Colored Pencils Over Grayscale
You can achieve beautiful results when using colored pencils over a grayscale image! I found colored pencils to be the most opaque media that I tried over grayscale and they can cover up a lot of the shadows making your image seem flat. But if you start with a grayscale image where the shadows are dark enough, or you add in your own shadows, colored pencils will produce amazing colored grayscale images.
There are several techniques you can use when coloring with colored pencils over grayscale. If you're a beginner, consider choosing a single color and coloring that same color over an entire area (avoid shadow areas if your grayscale image is light). If you're more advanced and want to try shading, try picking a light, medium and dark value of each color. Use the grayscale image as your guide when applying your values and then blend together. See my techniques section or tutorials for more information.
I tested four popular brands of colored pencils and performed four complete colorings over my grayscale image, Riley, using only those pencils exclusively. I chose to compare an expensive/inexpensive wax based pencil and an expensive/inexpensive oil based pencil. You can see my results below. I have also gone into more detail below on each brand showing pros and cons, my personal experiences while using them and notes about how they perform specifically over grayscale.
**Please note: My reviews are solely based on coloring over grayscale. My experiences would probably be quite different when coloring a traditional black and white line art coloring page, so you might want to consult another review if you're looking for that specifically. Also, the "best" colored pencil choice comes down mostly to personal preference. I found that I liked and didn't like all of these brands for different reasons. I encourage you to "try before you buy" when possible and/or buy single pencils before ordering large sets to see which one is your favorite.
There are several techniques you can use when coloring with colored pencils over grayscale. If you're a beginner, consider choosing a single color and coloring that same color over an entire area (avoid shadow areas if your grayscale image is light). If you're more advanced and want to try shading, try picking a light, medium and dark value of each color. Use the grayscale image as your guide when applying your values and then blend together. See my techniques section or tutorials for more information.
I tested four popular brands of colored pencils and performed four complete colorings over my grayscale image, Riley, using only those pencils exclusively. I chose to compare an expensive/inexpensive wax based pencil and an expensive/inexpensive oil based pencil. You can see my results below. I have also gone into more detail below on each brand showing pros and cons, my personal experiences while using them and notes about how they perform specifically over grayscale.
**Please note: My reviews are solely based on coloring over grayscale. My experiences would probably be quite different when coloring a traditional black and white line art coloring page, so you might want to consult another review if you're looking for that specifically. Also, the "best" colored pencil choice comes down mostly to personal preference. I found that I liked and didn't like all of these brands for different reasons. I encourage you to "try before you buy" when possible and/or buy single pencils before ordering large sets to see which one is your favorite.
Prismacolor Premier
|
Pros
|
Cons
|
Prismacolor Premier colored pencils are one of the most popular brands on the market right now. And rightfully so, because their wax cores provide a smooth, rich, creamy consistency that is nearly unmatched in any other brand. They blend, layer and shade beautifully and are offered in a huge variety of colors and different sets.
Nikki's Experiences: I personally purchased the set of 132. The set of 150 was priced much higher and I felt that the set of 132 had a huge variety of colors. I didn't feel that the additional cost was worth it for 18 more pencils which could easily be purchased open stock if I wanted them. If you are looking to purchase these, I would keep an eye on the price. I've noticed the price fluctuates drastically, so just check it every so often and buy them when they're at a low point.
I have had a love/hate relationship with my Prismacolor Premiers since I bought them. When I initially sharpened them, I had several that had broken cores all the way down and as I've been using them more extensively, I've noticed even more are broken. They are also a very soft colored pencil and do not hold a sharp point very well. You will often find it cracking off if you press too hard. But, if they didn't have this breaking issue, they would be my favorite for sure.
I love the way they blend, layer and lay down color so easily. I don't feel like I have to color too terribly hard to get a nice, solid color. And when used with petroleum jelly, they really shine and are effortless to use. I like the range of colors, though strangely I don't think the 132 count set has a good light skin color option straight out of the pencil. The "Light Peach" is too light, "Peach" is too peach, and all of the "Beige" varieties were too brown, in my opinion. But you can easily buy another pencil for this purpose or blend several to get the color you're looking for. Overall, I really enjoy using them!
Grayscale Coloring: They performed the best out of all the brands I tested when coloring over grayscale. Their soft, creamy consistency allowed the pencils to glide across the grayscale image without disturbing any of the printing. Even when I colored over the area multiple times, it didn't disturb the printing at all. I would highly recommend these pencils for someone who is serious about coloring over grayscale and wants to invest in a good pencil. If you can get past the breaking, I think that you will really enjoy them when coloring over grayscale.
- Complete Set of 150
- Set of 132
- Set of 72
- Set of 48
- Set of 36
- Set of 24
- Set of 12
- Portrait Set
- Manga Set of 23
Nikki's Experiences: I personally purchased the set of 132. The set of 150 was priced much higher and I felt that the set of 132 had a huge variety of colors. I didn't feel that the additional cost was worth it for 18 more pencils which could easily be purchased open stock if I wanted them. If you are looking to purchase these, I would keep an eye on the price. I've noticed the price fluctuates drastically, so just check it every so often and buy them when they're at a low point.
I have had a love/hate relationship with my Prismacolor Premiers since I bought them. When I initially sharpened them, I had several that had broken cores all the way down and as I've been using them more extensively, I've noticed even more are broken. They are also a very soft colored pencil and do not hold a sharp point very well. You will often find it cracking off if you press too hard. But, if they didn't have this breaking issue, they would be my favorite for sure.
I love the way they blend, layer and lay down color so easily. I don't feel like I have to color too terribly hard to get a nice, solid color. And when used with petroleum jelly, they really shine and are effortless to use. I like the range of colors, though strangely I don't think the 132 count set has a good light skin color option straight out of the pencil. The "Light Peach" is too light, "Peach" is too peach, and all of the "Beige" varieties were too brown, in my opinion. But you can easily buy another pencil for this purpose or blend several to get the color you're looking for. Overall, I really enjoy using them!
Grayscale Coloring: They performed the best out of all the brands I tested when coloring over grayscale. Their soft, creamy consistency allowed the pencils to glide across the grayscale image without disturbing any of the printing. Even when I colored over the area multiple times, it didn't disturb the printing at all. I would highly recommend these pencils for someone who is serious about coloring over grayscale and wants to invest in a good pencil. If you can get past the breaking, I think that you will really enjoy them when coloring over grayscale.
Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor
|
Pros
|
Cons
|
Lyra Rembrandt Polycolors are an oil based colored pencil. They lay down rich, vivid color easily with no waxy build up. They can be blended and layered with ease and hold a very sharp point. The cores are very strong and encounter very little breakage. They are available open stock and in many different sets.
Nikki's Experiences: I initially purchased a set of 12 to see how an oil based colored pencil would perform when coloring over grayscale and chose these because they were the least expensive of the higher end oil based pencils. I tried my first pencil out and was blown away!! It was soft, creamy, rich and beautiful! I quickly tried every pencil in the set and they were the same. They laid down color beautifully, but did not break, even when pressing fairly hard, and I could sharpen them to a very fine point. I then decided I needed ALL the colors, so I went looking for the largest set. It was impossible to find! It was out of stock everywhere for up to two months. Not being able to wait that long, I ordered a bunch open stock. But I'm still missing several colors because they were sold out.
After using more colors extensively, I discovered that not all of the pencils were super soft and creamy. I found many colors were very hard and I felt like I battled with them to get them on my paper. I would recommend this set over the Prismacolor Premiers in a heartbeat if I hadn't discovered that. But I still think they are a wonderful pencil to get if you are tired of the Prismacolor Premiers breaking on you.
I also like the look of this pencil. That may be weird...but come on...we all like looking at art supplies!! Otherwise you wouldn't be here ;). I think they're very pretty with their natural wood appearance. And I thought they felt very nice while holding them. They aren't as glossy feeling as the Prismacolor Premiers.
Another point I wanted to mention is while there are 72 pencils in the set, I did find the range to be lacking in some areas. The reds are slightly on the pink side and I found myself wanting more light browns/tans. I did find this set to have the most beautiful light skin tone color right out of the pencil. Their "Light Flesh" color is very nice and is the skin color that I used on my example above for the Lyra coloring.
Grayscale Coloring: These pencils performed well when coloring over grayscale. When I initially did the color chart, I thought that the colors seemed subdued. But when I did some colorings over grayscale, I was suprirsed at how bold and vivid the colors were. In my side by side comparison above, I think that the Lyras are the most vivid. As I mentioned above, I did struggle with some colors which I found frustrating. They were rougher on my paper and tore up the printing sometimes when I had to really scrub at a spot.
Nikki's Experiences: I initially purchased a set of 12 to see how an oil based colored pencil would perform when coloring over grayscale and chose these because they were the least expensive of the higher end oil based pencils. I tried my first pencil out and was blown away!! It was soft, creamy, rich and beautiful! I quickly tried every pencil in the set and they were the same. They laid down color beautifully, but did not break, even when pressing fairly hard, and I could sharpen them to a very fine point. I then decided I needed ALL the colors, so I went looking for the largest set. It was impossible to find! It was out of stock everywhere for up to two months. Not being able to wait that long, I ordered a bunch open stock. But I'm still missing several colors because they were sold out.
After using more colors extensively, I discovered that not all of the pencils were super soft and creamy. I found many colors were very hard and I felt like I battled with them to get them on my paper. I would recommend this set over the Prismacolor Premiers in a heartbeat if I hadn't discovered that. But I still think they are a wonderful pencil to get if you are tired of the Prismacolor Premiers breaking on you.
I also like the look of this pencil. That may be weird...but come on...we all like looking at art supplies!! Otherwise you wouldn't be here ;). I think they're very pretty with their natural wood appearance. And I thought they felt very nice while holding them. They aren't as glossy feeling as the Prismacolor Premiers.
Another point I wanted to mention is while there are 72 pencils in the set, I did find the range to be lacking in some areas. The reds are slightly on the pink side and I found myself wanting more light browns/tans. I did find this set to have the most beautiful light skin tone color right out of the pencil. Their "Light Flesh" color is very nice and is the skin color that I used on my example above for the Lyra coloring.
Grayscale Coloring: These pencils performed well when coloring over grayscale. When I initially did the color chart, I thought that the colors seemed subdued. But when I did some colorings over grayscale, I was suprirsed at how bold and vivid the colors were. In my side by side comparison above, I think that the Lyras are the most vivid. As I mentioned above, I did struggle with some colors which I found frustrating. They were rougher on my paper and tore up the printing sometimes when I had to really scrub at a spot.
Marco Raffine
|
Pros
|
Cons
|
Marco Raffine colored pencils are bright and vivid and their oil-based cores allow you to layer and shade with virtually no waxy build up. They come in several different set options.
Nikki's Experiences: I love participating in adult coloring groups on Facebook! While perusing the groups, it is impossible not to see a ton of different posts about Marco Raffine colored pencils, most of which are people raving about how wonderful they are. So I had to try them for myself! I ordered the 72 count set, which I highly recommend if you are going to buy these. Since these are on the lower end price wise, you can spend just a few dollars more and get a lot more color variety. I'd also consider buying the set with the pouch. The box that they come in is not easy to store the pencils in. I opted not to buy the set with the pouch and mine are currently sitting in a cup! So the pouch would be a much better option to keep them nice and organized.
When ordering these on Amazon, I found the experience to be very confusing. These seem to be sold under many different names and I found myself wondering if I was indeed ordering Marco Raffine pencils. So make sure you read the product description carefully to make sure you are getting the right ones.
Overall, I enjoyed using these pencils! I liked that they did not break at all, I could sharpen them to a very fine point, the pigment is very vivid and many of the pencils laid down color beautifully (as good as the Lyras). I personally enjoyed the range of colors offered and have never felt that I'm lacking a color in the 72 color set. They have 3 very nice light skin tone options and even have two metallic pencils! But, I did notice many inconsistencies with the smoothness of the pencils. Many were very hard and did not lay down color easily at all which I found frustrating.
Grayscale Coloring: Unfortunately, I found these pencils to be the most difficult to use over grayscale of the brands I tested. They were the hardest pencils of the four sets I tried. While some of the colors were very smooth, creamy and laid down color easily, I found many of the colors to be much harder and nearly impossible to create rich coloring over grayscale. If you want to try these out for grayscale coloring, definitely give them a go! But use them cautiously, especially when coloring in my grayscale coloring book. I found that they performed the worst, so you might need to consider swapping out some colors if you find specific ones tearing up the printing on the paper.
Another interesting point that I wanted to mention when using these over grayscale, is that I found them to be the most transparent. The Prismacolors and Lyras were very opaque, covering up a lot of the shadows in the grayscale image. But the Marco Raffines, especially when used with petroleum jelly, allowed a lot of the dark shadows to still shine through which I found quite nice.
When ordering these on Amazon, I found the experience to be very confusing. These seem to be sold under many different names and I found myself wondering if I was indeed ordering Marco Raffine pencils. So make sure you read the product description carefully to make sure you are getting the right ones.
Overall, I enjoyed using these pencils! I liked that they did not break at all, I could sharpen them to a very fine point, the pigment is very vivid and many of the pencils laid down color beautifully (as good as the Lyras). I personally enjoyed the range of colors offered and have never felt that I'm lacking a color in the 72 color set. They have 3 very nice light skin tone options and even have two metallic pencils! But, I did notice many inconsistencies with the smoothness of the pencils. Many were very hard and did not lay down color easily at all which I found frustrating.
Grayscale Coloring: Unfortunately, I found these pencils to be the most difficult to use over grayscale of the brands I tested. They were the hardest pencils of the four sets I tried. While some of the colors were very smooth, creamy and laid down color easily, I found many of the colors to be much harder and nearly impossible to create rich coloring over grayscale. If you want to try these out for grayscale coloring, definitely give them a go! But use them cautiously, especially when coloring in my grayscale coloring book. I found that they performed the worst, so you might need to consider swapping out some colors if you find specific ones tearing up the printing on the paper.
Another interesting point that I wanted to mention when using these over grayscale, is that I found them to be the most transparent. The Prismacolors and Lyras were very opaque, covering up a lot of the shadows in the grayscale image. But the Marco Raffines, especially when used with petroleum jelly, allowed a lot of the dark shadows to still shine through which I found quite nice.
Crayola Twistables
|
Pros
|
Cons
|
Crayola Twistables are wax based colored pencils with a plastic casing. The leads inside are 2.0mm and do not need sharpening. Instead, you twist them up by turning the knob on the bottom. They are available in several different sets.
Nikki's Experiences: Ever since I started publishing coloring books, I make it a habit to walk through the art supply aisle and the coloring book aisle at pretty much every store I go to! One day during my browsing, I discovered Crayola Twistable colored pencils. They were about $6 or $7 at the store I was at, so I decided to give them a try to see how they performed over grayscale. I bought the 30 count set, because at a price like that, why buy a smaller set?
These honestly shocked me at how much I liked them! It is a downer that there are only 30 colors, but I found that there was a decent range of colors. They seemed to have a few different varieties of every color family. They also had a nice light skin tone option which I used on my coloring above. They are nearly impossible to layer though, so you pretty much have one layer to put in the colors that you want. I found that if I tried to apply additional layers, it would just sort of rub up the coloring underneath.
One of my pencils had a faulty twisting mechanism and just kept collapsing on me when I used it. They also produce clumps as you're coloring that I found I had to keep wiping off with a napkin. The colors on the barrels do not match the actual colors at all, so I would definitely suggest testing your colors first or making a color chart. They do not have any names or numbers on the pencils, so I find them harder to keep organized than other sets. These were definitely more "crayon like" in appearance than the other brands and didn't lay down color quite as consistently or smoothly.
I actually enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to sharpen the pencil. And I found that I could turn the pencil to find a sharp edge if I wanted to color in a smaller area. But if you like to do a lot of detail work, I could see how that would be very annoying.
Grayscale Coloring: These worked very well over grayscale! I found their super waxy consistency to actually be very gentle to the grayscale image and didn't have many issues with it tearing or pilling up the printing. The colors are also very bright and vivid as you can see on my example image above. And they have a nice transparent quality to them which is especially nice for coloring over grayscale. If you're just getting started with grayscale coloring and want a decent color variety to experiment with, and you don't mind any of the pitfalls I mentioned above, I would say this would be a nice set to try.
These honestly shocked me at how much I liked them! It is a downer that there are only 30 colors, but I found that there was a decent range of colors. They seemed to have a few different varieties of every color family. They also had a nice light skin tone option which I used on my coloring above. They are nearly impossible to layer though, so you pretty much have one layer to put in the colors that you want. I found that if I tried to apply additional layers, it would just sort of rub up the coloring underneath.
One of my pencils had a faulty twisting mechanism and just kept collapsing on me when I used it. They also produce clumps as you're coloring that I found I had to keep wiping off with a napkin. The colors on the barrels do not match the actual colors at all, so I would definitely suggest testing your colors first or making a color chart. They do not have any names or numbers on the pencils, so I find them harder to keep organized than other sets. These were definitely more "crayon like" in appearance than the other brands and didn't lay down color quite as consistently or smoothly.
I actually enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to sharpen the pencil. And I found that I could turn the pencil to find a sharp edge if I wanted to color in a smaller area. But if you like to do a lot of detail work, I could see how that would be very annoying.
Grayscale Coloring: These worked very well over grayscale! I found their super waxy consistency to actually be very gentle to the grayscale image and didn't have many issues with it tearing or pilling up the printing. The colors are also very bright and vivid as you can see on my example image above. And they have a nice transparent quality to them which is especially nice for coloring over grayscale. If you're just getting started with grayscale coloring and want a decent color variety to experiment with, and you don't mind any of the pitfalls I mentioned above, I would say this would be a nice set to try.
Nikki Burnette is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Using these links does not cost any additional money, but does provide me with a small commission when items are purchased after clicking on the links. Thanks so much for your support! <3
