Arteza Colored Pencils 126 Set: What the 54 New Colors Add to Your Palette

Introduction

Arteza’s colored pencil range started with a 72-color set that earned plenty of praise for its soft cores and saturated color, but it also had one recurring criticism: too many similar yellows, too few deep blues, and not enough dark, punchy colors for building depth and value in finished artwork. The new 126 set answers almost all of that. It keeps the original 72 palette intact and adds 54 carefully chosen colors that clearly address what artists were asking for.

If you already own the 72 set, the real question is whether the additional colors justify buying in again. If you are starting fresh, the 126 set is now the more complete option of the two.

Packaging and Presentation

The box is labelled 126 colors, saturated color, soft core, artist quality, with a printed swatch chart on the back. One practical note for anyone buying colored pencils in a store: those printed or laser-etched swatches on tins and boxes are only a baseline guide. Pigment always looks different once it goes onto your actual paper, so expect the real colors to differ from the packaging.

The 126 set uses the same delivery system as the original 72: pencils inlet into a foam base. Here the design has genuinely improved. The earlier set used more of a trench-style base, so lifting one pencil let the others slide and fall around the box. In this set the holes are individual, and pencils stay exactly where they belong even when you remove a couple from the tray.

The box splits into two sections, which will divide opinion. The upside is practical: you can set one tray on each side of your workspace while drawing or coloring, making selection easy regardless of which hand you favor. It is a slightly different concept from premium sets that split into two tins, but the convenience argument is the same.

The pencils themselves are unchanged from the 72 set: the same core size, barrel size, barrel decorations, pigment name printed on the end of the barrel, and the company logo. The only difference in this set is the colors.

Blues: The Biggest Upgrade

The original 72 set had perhaps eight or ten blues, and not a great spread among them. The 126 set fixes that decisively. Additions include Prussian Blue, Deep Blue, French Ultramarine, Cadet Blue, and Pigeon Blue, a lovely gray-blue.

Two standouts deserve special mention. Cadet Blue is a handsome muted gray-blue, and Deep Sky Blue is the color that earns the most enthusiasm here: a rich, almost electric blue that looks fantastic on paper. It is clear Arteza studied the weaknesses of the original palette and built this expansion around them.

Reds, Purples and Violets

The original reds were pleasant but lacked a truly punchy red, with nothing close to a pillar-box red in the lineup. The new additions change that with Scarlet Red and a gorgeous Chili Pepper, alongside Peach Puff, Seashell Pink, and Cad Orange Deep, all of which complement the existing reds well. Quinacridone Violet is also a beautiful choice for deep red shadow work, particularly useful in fan art and similar subjects.

The purple and lilac family was already reasonably served in the 72 set, but the new colors add genuine depth. Cobalt Violet and Aubergine Purple are two gorgeous additions, with Ultramarine Violet, Orchid Purple, Mayan Violet, and Wisteria rounding out a rich, high-contrast extension of the range.

Greens and Earth Tones

Greens matter most to botanical artists, and this is where the expansion shines. The 72 set had nice greens but nothing really dark: Apple Green, Lime Peel, Spring Green, and True Green were all quite similar, with Dark Green and Olive Green carrying the deep end alone.

The new set adds gentle pastel greens like Pastel Green and Jade Green, then swings hard the other way with Oxide Green, Fern Green, Old Gold (superb for autumn foliage), Army Green, and Antique Brass. Army Green and Fern Green in particular are beautiful, rich dark greens for foliage work.

The earth tones get the same treatment. Van Dyke Brown, Burnt Umber, and Iron Oxide Brown add missing depth, and Dark Salmon and Mars Brown are highlights. Mars Brown is a gorgeous reddish, violet-tinged brown, darker than the Mars Violet you may know from other brands. Lighter additions like Bavarian Cream and Camel balance out the warm end of the palette.

Worth Knowing: Fluorescents and Metallics

One honest criticism, and it is a small one: the set includes silver and gold metallic pencils and three fluorescent colors (yellow, orange, and pink). The fluorescent yellow performs brilliantly, laying down like a highlighter marker, but the fluorescent orange and pink do not lay down nearly as well, likely due to the pigment ingredients involved.

The argument here is that fluorescents and metallics belong in small dedicated companion sets, where several brands already offer them, rather than taking up five slots in a large palette that could have carried five more usable artist colors. That is the only real gripe in an otherwise excellent color expansion.

Should You Upgrade From the 72 Set?

If you already own the 72 set, look at the additional 54 colors and judge them against the art you actually make. If you want deeper blues, punchier reds, richer greens for botanical work, or any of the new dark-value colors for contrast, the upgrade is easy to recommend, because these additions are genuinely good. If you never touch those color families, the 72 set remains perfectly usable on its own.

What stands out most is that Arteza clearly listened. The similar-yellows problem was fixed by adding only three yellows, and those lean toward orange anyway. The thin blues and missing dark tones were both addressed head-on. The result is a much more comprehensive, complete palette.

Conclusion

The Arteza 126 set takes a good 72-color foundation and rounds it out into a genuinely well-balanced palette. Deep Sky Blue, Cobalt Violet, Aubergine Purple, Fern Green, Army Green, Old Gold, Mars Brown, Dark Salmon, Pigeon Blue, Cadet Blue, and Wisteria are all lovely additions, and the improved foam tray with individual slots fixes a real complaint about the earlier packaging. If you are choosing between the two sizes today, the 126 set is the one to get.