Brutfuner Colored Pencils Color Chart 120
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Are these the BEST affordable colored pencils? | Brutfuner Oily Pencils Review
I am always on the hunt for the best colored pencils, and after my huge pencil review, I've been flooded with requests to try the Brutfuner colored pencils.
These are an affordable colored pencil with a fantastic reputation for being easy to blend and perfect for any skill level. I'm testing both the square set and the round set in this review, and have purchased these myself (this is not sponsored). They are made in China and sold under several names – more on that below!
Watch the video below so see my full review, or keep scrolling for a quick summary!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you click them and make a purchase (at no cost to you). This post is not sponsored or endorsed by the brands mentioned, and I have not been asked to do this review. All opinions are my own.
My first impressions of Brutfuner Colored Pencils
When I first opened the square set, I thought a few pencils were missing – but it turns out they'd just moved around, so no need to panic, I think they are all here. Phew!
The casing had a strong smell when first opened, which I've found to be common with cheaper pencils. I came across the same strong smell when opening my Castle Art colored pencils for the first time.
Each pencil is nice to hold, with numbers on each pencil and the color names. The round set are in english but the square set are in Chinese – so you can either use the numbers (like me!) or go to the effort of translating the colors for yourself.
Both sets come with a handy swatch sheet, but I prefer to make my own. Whenever buying a new set of pencils or markers, I recommend creating some kind of swatch or color chart to give yourself a permanent reference of the colors in your set.
I haven't always done this in the past, so I've got some catching up to do on my old sets – but when I HAVE done this, it has saved me SO much time in finding the right colors when I draw and has saved a lot of pencil or marker in not having to scribble on a scrap piece of paper.
I've just sorted these into a basic color order that makes sense from what I can see of the pencil leads, but this order isn't perfect because the color of the outside of the pencils isn't a perfect representation of the actual pigment color of the pencil. This is something that is extremely common with budget pencils, but is also pretty normal with any art supplies – which is exactly why we are creating a swatch.
Brutfuner Color Range
As I'm swatching these pencils, I really like the color ranges in both these sets. There are no obvious gaps in the color range, and there is a huge variety.
There are some colors in the larger set of 180 that feel very similar to each other, to the point that they feel unnecessary, but again, these pencils are so cheap that this isn't a dealbreaker by any means.
The 180 round set also includes 12 metallic pencils – although my set seems to only have 11. So either I've just not seen it, I've got 2 of another color somewhere, or I'm missing a pencil.
I personally don't use metallic pencils much at all – If I'm wanting to color something shiny, I'll either use normal colors to create a photo-realistic metallic like I showed you in my "How to Draw Gold" tutorial or I would use a metallic paint marker or other super-metallic product instead of pencils.
Sharpening
These pencils come pre-sharpened, but I've ended up resharpening almost all of them. They feel MUCH nicer to use after being sharpened again to a better point, and seem to lay down more smoothly on the paper. I guess this is a good time to test out some of my different sharpeners that I've been buying!
One thing I will say now about sharpening, is that the square pencils need a bigger sharpener.
They don't fit in the T'Gall or the regular size hole of other sharpeners. They do fit in the crank sharpeners like the Dahle 133 and the larger hole of the 2-hole sharpeners.
If you're keen to hear more about these different sharpeners, I've got a full comparison coming in a few weeks with my thoughts on these sharpeners and more. I've been using them for a few weeks now to really work out which ones are my favorites.
Coloring with the Brutfuner pencils
For our pencil battle, I've split my page in 2 and we're using the square pencils on the top of the page and the round pencils on the bottom of the page.
To make this more fun, I'm also choosing a different color palette for each set. For the top, I'm choosing a palette from The Color Catalog Volume 1, and for the bottom I'm using The Color Catalog Volume 2.
For each color palette, I've used my new swatches to find the closest matching colored pencil for each color in the palette, plus some darker and lighter colors of each hue that I can use for shadows and highlights.
When I was swatching these pencils, I thought they were ok, but I wasn't wowed by them. But now that I'm actually using them to color, I'm actually really impressed. These blend REALLY well. They are nice to hold and smooth on the paper.
The leads are firm enough that they aren't breaking and they are easy to use, so they would be great for beginners. But they also don't have the learning curve that I would expect from an oil-based pencil.
I would say they are possibly the best affordable pencils I've come across so far. I'll compare them shortly to some of the other pencils I've reviewed previously. But first, let's see how the round pencils compare!
The round pencils weren't as nice after using the square pencils. I didn't notice much difference during the swatching, but after coloring a large area, the difference is more obvious. These just feel cheaper. They don't lay down as much color and even seem to have a bit of a waxy build-up… which I'm confused about, because these are an oil-based pencil.
These pencils are still very good for the price, but if I had to choose between these and the square pencils, I'd buy the square pencils.
Here's how the final coloring page turned out, with the square pencils on top and the round pencils on the bottom:
Are the Brutfuner pencils oil-based?
I was skeptical at first that these were actually oil-based pencils. They performed so much like what I would expect from a wax-based pencil.
The reason we always talk about wax and oil pencils is because most pencils use one type of binding more predominantly than the other, even if they include both. Wax-dominant pencils are often known to be more soft and buttery, like the Prismacolor Premier pencils. Whereas oil-dominant pencils are often firmer, less likely to break, but also harder to blend. While these traits are common of wax and oil pencils, they are not always the case, and there is a huge misconception that wax pencils are ALWAYS soft and blendable, while oil pencils are ALWAYS firm.
After some research, I was able to track down the manufacturer directly, who confirmed that the Brutfuner pencils were mostly vegetable oil, and contained only a small amount of wax. So yes, they are oil-based pencils. I'm surprised, and happy to admit I was wrong on this one!
Both sets were much more like the Prismacolors than the Polychromos, but neither were as good as these 2 premium brands, which is to be expected for the price difference. You're unlikely to find any pencil that has the quality of a premium Polychromos (with lightfastness and amazing quality control) at such a budget price.
Are Brutfuner pencils the same Shuttle Art and Soucolor?
After noticing how similar these pencils looked to my Castle Art pencils, I did a little extra digging and discovered that while they are NOT the same as the Castle Art colored pencils, the Brutfuner colored pencils ARE sold under a few different names – so you might have already purchased them or seen them under the names Shuttle Art, Soucolor, Kalour, Southsun and WoMoxe.
It's worth noting that there are a number of other brand pencils that look very similar to these, but are NOT Brutfuner pencils. So it's always important to do your research and not just assume a pencil's origin or quality based on its physical appearance.
How are these all the same pencils?
Let me take you on a trip to Costco. Where you would find the Kirkland Signature brand of products that range from champagne to toilet paper.
These are not all made in a Kirkland factory. Instead, they are made in the factories of other companies. the coffee beans are roasted by Starbucks, the batteries are made by Duracell, and the nappies are made by the same manufacturer that makes Huggies.
They are bought and rebranded under the Kirkland brand – which is a process known as private-labelling.
This is similar to what happens with some of the colored pencils that have been showing up online lately. Although, these come under a slightly different system known as white-labelling.
In simple terms, one factory makes a set of pencils and sells them wholesale with a blank label to other companies who can then rebrand and sell them under their own names.
That's why some Southsun and WoMoxe pencil boxes come with the Brutfuner pencils inside.
Taking it a step further, as far as I've been able to tell, the pencils from Shuttle Art, Soucolor and Kalour are also made in the same factory as Brutfuner and are rebranded under these companies. Each of these companies has created their own packaging, pricing and advertising, but the pencil names, numbers and core ingredients are identical.
So if you already own one of these, you don't need to buy the others unless you want another pretty box or a second set.
And this review today has doubled as a review for all of these brands – 6 in 1!
And back down the rabbit hole… the trademark owner of the name Brutfuner also owns the trademark of Guang Hui, which is the same company as Wanshui, and both sell pencils too – The pencils are different to Brutfuner (I think!), but I just thought it was another interesting connection!
Are Brutfuner colored pencils worth buying?
With any budget pencils, there are certain features of quality brands that you just won't get.
You're unlikely to find pencils with a high (if any) lightfastness rating. The packaging isn't always going to be the best. You might find broken or missing pencils. And the colors of the core are unlikely to be a perfect match for the color of the barrel of your pencil.
But all of these things are why budget pencils are BUDGET pencils.
If you want lightfastness or artist quality, then save your money and buy a set of Faber-Castell Polychromos or Caran d'Ache Luminance. If budget is your biggest priority, but you still want a good set of pencils, then the Brutfuner colored pencils are a great purchase for the price.
Where to buy Brutfuner Oily Colored Pencils
The easiest place to find Brutfuner pencils is Amazon, but for once it isn't the cheapest! If you are willing to dive into Aliexpress, you can buy Brutfuner direct from China (from traders and the distributor themselves) to get a lower price. The shipping times, however, are often longer from Aliexpress compared to Amazon if you are in the USA.
120 Brutfuner Square Oily Pencils
Buy at Amazon.com
Also available under various sellers at aliexpress.com
180 Brutfuner Round Oily Pencils
Buy at Amazon.com
Also available under various sellers at aliexpress.com
Or try these sets from Shuttle Art and Kalour (same pencils, different branding)
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Brutfuner Colored Pencils Color Chart 120
Source: https://sarahrenaeclark.com/brutfuner-colored-pencils-review/
Posted by: shriversincy1977.blogspot.com
5 Comments
I have the round ones and I'm pretty happy with them. I checked out and the metallic color you miss is number 023, Metallic Grass Green. I can't wait for you to release the swatch chart. I had a difficult time arranging the pencils in an order that suited me, but I'm sure yours is better… 🙂
Thank you for the review!
I was not able to find your swatch strips in your products. I would like to make these for Prismacolor and Crayola pencils as well as my Tombow and Dick Blick pens. I guess I am asking for a template that I could print, label and color for any set. Sarah, thank you so much for your wonderful videos I am learning a lot from you.
Hi Priscilla! I mentioned in the video that it's not available yet – but if you join my email list you'll hear from me as soon as I make them available!
Hi Sarah, love your reviews. I have the square Brutfuners and I am very pleased with them but I am having a problem sharpening them. They are ok with the 2 hole Staedtler but I searched on Amazon to see which sharpeners are suggested for them and purchased the Carl Angel 5 as a result of that search. Some of the square Brutfuner pencils fit and sharpen and some do not. It also makes marks where the sharpener holds onto the pencil (I now have marks on some of my Prismacolors boo hoo). I know that you are doing a video comparison soon but are you able to let me know if you have come across a sharpener that works for the square pencils? I can do an exchange.
I've found that most sharpeners work, as long as they offer a bigger hole. Personally, I was using the Dahle 133 crank sharpener on my square set.