Why Professional Colored Pencils Are So Expensive | So Expensive

Introduction

Every colored pencil starts off as a bright, powdery pigment, but it’s the secret recipe for transforming these pigments into colorful cores that sets professional pencils apart from student-grade ones. Every ingredient—from pigments to waxes, oils, and even the wood—is carefully chosen to enhance the performance of these pencils on paper. This attention to detail makes artists willing to spend hundreds of dollars for high-quality performance.

A set of 120 Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, for example, costs around $ 350, 14 times more than a similar box of Crayola colored pencils. Some brands even price their sets at over $ 550. Despite the dramatic price differences, professionals assert that the quality disparity between these options is glaring, with cheaper brands appearing chalky and waxy compared to the meticulously crafted alternatives.

The Science Behind Quality Pencils

Creating high-quality colored pencils involves a fine balance of art and science. At Faber-Castell’s factory in Stein, Germany, they manufacture an astounding 2.3 billion pencils each year, and the process requires considerable precision. Starting with pigments, each type has its own distinct personality and behavior; some are rough while others are smooth. Faber-Castell aims for 90% of pigment particles to fall under 40 micrometers in diameter, ensuring a consistent texture and vibrant color that applies smoothly.

Cheaper alternatives often contain a higher filler-to-pigment ratio, but professional-grade pencils maintain a careful balance of ingredients. These top-secret combinations of oils, waxes, and fillers bind the pigments together, resulting in a dough-like mixture that creates cores specific to each color. These cores are then shaped and baked to harden before receiving an outer wax coating.

Unmatched Durability and Quality

Faber-Castell’s colored pencil cores, measuring 3.8 mm in diameter, are designed to be less brittle than Crayola’s 3.3 mm cores. Quality testers apply pressure at a 60° angle to ensure cores won’t break until subjected to significant force. Furthermore, each core undergoes smear tests to assess performance, as different brands produce varying results.

Even the type of wood used for encasing the pencils plays a critical role in durability and ease of sharpening. The cedar wood is dried and milled with precision before being glued together, ensuring consistent quality throughout the production process.

Once the cores are formed, they are coated with a water-based varnish in a color that matches the cores. Each pencil receives meticulous inspection for visual defects.

The Artist's Perspective

Bethany V, a skilled colored pencil artist with a collection valued at approximately $ 600-700, knows the significance of quality. With around 400 high-end colored pencils, she specializes in creating realistic animal portraits that can sell for up to $ 6,500. Artists appreciate the blendability and wide spectrum of hues offered by professional pencils, allowing for smoother transitions and gradients without harsh lines.

In contrast, cheaper brands like Crayola lack the subtlety and depth of colors needed for more intricate work. Bethany notes the chalky texture and difficulty in blending colors when using lower-grade options, which can create problems such as "wax bloom" and limit her creative possibilities. The longevity of the colors—another critical factor—ensures the artworks stand the test of time without fading.

Faber-Castell rates its colored pencils for light fastness; most colors receive three stars, indicating they will maintain vibrancy for 100 years in appropriate conditions. This commitment to quality significantly elevates production costs compared to student-grade pencils but is accepted as a worthwhile investment by professional artists.

Bethany emphasizes that her confidence in using high-end materials has only increased her demand for quality, making it impossible for her to revert to cheaper brands.

Keywords

Professional Colored Pencils
Faber-Castell
Polychromos
Pigments
Quality
Durability
Light Fastness
Blendability
Art Supplies
Artist Perspectives

FAQ

1. Why are professional colored pencils so expensive?
Professional colored pencils involve a meticulous production process with higher quality materials and pigments, leading to a significantly higher cost compared to student-grade pencils.

2. What sets Faber-Castell apart from other colored pencil brands?
Faber-Castell uses a unique blend of top-quality pigments, waxes, and oils to create vibrant, durable, and easily blendable colors, making them a preferred choice among professionals.

3. What is light fastness in colored pencils?
Light fastness refers to the resistance of colors to fading over time when exposed to light. Faber-Castell rates their pencils, with three stars indicating excellent longevity and minimal fading for up to 100 years.

4. How do professional colored pencils affect an artist's work?
Professional pencils offer better blendability, smoother application, and a wider variety of colors, allowing artists to create detailed and realistic artworks more effectively than cheaper alternatives.

5. Can an artist achieve similar quality using cheaper colored pencils?
Generally, cheaper colored pencils do not offer the same performance, quality, or color variety as professional-grade pencils, making it challenging for artists to achieve desired results.