How Do These Budget Watercolor Pencils Compare the the Big Brands? Artisto WC Pencil Review
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- I have to admit, I was surprised!
Today we are looking at the Artisto Watercolor Pencils. They come in the following size set:
72: amzn.to/49pIZGO
48: amzn.to/3ux1w4S
*These were sent to me for free for review. Affiliate links used. Be sure to "clip" the coupon if ordering.
I reviewed their colored pencils as well here: • Soft Like Prismacolor ...
I have also tried their various papers, I like the watercolor and mixed media pads but I did not like their drawing paper. You can see all the product they offer here: amzn.to/48b7fep
Pros:
Colors dissolved very easily, even with a soft brush
3.5mm leads
Nice color variety
Colors mix well
Soft and easy to lay down
Low price
Cons:
Not available open stock
No lightfastness info
Bottom line: I was very impressed with the color payout and softness of these pencils when compared to the Faber Castell, Derwent and Caran D'asche pencils I owned. If you also have the colored pencils by this brand you will need to be careful not to mix them up because they look very similar. These are a good quality product at an affordable price.
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#thefrugalcrafter #watercolor #art - Jak na to + styl
Great review! I have a small set of the Faber-Castell ones and the InkTense, but I never use either. I have a beautiful HIMI Gouache set that I bought well over a year ago that I haven’t even opened. I’ve been spending more time using my 1000+ alcohol ink markers 😆 But I really need to get back to watercoloring because I do truly love it. If one we could add 4 or 5 more hours to our days. 🫤 Thanks for another HONEST review! I appreciate you! 💚
Thanks!
Yes the whole "designed in the US, made in China" thing really irritates me. They ARE trying to trick people and it's shady. I try to avoid companies that do that. I have no problem with made in china stuff (I love paul rubens), but don't try to pretend it's an american product.
Absolutely agree. It’s completely dishonest, They know people are going to look for an American flag or Canadian maple leaf _without reading anything or only reading enough (designed in the U.S..l) and believe it’s made in the same country. It’s not just an issue of supporting the workforce in your country, counterfeiting goods are so much a part of Chinese life it’s just accepted. I was livid when I found out China required companies to disclose proprietary information so they could steal it. Most companies had no choice because the alternative was going out of business. Part of me thinks China has a very long memory and recall that foreigners stole silkworms, tea, and porcelain from them. They stole silkworms by having *monks* smuggle eggs out in a hollow pole after they refused to sell them to foreigners. Evil begets evil.
Most Australian products, across the board, claim designed in Australia made in China. Been this way for years!
Craft companies in the UK are also guilty of this!
@@solovjud i’m an aussie to and I was about to say the exact same thing. It’s so frustrating you think you’re getting an Australian product but in Eddie bitty writing that you can’t read without a magnifying glass you realise it’s actually made somewhere like China. I to have no issue where things are generally made so long as it’s not done by slave labour, but don’t try and trick ass and pass things off as one thing when they’re really another, slight of hand is not okay
This reminds me of "“Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China.” "
Thanks for the review! I have Derwent Inktense but it’s nice to have a good budget set too to be able to share with my grand.
You are so welcome!
Another lovely review! Thank you Lindsay ❤
I agree with you 100% on the flag and "designed in the USA, made in the PRC" that irritates the heck out of me.
I totally agree!
Also, companies with American in their brand name, who buy up companies that make their products in the USA and then outsource everything to another country gets me very angry. Especially when the quality then inevitably plummets.
I've seen lots of "Designed in the UK, Made in China" recently, and when you look up the UK address, it's shared with hundreds of other companies. So the UK company is really just a letterbox. I don't know, just be honest about where you're from
I think that's happening lot!
Hi Lindsay thank you for this review. I am very impressed and happy with purchasing the 72 Artisto Watercolor pencil set. They dissolve easily and are very pigmented. They work great in coloring books.
I do own a set of expensive watercolor pencils but wanted a budget friendly set to gain experience. I was struggling using the Castle Arts watercolor pencils in certain papers and noticed lots of crumbling and didn’t dissolve as easily so I was so happy to find a very affordable alternative ❤
You are so welcome! The pencils are very nice. I haven't tried the castle art watercolor ones.
Ditto! I have Derwent set of 12 and a handful of Inktense pencils - love them but am precious with them so wanted a budget set to play around with to work on my skills. Amazon had a great combo deal of this 72 pencil set and mixed media paper (3 5x8 pads) for about $30. Definitely having fun playing around with these
You painted very pretty samples that you showed us in the beginning of the video! As usual your review is fair with important differences in products! Thanks Lindsay.😉🤗
Thank you so much 🙂
I hate the trickery but have resigned to the fact that most everything is made in China. Things might be designed and assembled in the US, but parts are made in China. If it's made in the US, it would cost 6+ times more because of labor costs alone.
Great review, Lindsay. This set and the colored pencil set might be a great choice for an artistic youngster to start with too.
It would be a great start!
Thanks for the review! I agree, saying they are American but then made in China, is deceitful and annoying.
Thanks for the review! Definitely giving them a pass since they look almost identical to the Arteza ones and I already have those. And yes, it annoys me so much when companies say designed in the US or UK or some other Western country, and made in China. I have nothing against Chinese products but I don’t like the dishonesty involved in those claims.
Yes! Agreed:)
Hi. I bought these and the 72 colored pencil set and am enjoying them. I’m not a “pencil person” as such but they were a great deal back in December. Can’t find my receipt but they were less than $15. Honestly I need a new box for a project and you know frugal 😊 that box needs to be reusable and I was surprised at the quality of the packaging and heft of the tin. It took almost a row of swatching till I figured out they weren’t in the correct order so it became quite a little project, but it was fun. I’m going to return to them in a few weeks to try and do the watercolor trio test. Thanks for this 🌺
Nice!
Watercolour trio test - sounds interesting! What is it?
@@solovjud I want to try different trios, not just straight forward red yellow and blue. Maybe take every fifth pencil and use those as your primaries.
Yes, I get really annoyed at companies try to pass off as USA.
tfs.
Hullo Lindsay, I offer this thought: when going back to paper and mediums I did sample a lot of brands and I choose small sets 6, 12 or 24 colors and I chose my casual brands and professional brands. My experience was very out of date as I had been working in a digital workflow for over 15 years! Reading recent reviews is KEY and very relevant to what is sold TODAY! Thanks Lindsay 🎉
I totally agree!
Same deceptive labelling thing happening in Australia too! All about trying to 'legitamise' sourcing cheap products and exploited labour for maximum profit. Nope!!
I've seen in on Canadian and British products too!
Those are really nice! I have the 72 set of Arteza and like them a lot. My favorite cheaper WC pencils are actually Artist's Loft Fundamentals from Michael's. I wish they had bigger sets; I could only find the set of 24 (for $5.99 Canadian).
Thanks for the tips!
I bought a set of the mini AL watercolor pencils for my purse travel kit over the holidays. They actually a decent craft/student pencil (Crayola WC pencils are a bit better in color). I wouldn't ever use them for finished work, but great for doodling while waiting for an appointment.
I just ordered this set of 72, after seeing this video, they are for my 10 year old niece who loves art. 30% off coupon was available, so extra savings☺️. Thank you Lindsay for another fair and balanced review.
That is awesome!
It's good to know these are a good budget friendly option! I have an Arteza 36 set and some Derwent Inktense. I like both but find that the Inktense are my go to watercolor pencils.
Thanks for sharing!
I'm with you, "Designed in US" with flag and "made in China", is sleazy.
I am with you when they are trying to fool me me with flags.You are Always helpful!
Wonderful review. Yes that would annoy me also !!! I found so much learning in this !
Glad it was helpful!
Hi, Lindsay. Thank you for your video.🎉.❤.
You are so welcome!
Great review!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for reviewing these pencils. Not a lot of reviews on these out there.
Having played with these a bit myself, I would add a couple of details if they are helpful to others:
1. They dissolve really well and across all colors. That said, pigment “moves” when applying water, vs really “melting”.
2. They also become very unsaturated when dissolving compared to other brands.
3. Pencils can be used dry. That said, some of them are acceptably soft while others (blues, greens) are scratchier and dustier. So there is not a ton of consistency across all colors.
4. There are many pinks, purples and aquas that are very same-y. Which is a shame because that unfortunately makes the set having less grays or cool blues.
5. Color barrel not always matches the color. Swatching is a plus.
Thanks for chiming in with this excellent info!
To be fair, it *could* be an American company considering there really is no manufacturing in the U.S. anymore. It's possible that an American company doesn't want their product referred to as cheap Chinese pencils, which so many people have a tendency to do, and that's why they specify that they're an American company. Unlike Apple, who is already a big and well-known company that does not need to specify that they're an American company even though their stuff is made in China, smaller companies might have to do that if they want people to know that they're a U.S. based company 🤷♀️. Just a thought.
Anyhow, great review. The price is definitely good for playing around in sketchbooks without worry.
Thank for showing us the comparisons! The caran de ache pencils look so pigmented! I know they are more expensive but seems like they are worth the money. Thanks again Lindsay! 💗
They are! And that is the supracolor line, not their most expensive museum line.
I like how higher end brand wc pencils feel in my hands, and on the paper. They seem to blend better with the water as well. And I REALLY dislike the sneaky labeling too! Grr. Took me a first few tries to get "prc," but I spend far too much time looking for other sneaky methods. I enjoy the quality of Caran D'Ache and Derwent, etc., and if this makes me a snob, so be it. Thank you for your reviews. They help me so much, Lindsay! :)
Thanks for sharing!!
Have to admit that I, too, much prefer the higher end pencils, esp. Caran D'Ache (I live in Switzerland, so buying them is supporting my local economy!) and the FC Albrecht Durer. It's great that there's decent quality budget alternatives, as long as people are aware of potential color fading issues.
Even here, I occasionally see a product with a label showing (usually) a German company name and address, and then in tiny letters, "Made in China." I will never buy one of those items, no matter how cute it may be - there are always better choices.
Great review. The sale you mention is still on.
Nice!
Wow! I am gonna have to look closer at the info on my products…..that is shady! Once again ..great review Lindsay!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for another thorough review and comparison. These are a pass for me. I have a Koh-i-Noor Mondeluz 36 set and a Caran d'Ache Supracolor 40 set. Both are excellent, dissolve well and are available open stock. I was impressed by Koh-i-Noor, as I swatched them side by side with Caran d'Ache Supracolor and they behaved similarly -but Koh-i-Noor have a lower price point
Thanks for sharing!
Im really happy with my set and am fighting the urge to still want artist quality since im only using them for coloring books
If you find that you still desperately want the artist quality after a while, you could always begin learning how to draw and/or paint while you're at it! Then you can practice with both grades and feel less guilty (use the cheaper ones for experimenting more and the artist for the more confident pieces. Or just whenever! Your supplies; your rules.) That's if you have the time, the money, and the motivation to give it a whirl.
Thank you for the detailed and wonderful review! I agree with the designed in the USA but made in china thing. If they’re going to put a flag on their product, I expect it to be made in the country that flag is from. I don’t mind made in china, you can’t really avoid that, but using tricky tactics like that is off putting for sure.
Yes, who do they think there fooling? 😆
Great video and review as always. These kind of remind me of the Arteza pencils that came out a while ago- like the first release...which I have. Anyway, I just stepped on my cat's paw while writing this and he screamed really dramatically and loud, so I gotta check on him; then baby him with treats and snuggles and baby voiced apologies...so gotta go...thanks for sharing and much love ❤
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Lindsay for the watercolor review. I am looking for a good set of watercolor pencils. I plan to check out the prices here in Canada for the Artisto pencils and other brands to compare.
You are so welcome!
I think that if you are just starting to use these, it’s worth getting a pretty good set like these. Then when you start to wear out a bunch of colors, you can replace those colors with individual pencils from a better brand, or a smaller set from the same manufacturer if that works out better.
At the point that you are going to replace them, you’ll have gotten better at using them anyways, so it’s worth it to get better pencils.
Good idea! And if you don't end up using them much you haven't spent a lot.
I agree and this is how I plan to build my set. Start out with the affordable set of 72 and replace with Albrecht Durer open stock as needed. The pencils look so similar you probably couldn't even tell which ones had been replaced in the set.
When I looked it up, the company, Artisto, actually has an old FB post from 2 years ago about their watercolor pencils and claims they're artist grade and "have good lightfast" is how they put it. Maybe you should test that? Idk if you can do that from just leaving a piece of art in the sun for however long or how to test that exactly but it'd be interesting to find out.
I'm thinking about getting a set of these soon though because my 48 Staedtler Design Journey set will be harder to replace when I start running pencils down. They only seem to sell the 48 set in the US at Michaels and each store only has 1 pack at a time. I figure it might be nice having the 72 Artisto set which is always available on Amazon.
These pencils look nice. I have a 24 set of Faber-Castell. They are about 30 years old and still work nice. I feel the same way about things made in China. Thank you for the review.
Thanks for sharing!
My husband bought me the CD Museum Aquerelle set of 12 for xmas. Turns out i hate mixing colors with pencils
Should have asked for these😂
Oh no! Maybe you can add to your stash and make a more cohesive set.
Thanks for the review. I bought these instead of Artesa so you comparison helped. My favorite continues to be Derwent inktense.😊😊
You are so welcome!
Inktense are still my favorites.
Thanks Lindsay. I already have budget wc pencils so my next wc pencil purchases is when I can get the top Faber Castell ones. I have the A.C. Moore Fantasia, A set of 12 Derwent , The Cezanne from creative mark. I really should have just saved up for the Faber Castell or just got a few open stock at a time for what I spent on the others.😅
Good point, hindsight is 20/20 they say.
I have all different brands in 1 big case. I swatched them by color groups and used them all together. Colors are similar, but small variations. So don't regret your purchases. Swatch what you have and fill in with some Faber Castells. You'll find they all work together. Sets cost less, but of 60 Faber Castells I use about 24 and have replaced 6.
@@marytesta3003 Thanks. Good to know. I have mine all swatched but the pigment payout is not great. I was really dissapointed in the Derwent.
such a fantastic revie ☺☺☺
Thank you 😁
I actually like the Artisto and the Soucolor colored pencils better than Prismacolor.
i have the derwent 36 the 72 sargent art and prangs ,i never use them but really need to, thank you ,
Have fun!
Good thing I bought these after you reviewed the regular color pencils. I paid less than $20 for the 72 pencil set during the Christmas season.
Edit- how a company markets their products does not phase me as much if the product does what it says and has some good quality to it.
Another cool idea is to buy a budget set, to discover: which are the most have for mixing colors, which colors you use the most, which convenience colors you decide to have, and which are your favorites, and then start buying those colors open stock from a professional brand! At the end, one will have a personalized palette.
I LOVE WATERCOLOR PENCILS ❤
Totally, I recommend people do that with watercolors starting with the pretty excellent set.
Awesome ❤
Thank you! Cheers!
Hello from British Columbia Canada 🎉❤
Hello from Saxony, Germany. I lived in Kelowna BC for several years. Really loved it, BC is so beautiful!
Thank you! I would like to hear your opinion on the differences between Caran d' ache water color crayon \ pencils and the Tim Holts wc crayons.😊
I don't plan on getting the TH ones. There are a lot of reviews out already. They are made in chin and look like many if the other wordless Chinese pencils I've used, which are fine, but I don't want to pay Ranger prices for identical products. I already feel like I have bias against the product as well so I don't think it would be fair of me to review it. Luckily there are lots of videos on them:)
@@thefrugalcrafter Thanks. 😊
As I'm watching this a couple of days late; Amazon has the Arteza 48 set in the tube on sale for a better price.
I have a few questions about Graphitint and Chromaflows, can you recommend what paper would be best to uses with them?
I'd choose a cold press watercolor paper for graphatint and the chromaflows are great on most smooth papers.
I bought these Artisto watercolor pencils. I love them. Creamy. Vibrant but not fond of the paper. But will use it for practice and swatch testing l
Which paper was it?
@@thefrugalcrafter Artisto watercolor pad premium 30 sheets. Two pads in the bundle. Paint doesn’t get absorbed well at all. I will use it if I want to test paints I blend or another medium might be better. Any suggestions?
@patti3d I used the pad with Aquafine watercolors in class and it worked well. I've use watercolor and watercolor pencils on the small watercolor pad and it worked well too. It's a cellulose paper so it's not going to preform like cotton but I like it for what it was. Do you think you got a bad one?
@@thefrugalcrafter I am not sure. But I will do some more experimenting with different medium. I will Maybe dampen the paper first then do wet on wet and see if that helps. I will also try dryer application of watercolor. Maybe it was me having a bad day? lol. I will get back to you on that. I am used to 100% cotton. I wonder how gouache will work on Artisto paper? It is nice and thick. Have you tried painting on either side of the paper? I wonder if it works the same way.
😊
Nice review and comparison. I agree with you about the "designed in US....made in China" and I believe that needs to be exposed for products!
Thanks for sharing
What professional brand of watercolor pencil do you recommend?
Faber Castell Albright druer
Thanks
Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer are top of the line. Koh-i-Noor Mondeluz are amazing, made in the Czech Republic.
But it can be a U S product manufacturers in China! Labor is Chinese but product based on US. Could be. But don’t know as I haven’t investigated anything. Big cheese and dairy recall in US. Be worried about that right now.
I'm glad I don't eat dairy.
@@thefrugalcrafter I normally don’t but made lasagne for Xmas and used 365 Whole Foods ricotta and that was on the list!!! All the lasagne has been eaten by my family but no one is sick or got sick. But they say listeria can show up 10 weeks later! CDC
It’s a shame how budget items aren’t budget in Canada. 72 set is $75 dollars here 😒.
Those were bought on the USA site and resold sadly.
Its hard to not feel like were being predjudiced against the Chinese manufacturers, but theres definitely a quality difference in w&n products now, and it's a real shame. Lovely review. I like the look of these but they're not available to us in the uk (yet??) Anyway, nice video to watch, thanks 👍
I'm not prejudiced against Chinese products. I just don't like companies trying to deceive consumers. I am seeing the "designed in the USA" lable on a lot of Chinese white labeled products, and it irks me. Just because you sat in an office in America and picked something off Alibaba and had your artwork put on it mdosnt make it any more "made in America" than if a random company in China is selling it. It doesn't create more jobs here. It's made in China and shipped straight to Amazon. Just be honest about it. That's all I'm saying:)
@@thefrugalcrafter oh gosh I know you're not, I wasn't suggesting that at all, and I agree with you on the subterfuge being unfair.
Need need NEED NEED. NO ONE NEEDS 72 COLORS NO NO it's not about need Lindsey. It's avoh5 want. I want ALLL THE COLORS . 😆 🤣 😂 😹 😆
😆