Soft Like Prismacolor (but MUCH cheaper!) Artisto Colored Pencils Review

Pros:
Nice colors
Price
Very soft lead
Blends well
Can get up to 6 layers
Well packaged

Cons:
Smudges easily
No open stock refills
Tips wear down quickly

Bottom line: If you like Prismacolor and soft pencils you will like there's, save some money and give them a try!

Credits:
Video production and Craft ideas: Lindsay Weirich
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Social media links:

*This post may contain affiliate links
#thefrugalcrafter #watercolor #art

[thefrugalcrafter]

Hey, I just wanted to address the difference in price between Amaon USA and the rest of the world. Artisto only sells in Amazon USA and all of the listing on other websites and non-usa amazon are resellers so that is why the price is so high there. Get the best price shopping Amazon USA

[flokarp]

Bought them within the first 2 minutes of your review. :) 50% off today, so just $15 for the 72 set. Great deal!

[JynDrawz]

Great review! and Lindsay the answer is ALWAYS YES, of coarse we want to see you making those 2 cute little drawings in real time or speed up! I like seeing the process, it inspires me.

[marytesta]

I always feel you aren't biased. It's why I appreciate your reviews. This is a very nice review. Thank you for taking the time to do it.

[melissaaldosari]

That purple hard cover sketchbook made me gasp! 😮 I am a sketchbook floozy. Have to keep telling myself, just because it is covered in purple, doesn’t mean i need it. And the paper is thin, so I wouldn’t use it. But, it’s pretty! 💜💜💜

[mjpete]

Hullo Lindsay, I love watching your videos and seeing you create in “fast mode” or real time is a treat! I believe that you are a scrupulous person and an honest reviewer! I have purchased a few of the art supplies that you have recommended, I am glad that you review a wide range of products and quality of products too! Not everyone is looking for archival quality supplies. I once and ONLY once let my nephews use my FC polychromes I just didn’t have any budget supplies! I never saw a need for them. After replacing dropped pencils and a few ground down with the electric sharpener I decided that I would have some discount art supplies for kids! I have trouble believing that my Gran gave so many of us kids Artist quality watercolor paints! Yet thinking about it a splotch of watercolor paint is one of the cheapest supplies that you can give away! She had a lot of grandkids and she tried to get everyone interested in art! My group was 8 kids from 10 (me) to 13 years old. Only me and Libby took to it and back then if you did not have success right away, you just did not have a talent to nurture. I have since taught many of my nieces and nephews that anyone can learn to draw if they want to be good they simply must practice, some people are going to be better with less practice, this is true with any endeavor! Have you ever seen a kid just excel at sports? Some are just “naturals” their eye hand coordination is better than others in their age group so they are called “gifted”. I do believe that some people are destined for excellence in a field, but they had better show up to practice or they will be left behind.
Sweat equity is the best term for excellence that I know. Thank you for sharing another amazing video with us. Boy I do go on, I apologize. Please enjoy the rest of your day!

[annettefournier]

Wow great deal in the US 29 bucks with 50% off coupon! Thanks Lindsay 💜

[deepowers]

Thank you so much for this review. I wanted to let people know that the sharpened pencils did tend to crumble often on me, and those crumbles smeared badly. People coloring with these pencils might want to keep a fluffy Dollar Store Blush On brush on hand and sweep the crumbs away very gently. A harder brush will smear them. My paper had hardly any tooth though, so maybe that caused the smearing. Anyway, Lindsay, I was trying to decide whether or not to keep these pencils which I had just purchased. My swatches are coming out much lighter than Artisto's. For example: 2nd up from bottom of the second column from the left, #338 Aquamarine, appears on the company's swatch as a mid-dark green. My pencil shows a mid-dark teal and yours a light blue. Pencil #A326 is named Castleton Green, which is already in the set properly numbered as #346 and named correctly. My swatch sheet calls #326 Sky Blue, and the color on the company's swatch was a very dark Blue Green. My pencil and its lead are a light to medium straight Blue like a sky would look. Should I just rename #326 Sky Blue and swatch it where its being called for even though it's a completely different color than the company's swatch sheet shows? My biggest hurdle is that all the grays in the set have been given color names instead of the designation of WG or CG with the usual numbers. I have no idea how to convert these names to the appropriate W & C grays. You know your colors so well after so many years of experience, but "Duh?" is my terrified reaction. It seems as though I am putting a ton of work into trying to keep this set, and I have no idea how it is actually going to swatch out.🥵 I really must get out more. Too much home time is frying my brain.

[sueridder]

Thanks for the review! I decided to try the 72 set. I’d been eying the prismas on sale but this is a much better way for me to try the softer pencil to see if I like them. Appreciate you!!

[FannaTurano]

YES YES YES!! Always yes to any query you suggest! I'd LOVE to see you do a small CP study of your birds of late. They're just incredible, especially this tiny bird you did with CP in this video in your Arches book. BEAUTIFUL and soft. Gorgeous. I'd love to see a Bee wc paper size cardinal. Your birds are terrific, Lindsay. Thanks SO much for doing this leg work here. I'm going to pass on all products. Hadn't realized CP was so fugitive. I've done several food ones. Used Luminance & Prisma Color too, along with that massive tin of the affordable German brand--Shirrer Farben, something like that. :) Fanna

[bethbellthethriftycrafter]

I got the 50% off. I have found that I can color with just about anything on fabric now if I use a medium to set it. After trying out about 10 different ones, ( some caused the black pen I used to draw with to bleed) I finally settled on Liqujtex Basics acrylic Matte. Everything held it's color well even after machine wash and dry. Just in case anyone wants to try this technique out. It even sets water colors in cotton muslin.

[bldlnrf]

thank you, i love my artisto watercolor journals 3 packs, i also love artistro watercolors, i got the pink and purple sets, cobalt violet became my all time favorite color, have a great week

[rubberartist]

I couldn't help myself again. Got the 72# and those fruity journals. Thanks, Lindsay!

[patriciadickerson]

Wow, $14.85 with the 50% coupon code! I've spoiled my 7yo granddaughter on "creamy" colored pencils, so hoping these will earn her approval. I accidentally purchased some Polychromos pencils (they were mixed in with the open stock watercolor pencils and I wasn't paying attention). Anyway, that's what she really likes, but maybe these Artisto pencils will be comparable. They're cretainly better for my budget!

[nancyloomis]

These would be especially great for someone who wants to dip their toes into nicer but not overly expensive color pencils. So many's fave brand Prismacolor do not come cheaply, so good quality alternatives are the way to go for many!

p.s. A couple of months back Amazon had their set of either 20 or 24 Basic color pencils for five dollars each...and they're in a metal tin. 😊So I bought one for myself for just playing around and then two to give as gifts... so it's really great to come across these big bargains!

[susanhammitt]

Thanks for this great deal. 50% off coupon. So glad you pointed them out. Have a great day and see you on Saturday if not sooner for the chat!

[lindakelly]

Am in the UK and just out of interest looked them up on Amazon. £90.99! Think I will pass on these, especially since the Derwent Chromoflow 72 set is on offer for just over £50. Great review as always

[Obsidian_Iris_]

Thank you for the review! I would love to see the drawings you did with these pencils. I wish they had sent you a set of watercolor pencils to review. I have several sets of budget pencil sets I bought before I splurged on the largest Prismacolor set. I need a large set of watercolor pencils more than I need another set of colored pencils.

[ZeeCeeCreations]

Well… you know I’m greedy! Would love to see the little art works you did! Thanks Lindsay!

[ErinEnoArt]

I just recently rewatched to review before ordering, thank you! I just ordered; there was a great deal on Amazon CA
I did want to let you know that their watercolour paper is a great cellulose paper. It is now my fave non cotton. You may want to review for your beginner viewers as it’s really cost effective. If you care to check it out, I did a review and demo on my humble little YouTube channel. I had the small sketchbooks and love them and they sent me the larger pads to try. Good vibrancy and very little buckling👍🏻