HISTORY

Castle Art is a British company that specializes in different art supplies such as pencils, markers and notebooks, and it manufactures its products in China. Just like in the Arteza case, Castle Art started to be highly advertised in Amazon and their products gathered good reviews, that praised both their quality and price. So I thought I would give it a try, and bought the 72 coloured pencils tin, which at that moment was around 19 euros (summer of 2018). They are also available in watercolour version.

Before I purchased the pencils, I took a look at the Castle Art Supplies site, and I realized they sold them in tins of 36 and 72 units, but that the 36 pencils set was more expensive than the 72 set, something odd that later led that set to be discontinued, and, in November 2018, gave way to a 120 pencils set, which means the 72 pencils tin has been successful and the customers request for even more tones.

SPECIFICATIONS

The first thing that surprised me about these pencils is the pale wood they are made of, as well as the amazing variety of greens and blues that the set includes. Castle Art Supplies has a good collection of bright tones, especially pinks, reds, greens and blues. On the other hand, the paler tones (especially the yellows) are not too good, as they are waxier and it takes longer time to make them noticeable on the paper.

There are not many specifications about these pencils in the official site, so we have to use our own senses to classify them.

Castle Art pencils are made in a beautiful and unique basswood. They are light and handy, rounded pencils painted on a black colour and ending in a shiny tip that matches the colour of the lead and that is closed, so we cannot see the lead. The official site claims the lead core is “strong and resistant” to prevent “frustrating breakages”. On the barrel we can read the name of the brand and the words “soft series”, which offers us information about the hardness of the leads. In the older series there was no name or number to discriminate every pencil, but in February 2019, while checking the site, I was pleased to find that the new editions include the number of each pencil, which means the brand has listened to its customers, which is very good to know.

There is no information about lightfast degree, so we can assume these are student grade pencils ideal for colourists or novices, but not to work on a commission.

PERFORMANCE

Castle Art pencils are bright and blend good. The texture on the paper has a shiny waxy touch, which obviously means these pencils are wax-based. This is especially noticeable in pale colours.

Castle Art pencils don’t spread much crumbs while colouring, they don’t smudge and can be sharpened to a fine point without problems.

SETS AND PACKAGING

Like I said before, these pencils are presented in sets of 36 (discontinued now), 72 and 120 pencils. They come in tins without hinges that distribute the pencils in 3 plastic trays (for the set of 72) that can be lifted by means of notchs on both sides (I believe the 120 pencils set includes some rubber bands, which is clever). The pencils come pre-sharpened but are not arranged by colours. Rather, they are distributed in a different way in each tray, so not all the tones of the same colour are in the same tray. The tin, which features on the cover the castle which is the symbol on the brand, is useful, but can be dented, so careful has to be taken when transporting them. The backside of the tin tells us a little bit about the brand and includes a sample of all the colours presented in the tin.

COLOUR CHART AND DEMO

Here is the colour chart for the 72 pencils set:

Here is an illustration completed with the Castle Arts pencils:

CONCLUSION

Castle Art pencils are a beautiful gift for colourists and pencil lovers, as they are beautifully presented and include a vast selection of bright colours. They have an attractive price and a decent quality if we take into account they are not professional pencils. Both Arteza and Castle Art are good examples of new brands that bring their customers quality products on a budget, something which I love seeing.

WHERE TO BUY

These pencils can be purchased in the official site and in Amazon.  For the 72 pencils set the price is around 33 pounds, while for the 120 pencils set the price is around 43 pounds. Most of the products in the official site appear as “sold out”, which I guess it means they are being quite successful.

These pencils cannot be purchased individually, which is always bad news for the people who fall in love with a particular colour and want to replace it. On the other hand, student grade pencils are rarely available to be purchased individually.

Castle Art pencils in Amazon UK

PROS, CONS AND RATING

The best: the price, the presentation, the bright colours.
The worst: lack of specifications, and they cannot be purchased individually.
Rating: 8/10

MORE INFORMATION

Official site