Top 5 Budget Colored Pencils: Five Sets Worth Your Money

Introduction

Budget colored pencil recommendations are tricky because “budget” means something different to everyone. For this list, the target was simple: look at the biggest set each range offers and keep it around the £30 mark, roughly under a pound per pencil. Every set here is one that has been fully reviewed hands-on, so the ranking reflects real use rather than spec sheets alone.

One important note before the list: none of these pencils carry lightfastness ratings, which is a big part of why they are so affordable. If you sell original artwork, lightfastness matters a great deal. If you create for coloring books, mixed media, prints, or personal projects, it matters far less, and it should not put you off these sets.

All five are also genuinely beginner-friendly. The pigment levels are there from the first stroke, so you get immediate results, and every set layers and blends across bristol smooth, bristol vellum, mixed media paper, and adult coloring book stock.

Number 5: Bruynzeel Square Colored Pencils

The Bruynzeel square colored pencils come as a 120 set with a 3.3mm core and a 7.2mm barrel. They are very heavily pigmented and performed well on bristol vellum and mixed media paper. The main quirk is the square barrel: getting an initial sharpen was fiddly, even in hand-crank sharpeners, but once that first point was established, ongoing sharpening was easy.

These are a solid choice for adult coloring book artists, mixed media artists, and marker artists who come back in with pencil for fine pigment detail on top. For the size of the set, the pricing is genuinely reasonable.

Number 4: Giotto Decorra (Lyra)

The Giotto Decorra pencils come from the Lyra brand, and the core quality is a real strength: soft, creamy, and excellent at layering on mixed media paper as well as bristol smooth and bristol vellum. They are another strong option for adult coloring books.

The only reason these sit at number four is set size. They cap out at a 36 set, and with a larger range they would easily rank higher, possibly even near the top. If a bigger set or a skin tone edition appears, this ranking would change.

Number 3: The Black Widow Range

The Black Widow range is treated here as a collection: the Black Widow Scorpion, the Black Widow Cobra, the Black Widow Dragon, the Monarch, and the skin tone sets. The Scorpion, Cobra, and original Black Widow come in 24 sets, while the Dragon is a 48 set. Buy the collection in its entirety and you end up with a really nice, cohesive selection of colors.

The cores are soft and creamy, though not as soft as something like Prismacolor. That softness makes them excellent for adult coloring books, light mixed media work, and general crafting. The barrels use black wood, which many artists like, and the color names are some of the most quirky and charming in the budget category.

Black Widow Dragon

The Dragon line is the larger 48-set option within the collection, making it the practical entry point if you want more colors from the range in one purchase rather than collecting the smaller sets separately.

Black Widow Scorpion

The Scorpion line rounds out the 24-set trio alongside the Cobra, giving the collection its broad color coverage. Combined with the Dragon and the skin tone sets, it completes the full palette that makes this range so appealing as a bundle.

View more details for Black Widow Scorpion

Number 2: Bruynzeel Expression

The Bruynzeel Expression is a genuinely lovely chunky pencil. The 72 set is the biggest in the range, and the pencil itself uses a hexagonal barrel measuring 7.6mm with a 3.3mm core. It is heavily pigmented, layers and blends well across bristol smooth, bristol vellum, mixed media paper, and coloring book stock, and it delivers immediate results without requiring you to work hard at the medium.

Like everything on this list, it skips lightfast ratings, and that trade-off is exactly why the price stays so accessible. For newcomers to colored pencil, this is one of the easiest sets to recommend.

Number 1: Faber-Castell Classic Red

The Faber-Castell Classic Red is the cheapest set on this entire list, which makes it a remarkable value proposition. The 60 set is the largest available in the range, and each pencil uses a 3mm core in a slim 7mm hexagonal barrel.

Out of the box, the cheaper grade of barrel wood shows: the tops can look slightly splintered or frayed. Once sharpened, that cosmetic issue disappears entirely, and the pigment levels are excellent, as you would expect from a maker with Faber-Castell’s track record in art supplies.

The Classic Red also performs beautifully on black, tan, and grey paper, which many budget pencils struggle with. It works well on top of markers too, making it a favorite for manga and anime artists who come back in with pencil for fine detail and texture over marker work. As a first serious colored pencil set, it is hard to beat.

Overall Buying Advice

If you are completely new to colored pencils, any set on this list will give you immediate, satisfying results without a steep learning curve. If you want the most colors for the least money, the Faber-Castell Classic Red 60 set is the standout. If you want a chunkier, richer drawing feel, the Bruynzeel Expression 72 set is worth the step up. If quirky names and a full collection matter to you, the Black Widow range rewards buying it as a whole. And if sheer volume of colors is the goal, the Bruynzeel square 120 set delivers a lot of pencil for the price.

Conclusion

These five sets prove that strong pigment, good layering, and pleasant blending do not require a premium budget. Match the set size and feel to how you actually draw, and any of these will serve coloring, mixed media, marker work, and personal artwork well.