this web site is written from a UK perspective.
If you live outside the UK
Some brands may be available in your locality that we don’t see in the UK
or in Europe
WHAT COLOURED PENCILS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE SHOPS & BY MAIL ORDER IN THE UK ?
THERE ARE A WIDE SELECTION OF LOWER PRICED BRANDS
Many are made in the far East and sold through non art retailers or as stores ‘own brand’ products
Quality of these brands may be good, but are generally not of a consistent quality for us to recommend them.
There are Asian brands that are excellent and of the topmost quality, where these have been identified they are included
BELOW WE CONCENTRATE ON ARTIST QUALITY PRODUCTS
SOLD THROUGH ART MATERIAL SPECIALISTS
By clicking on the names (in bold) below,
or using the click out boxes to the left hand side of this page,
you can go to a page dedicated to the products of each manufacturer.
You can also find a link on that page to the manufacturer’s own web site
and (in some cases) one or more retailers who carry the products
Possibly the widest availability in the United Kingdom is from our UK based manufacturer,
DERWENT ( The Cumberland Pencil Company )
now based in Workington, Cumbria in a state-
There is wide availability also from FABER CASTELL,
imported into the UK in sets and also as single pencils.
From Geneva in Switzerland, CARAN d’ACHE import a broad range of Pencils.
STAEDTLER market Karat Aquarelles in sets only
and generally these are available these days from the Internet suppliers.
The American PRISMACOLOR pencils are not generally marketed through the UK retail trade,
but it is possible to buy the pencils via mail order in sets and individually.
DALER ROWNEY market a brand of Watercolour pencil through major Art outlets,
and whilst the Winsor & Newton group contain CONTE, there is only a small representation
in their catalogue for Coloured Pencils (more so for pastel, of course)
It is possible to find ROYAL TALENS Coloured Pencils
Though they are mainly sold via Mail Order -
Also see the notes on BRUYNZEEL now more readily available in the UK
The German made LYRA Coloured Pencils are available through some outlets, are good and attractively priced
and CRETACOLOR from Austria are worthy of looking for.
There are other brands manufactured in Europe and mainly sold in the USA ( the largest retail market for pencils )
and outside the UK, though they can be found on the Internet.
I have only commented on those I have tried,
YOU WILL FIND THE BEST SELECTION OF BRANDS, AND ALSO POSSIBLY THE BEST PRICES
by buying over the Internet, but you can find exceptional special offers in some retail stores.
LIGHTFASTNESS in Coloured Pencil is a major topic. Please see the adjoining page for information.
Rob Sloan has put together a very comprehensive review of the brands on sale
from a USA perspective -
Latest revision April 2010