Reviewing 72 Colored Pencils By Kingtop

72 Kingtop Pencil Crayons

I was contacted by the company selling Kingtop colored pencils (Amazon USA, Amazon Canada) and asked if I'd like to review them on my blog. I was thrilled to be asked. First, because it's the first bit of art tools I've been asked to review and second, I actually don't have any true pencil crayons per say. I have watercolor pencils, both Faber-Castell Albrect Durer and Staedtler Karat brands. (I also have a few Derwent Inktense but not many.) Usually I use the watercolor pencils for correcting and enhancing watercolor paintings but I don't really use them as normal pencil crayons. I think I'm afraid that since they're activated by water, if a piece was done and got moisture on it then it would be ruined. Not so for normal pencil crayons.

I have actually been hoping to get the matching Faber-Castell pencil crayons, they've been on my wish list for quite some time. Alas, they're expensive and I've been putting off buying them in favor of watercolor paint as I use them so much more. It is fun though sometimes to let my inner perfectionist come out and play once in a while and that's why I wanted the pencil crayons. I am so surprised and thrilled to say that in fact I now won't be buying the expensive artist quality Faber-Castell pencil crayons because these Kingtop actually will do just fine!!

Back & Front of Kingtop Package

Inner container with 72 Pencil Crayons

Above is what arrived very promptly after I ordered them from Amazon.ca. They actually arrived two days early with not a single broken tip. The outer package has a color chart on the back but I suggest anyone getting them make their own chart. I did and it made such a difference when I was making the test art I did for this review. The end of each pencil has the color of the lead. It helps as just like other pencil crayons and watercolor pencils, you can't tell accurately what color the lead will give you. Each pencil crayon is numbered from 501 to 572. Although names are given on the back of the package with the color chart, the numbers are the only way to tell which color you're actually getting. The fun names don't help because they haven't been connected to the numbers on the pencils. Really though, just get around that by making your own color chart like the one I made below. As I said above, it really helps you use the pencils more easily.

72 Kingtop Pencil Crayon Color Chart (click to enlarge)

I'm really thrilled with Kingtop's quality and I put them through their paces this last week. I must admit, I didn't expect them to give me the versatility and depth of color. I am absolutely giddy after testing them. I wanted to show you some of the agility tests I performed. I tested their erasability and their intensity. then I made a piece of art to test blend-ability and to see just how far I could push them. Could they keep up with an artist who expects perfection? Yes they could!

Erasability of Kingtop Pencil Crayons

Kingtop pencil crayons were highly erasable! I was thrilled to find that if I went over a border, I could just pick up any eraser and touch up that edge. I found that especially if I had just gone over a little with a few strokes, any color I used would erase completely. As you can see from above, with highly saturated strips you get most of the color up but not all.

Gradients of Kingtop Pencil Crayons

With the gradients, you can see that you can do very light colors all the way to more saturated samples. I would say I could have gone one more shade darker, showing five gradients with each color. There is a limit to their saturated color but I didn't find any problem when doing the following piece of art. If I couldn't achieve the color I wanted I chose a darker pencil crayon to achieve the saturation I wanted. I found the best way to get an even wash of color was to color in one direction at at time then add another layer going another direction to get more saturation, changing direction with each darkening layer.

Kingtop Pencil Crayon Test: "Art of the Pear"

My final grade for the Kingtop 72 colored pencils was an A. The only slight issue I came across at all was that these pencil crayons are not as color saturated as professional artist grade pencil crayons, but they're close. They would certainly work abundantly well for both the coloring book crowd, student artists and even professional artists. I love them and I consider myself a closet art tool snob. I usually buy the best. I am so happy that I can truthfully say I will NOT be buying the more expensive Faber-Castell pencil crayons. Thank you to Kingtop for allowing me to test their product, I look forward to using them for years to come.

Best,

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