HISTORY
Koh-I-Noor Hardmuth is a Czech Brand that started in 1790. Founded by Josef Hardmuth, it is popular especially in countries like Poland. In West Europe is less known because of other brands such as Faber-Castell or Caran D’Ache. Koh-I-Noor is an innovative brand that launches products such as Progresso woodless pencils or Magic pencils with multicoloured leads. As I have mentioned previously, it is my favourite brand in terms of quality and price.
SPECIFICATIONS
Koh-I-Noor Portrait set is part of the Polycolor series and it is specifically designed to colour portraits, so there are plenty of salmon, pink, orange and brown colours to choose from. There are also some green and blue for the eyes, which is very nice, although the black colour is missed. Just like it happens with other Koh-I-Noor sets, certain tones in this portrait set are not included in the biggest Polycolor set of 72 pencils.
The specifications are exactly the same ones of the Polycolor set, so if you wish to know more, please visit my entry about the 48 Polycolor pencils set.
These pencils are hexagonal, ergonomic and light. They are made in cedar wood and have a nice scent. The barrels come painted in a colour that matches the one in the lead and they end in a golden tip that prevents us from seeing the 3.8 mm lead. The barrel includes the name of the brand, the series (3800) and the number of the colour, no name attached.
About the lightfast degree, being part of the Polycolor series, the Portrait set behaves exactly the same. The official 2018-2019 catalogue indicates that, in a scale of * to *****, 27 of the 72 colours reach the maximum grade, 33 reach grade 4, 11 reach grade 3 and 12 of them fall to grades 2 and 1, which is rather fair.
PERFORMANCE
Polycolor Portrait set pencils are wax-based with an oil bathe, they can be sharpened to a fine point with any standard sharprener (but mind it, because it can slightly crack if much pressure is applied). The colours don’t smudge but occasionally spread some crumbs.
Polycolor Portrait set offers mixed blendings depending on the colour: I have noticed that darker colours blend better than paler ones. All in all, these colours are vibrant, creamy and the pigment is equally spread on the paper.
In this image I used 2 light skintones to check the blendability. The first sample shows the two colors alone, the second one has been blended with Derwent pencil blender and the third one with Derwent blender marker:
SETS AND PACKAGING
The portrait set includes 19 pencils and it comes in the usual tin without hinges and displayed in a plastic tray. Although the packaging is metallic, it can easily be dented, and the inner plastic tray will not protect the pencils in case of impact, so carefulness is advised. The pencils come organized by colours and pre-sharpened.
COLOUR CHART
Here is the colour chart for the portrait set:
1 / 41 / 43 / 44 / 9 / 29 / 350 / 352 / 354 / 355 / 351 / 353 / 131 / 48 / 30 / 64 / 66 / 31 / 65 / 33 / 68 / 16 / 49 / 63
As mentioned earlier, the pencils include the number, but not the name. However, in the official catalogue the case is exactly the opposite: the colours appear listed by name, not by number. This confusion causes that I cannot offer the names of the colours in this chart. The biggest Polycolor set comprises 72 colours, but the final list includes 95, if we add the grey tones, the brown tones and some colours in the landscape and portrait sets.
WHERE TO BUY
This set can be purchased in Amazon and in the official website, although the most economical option is the first one. Prices vary from 14 to 25 pounds, from what I have observed throughout an entire year.
Koh-I-Noor Polycolor Portrait set in Amazon UK
CONCLUSION
This set is clever and relevant. My opinion is that it has a good skintone palette. It is not too expensive and it makes a competent option in the field.
PROS, CONS AND RATING
The best: the colour palette and the creaminess.
The worst: some tones cannot be purchased individually and they are not included in the biggest Polycolor set.
Rating: 9/10
MORE INFORMATION
Learning to draw 