Feelily Marco Raffine 72 Fine Art pencil set in a tin Review

Feelily Marco Raffine 72 pencil set in a tin

I know I have been posting alot of arty products recently, but that's because I have really got back into my art journaling and colouring books.

Today I have this amazing Marco Raffine 72 pencil set from Feelily to review for all you artists out there.

I recently reviewed this gorgeous large capacity pencil case and this incredible art sketching roll from Feelily, so to have the chance to share my opinions on these pencils with you as well, fills me with childlike glee.

I am very lucky to have a set of Faber Castell Polychromos so I was excited to see how these would compare to a top of the range pencil set.

Here is my video showing you the beautiful fine art pencils in close-up.

Packaging
These arrive in the most beautiful silver tin with Raffine beautifully embossed into the silver tin. It also has a really inspirational image on the front, which I do hope was originally drawn using these pencils.

It is a beautiful set of 72 coloured pencils, where as my Faber Castels are only 60 so its exciting for me to see the different colour ranges in this tin. They all arrived safely with no broken tips and all sharpened.

Description

I received the 72 set of pencils which have silver coloured hexagonal barrels and are made of a non toxic recycled wood.

The pencils have the corresponding colour painted on the ends of each pencil, so its super easy to pick the one your after. They are a really good representation of the colour and you also have the colour code number printed on the side if you prefer to draw that way.

I love that they are stored in the tin within 2 trays of 36 pencils; the trays have indents which allow you to lift out the tray and lay it onto the lid when using them.

Just checkout the variety of colours. You have a fantastic spectrum to work with from warm to cool, light to dark. Well see for yourself.

They are all 17.5cm in length which I consider to be the average size.

These pencils have slightly wider leads than the average pencil as you can see from the image from Marco Raffine.

This makes quite a difference, you can see the thickness of the nib here.

Here is the Marco Raffine's colour chart

For me its the variety of greens as I love nature colouring and drawing. This allows an Incredible mix of greens for foliage etc.

I adore this variety of blues too, sooooo good for skies and water, let alone flowers and birds. Checkout the teal/peacock colours on the left of the image...gooorgeous!!

Plus too you also get a gold and silver, I do feel however they are not as metallic as I would like, but you can still clearly see they are gold and silver. (See the last 2 circles on the image below. )

Okay the most important...the colours how do they come out...Im sorry its not the Mona Lisa.... Ive drawn 2 circles of each...no I haven't gone mad..I thought this would help give you a reference.

The top colour is the darkest the pigment will go; by layering.

The circle beneath is the lightest, that is just one layer of the lightest pressure.

I was really impressed how pigmented the colours are for the price.

So by looking at all the colors you can see how bright and concentrated the colors are; the greens and blues definitely stand out as bright and have depth.

You can see from the images above how you can graduate the color by how much pressure you use or layers of color used. Ive tried to show heavier color around the border of the circle and lighter in the center. I hope this helps you to see.

I have to point out too that you get 3 "skin colours" with this set too, (Blush, flesh and cream yellow) I know from my more expensive brands I usually have to buy these separately. You get 3 shades in this.
(sorry about the crappy example though, but it shows light and dark of each).

*My only niggle and maybe Im being picky is the lighter colours required more layering and pressure to get the pigment to transfer evenly to the paper. Some colours definitely seemed to have more pigment and transferred more easily; while others needed an extra layer, but maybe this is true for most colouring pencils.

Opinion

I absolutely love this amazing set of coloured pencils, but Im not in any way an expert in this art form for that matter. I'm simply telling you how I have personally found these pencils.

I also wont directly compare them to my Faber Castells as that wouldn't be totally fair due to cost; however they do come a close second to them. Obviously the polychromos are double/triple the price and are slightly softer and deeper with less work to get the depth of colour, but both sets of pencils are oil based.

These pencils leave a high depth of colour with more pressure; but can leave a slightly waxy finish due to being an oil based pencil. That could also be due to the paper I'm using too.

This set of pencils blend well and layers beautifully and I couldn't be happier; each pencil gives you from the palest hint of colour to a dense bright pigment; depending on your layering and pressure of course.

They also sharpen well and I haven't had any breaks; plus the wood is smooth NOT rough or splintery which can be seen in cheaper makes of pencils.

I have also found they rub out well but the darkest colours tend leave a very faint shape.

I mainly use them in my colouring books or for colouring my stamps in and I cannot be happier with this stunning set; the variety of colours is so beautiful and Im sure even the most experienced artist would really appreciate and love this set of pencils.

If your on a budget and looking for a larger variety of colours I highly recommend getting this 72 set of colors, its so affordable I wouldn't even consider a smaller tin!, there is just something about opening up the large tin and being excited to see the spectrum of colour on the pallet before you.
They are excellent quality and come a close second to my Faber Castels. I would definitely say these are high mid-range and being so much more affordable they should be on any artists wishlist, simply for the colour variations; especially if your a nature artist you get a huge variety of greens in this tin AND you get the 3 skin colours too!

This would make a wonderful gift for any artist all the way from a student just starting out to an experienced artist or colourist who wants to add extra colours to their collection.

I also just want to quickly mention that Feelily also sell this gorgeous large capacity pencil case for those that dont have the room to carry the lovely tin around. If your a student for example or out in the field I just wanted to show you what they look like placed in this case.

It works so much better for me this way, because as much as I love the tin which makes them look really expensive, the case is so much more practical and easier to pick your colours from.
Ideal for your OCD too lol! ;-)

Ive also tried the roll too and that is brilliant as it gives you an air of professionalism and makes you feel like a proper artist walking around with this, it really looks gorgeous. But this version only holds 41 pieces (including this gorgeous 28 piece sketching kit).

Feelily do offer a 72 pencil set already in a roll if you prefer too here.

You can buy yours from

Feelily on

Amazon UK

£28.00

All my thanks goes to Feelily who kindly sent these pencils to share with you all. All my views and opinions are my own.