Coloured Pencils

What to Look for in Coloured Pencils

The quality gap between a basic school pencil and an artist-grade coloured pencil is significant, and it mostly comes down to three things: pigment load, core hardness, and lightfastness.

• Pigment load – Determines how vibrant and saturated the colour appears on the page. Higher-quality pencils use more pigment per pencil, which means richer, deeper colour with less effort.
• Core hardness – Affects how the pencil behaves when you apply it. Softer cores lay down colour more smoothly and blend easily, which is ideal for detailed shading and layering. Harder cores hold a sharper point for longer and are better suited to fine line work and technical drawing.
• Lightfastness – Matters if your finished artwork needs to last. Artist-grade pencils are typically rated for lightfastness, meaning the colours resist fading over time. This is important for displaying pieces, gifts, or anything archival.

For school and hobby use, these factors matter less. A good set of student-quality colour pencils still delivers plenty of colour and creative satisfaction without the higher price point.

Brands We Stock

Caran d'Ache

When precision and colour quality matter, Caran d'Ache stands in a class of its own. Manufactured in Switzerland for more than 100 years, the brand has built a global reputation for producing premium coloured pencils with exceptional colour laydown, durability, and craftsmanship. Whether you're creating fine art, illustrations, or detailed sketches, Caran d'Ache pencils deliver the performance trusted by professionals and enthusiasts alike.

Derwent

When creativity demands reliable performance, Derwent pencils have been a trusted choice for artists for generations. Crafted in the United Kingdom since 1832, Derwent is renowned for its extensive range of premium coloured pencils, offering rich pigmentation, smooth application, and exceptional versatility. From detailed illustrations and vibrant artworks to sketching and mixed media projects, Derwent pencils provide the quality and consistency relied on by professional artists, designers, and passionate creatives around the world.

Prismacolor Premier

The artist-grade choice in our range. Prismacolor Premier coloured pencils feature high-quality pigments with rich colour saturation, soft thick cores, and smooth colour laydown for superior blending and shading, and the thick lead resists breakage.

Available as sets and open stock individual pencils, making it easy to replace colours as you use them or build a custom palette. With 150 colours in the Prismacolor range, they're well suited to blending, shading, and layering.

Prang

Pre-sharpened, real wood pencils with blendable 3.3mm cores, ideal for school or home use. A solid everyday option for kids and students.

Coloured Pencil Techniques Worth Knowing

Even with a basic set, there are a few techniques that make a real difference to your results.

• Layering – The foundation of coloured pencil work; applying multiple light layers of colour builds up depth and richness that a single heavy stroke can't achieve. Start light and build gradually.
• Blending – Softens edges and transitions between colours. You can blend using a colourless blender pencil (which Prismacolor makes specifically for this purpose), a tortillon, or even your fingertip for subtle effects.
• Burnishing – Done by applying heavy pressure with a light colour or colourless blender over existing layers. This gives a smooth, polished finish and intensifies colours. It's a technique that works particularly well with soft-core pencils like Prismacolor.
• Varying pressure – The simplest way to get more out of any set. Light pressure for tints and highlights, heavier pressure for saturated shadow areas. That range of values is what gives a coloured pencil drawing its dimension.

Explore Related Supplies

Coloured pencils pair naturally with other drawing mediums. If you enjoy the blending quality of coloured pencils but want the added dimension of water, our watercolour pencils are a natural next step. They work dry like regular colour pencils but activate with water for a painted effect.

For looser, expressive mark-making, charcoal pencils add a different quality of line and tone to your drawing kit. And for younger crafters or anyone who prefers a chunkier tool, crayons are a great companion to coloured pencils for mixed-media projects.

Shop Coloured Pencils at CraftOnline

CraftOnline is one of Australia's largest online art and craft shops, stocking over 700 brands and 50,000 products across every creative category. Whether you're after a starter set for a young artist or open-stock Prismacolor pencils to complete your palette, you'll find the right colour pencils Australia-wide with free shipping on orders over $119.

Browse the full range above, or explore the rest of our art and craft shop to find everything you need.