KOH-I-NOOR Progresso Woodless Coloured Pencil Set (Set of 24)

These were bought with the idea of having a cheap set of pencils to mess around with. (I have several sets of premium brand light-fast pencils but wanted something I could doodle, experiment and make quick studies with.) I expected them to be okay as I have quite a lot of other Koh - I - noor products already that I feel are good quality and value.These were a lovely surprise as they are excellent. They are creamy in texture, blend and layer really well and let you cover the paper really quickly. There is a well thought out set of colours that resemble those found in a classic watercolour set, containg nothing neon, skin-tone or metallic, but definitely a decent range of highly pigmented quality colours.Being soft, the points do have a tendency to crumble under pressure but so do all my other soft coloured pencils - even the ones that cost four times the price of these - so one just has to be vigilant about removing pigment crumbs. I dont expect them to be very light fast at this price point so will keep them for sketchbooks. They come in two sturdy plastic trays that slot into a cardboard sleeve that not only meant mine arrived without mishap but also will store them neatly and safely.I wouldn't recommend these for young children or the very heavy handed who I suspect would snap them. I am also going to keep these in the studio as I believe that they are not robust enough to be carted about by me and remain in one piece.I am, however, delighted by the quality of these and at how much good quality pigment one gets for such a small amount of money and wish they were available in a bigger set. (I'm very tempted to buy an extra box to have a stash of them.)I think these Progresso's could more accurately be called colour sticks and highly recommend them.

Using these to colour in Johanna Basford's colouring books and they are lovely to work with. The colours are smooth and when pressed harder give good opaque and vibrant colours. They blend quite nicely. I use them along with my Faber Castell Polychromos as the colours are not duplicated. Love the fact that they have no wood component. Allows for greater coverage of larger areas when colouring.they sharpen very well. Nice sharp points. Wish there were more colours to buy. I would recommend this set. But (Warning) they are delicate and will break in two if dropped on a stone floor from table top height. So not recommended for the kids or if you are a little clumsy.

Bright. Good range of colours.Blend nicely.Honestly my favourite colouring pencil.

Koh-I-Noor progresso woodless coloured pencils are in my opinion very close in quality to the Faber castell polychromos and prisma color pencils.They are rather soft almost creamy and layer up rather well. In addition the blending is effortless even more so with the use of a blending pencil. They are slightly heavier than your standard pencil as they are a stick of full colour.Unfortunately they only come in a range of 24 colours though this is a good range to start working with and you can combine with other brands of coloured pencils. The pencils sharpen to a fine sharp point which is excellent for intricate details and those tiny parts you find in colouring pages or books! Bare in mind that they can crumble if applying too much pressure and its best to brush the bits of pencil away as they easily mark paper.The fact that they are woodless means that you can use the sides of the pencil as though you were using a pastel to colour larger areas adding a rough texture (if left un blended) for an interesting effect to your work. Pressing down firmly can give you a strong depth of colour and gradually releasing the pressure can vary the gradient this is great for creating dimension.The packaging is nothing special rather basic it's a flimsy cardboard with two layers containing two plastic trays (24 set version) which keep your colours from moving around too much. They do bang the plastic if you shake them about. If your travelling around with these just add some thin cardboard to pad out the tips of the pencils.The colours in the 24-piece set include: Bordeaux Red, Cobalt Blue, Carmine Red, Chrome Yellow, Dark Brown, Dark Green and Dark Yellow to name a few. They are available on Amazon it packs of 12 and 24. The 24 set averages around £19 (I got mine at £11.32 on offer) In my opinion I think they are great for both a beginner who is looking for something easy to work with in colouring books and someone who is more intermediate and wants to try something a little different.[...]

I was looking for a way of completing backgrounds more quickly. (Lazy or what?)These pencils are absolutely brilliant. Not only do they cover a lot of paper quickly, due to being able to use the "extended" point, they are very smooth and vibrant.Surprisingly they sharpen easily to a very fine point.I now use them as my main coloured pencil, both for backgrounds and for detail.So far I have only used them on watercolour paper and relatively smooth white card. I find they work really well on both.

I can understand and agree with all of the above mentioned comments.I also use Faber Castell Polychromos and Derwent coloured pencils. Bearing in my mind the relatively cheap price for these pencils I wasn't expecting too much. However they sharpened to such a fine point I found intricate and accurate work refreshingly easy. Blending and shading worked well. Harder pressure or several light applications gave marvellous coverage. I found them comfortable and a pleasure to hold and use.I took more care not to drop them because of possible breakage.Overall, I have been so surprised and pleased I felt I must (unusually) give an Amazon review!