After going off the deep end last year about Magic Pencils, I pretty much bought every variation I could find of the multicolor lead pencils. I’m just fascinated with this sort of pencil. One of the items I purchased was the 24-Color set of Koh-I-Noor Tri-Tone Colored Pencils ($29.47 on Amazon). Each of 23 pencils in the set features three different colors of colored pencil “lead” to create a tonal effect and then there is one blender pencil in the set to help blend the colors into a more subtle tonal variation, should you prefer to do that.
The set comes in a nice tin though I tend to put all my pencils into jars immediately and either recycle the tins or store them because I find that art supplies that stay in tins don’t ever get used.
I thought this pencil set would be particularly appealing for coloring and sketching as it would provide a lot of color variation in a small set.
The pencils included a nice array of colors with a few shades of blues, greens, reds, yellows, oranges and some unusual ones with names like “ember,” “summer storm,” and “volcano.”
The pencils are not as soft and blendable as my go-to Prismacolor Premier but if you’re looking for a fun little set to travel with or to share with your kids, this might make a good addition to your collection. We keep ours on the kitchen table for doodling, notes and random scribbles.
Since I read your review of the magic pencils, I picked some up and I’m obsessed! I have The Prettiest to-do lists ever now. =) I’ll have to put this set on my list, too.
I have a possible dumb question…. How does one sharpen the Magic pencils?
Magic pencils sharpen just like regular pencils. I would recommend a good sharp hand sharpener though since the leads are a bit softer than traditional graphite.
Hi, what kind of Koh-i-noor pencil did you like most? Magic multicoloured or tri-tone coloured pencils? Can you tell me the difference? If you can to choose one of them, what would you recommend? Thanks for your reply 🙂
The Tri-Tone pencil set is a traditional sized pencil and is available in a 24 colored pencil set. The Magic Color FX are larger triangular-shaped pencils that are suitable for younger children or larger works. It was a challenge to find a sharpener for these larger pencils and the 24 set of the Magic Color FX is considerably more expensive than the Tri-Tone set. In regards to the actual colors per pencil and the make-up of the leads, I think they are fairly similar. Both have a pretty hard lead that does not break easily. I am not sure the composite make-up but I assume its either wax- or clay-based and not oil-based. If I were to recommend one over the other, I’d get the Tri-Tones since the smaller size are easier to sharpen in a regular or colored pencil sharpener, and can be found on Amazon for under $25 with Prime shipping.
Hi, thanks for your reply. I’ll buy the tri-tone.
Best wishes from Ecuador.
Pencil sharpener
Ateast I do