Coloured Pencil Comparison: Polychromos® & Albrecht Dürer Watercolour

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Coloured Pencil Comparison: Polychromos® & Albrecht Dürer Watercolour Pencils

Whether you’re a coloured pencil aficionado, or a watercolour fan looking for excellent portability and the precision of a pencil, Faber-Castell’s collection of coloured pencils are created with passion to support your creativity at every age and skill level.

An early stage of the coloured pencil manufacturing process

Polychromos® Artist’s Color Pencils. Every colored pencil From Faber-Castell is manufactured for exceptional performance using high-quality pigments and SV bonding.

Celebrating its 113th birthday this year, Polychromos Artist’s Color Pencils have earned their reputation of best of the best. Polychromos, Faber-Castell’s absolute finest quality coloured pencils, lives among other exclusive artistic supplies for the professional artist in their collection. This collection could be best defined by its name Polychromos, meaning “many colours.” Available in 120 colours, there is no limit to where these coloured pencils can take you.

What makes Polychromos so special? The answer is found in the development. Made from premium cedar wood, Polychromos pencils are made of vegetable oil, wax, and high-quality pigments. These qualities give the colour pencil a buttery smooth colour laydown and can be easily blended for layered effects, highlights, and transitions. With a 3.8 mm break-resistant lead, this pencil is also water-resistant and smudge proof. The Polychromos pencil is labelled by colour name, colour number, lightfastness rating, and an SV bonded label, with the lead colour painted on the entire barrel of the pencil.

When creating your artwork with a Polychromos colour pencil, you can rest assured knowing your work is going to last a long time. Of the 120 colours, 102 colours have a 3-star lightfast rating. The pencil has a high archival quality of more than 100 years of fade resistance.

Watercolour pencils for every artist!

Created to capture your artistic visions, Albrecht Dürer® Artists’ Watercolor Pencils offer the artist a unique experience that allows for a versatile approach to their work of art. Watercolour pencils function as your go-to medium when seeking to step out-of-the-box with different elements of art. Watercolour opens a door of creative possibilities. You can use it simply for drawing; quick sketching, hatching, or even shading on the surface, and when you blend it with water, you open up a whole new realm of possibilities with your art.

Watercolour pencils alongside an artwork created with these pencils.

Albrecht Dürer pencils have a thick 3.8 mm lead, ideal for creating fine precise lines with excellent break-resistance. Easily identify the colour you’re looking for; Albrecht Dürer can be identified by the entire coating of the pencil, and is labelled with the colour name in German and English, colour number, and it’s lightfast rating.

Albrecht Dürer was created for the professional artist, with the highest quality pigments for unsurpassed lightfastness, many lasting for more than 100 years. Albrecht Dürer is available in 120 different colours.

Though both lines have different attributes: they still carry the Faber-Castell quality. Made in Germany, these watercolour pencils are SV bonded, hexagonal, and coated with water-based varnish. They are also fully water-soluble, easily blended when wet, permanent when dry, highly pigmented, and provide a soft and vibrant colour laydown. For easy use of various media, our pencils are part of a unique colour matching system encompassing all Faber-Castell Art & Graphic products, so you’ll find consistency between both the Polychromos and Albrecht Dürer lines of pencils.

Whether you’re creating your art on a professional or hobby level, Faber-Castell’s Polychromos® Artist’s Color Pencils and Albrecht Dürer® Artists’ Watercolor Pencils are excellent tools to express your artwork in unique ways and bring your colours to life – a very long life!