Art Supplies 74 Pieces Colored Pencils,Drawing Pencils with Zipper Case,Drawing Supplies Sketch Pencils Drawing Set for Boys,Girls,Adults,Hobbyists,Art Stuff,Coloring Pencils

Got this for my hubby fir Christmas and it is now almost March and he loves this set! Good quality and easy instructions to follow along.

First, if you are using Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition to learn to draw, this has a lot of what you will need in a convenient case. Going through the book, I rarely have to reach to anything that didn't come in this kit shy of my sketch book. That was what turned me on to it, and that's why I love it. Incidentally, if you are learned to draw, I'd highly recommend that book, this kit, and Strathmore STR-340-111 50 Sheet Draw Tape Bound, 11 by 14" or a similar size sketchbook (or any sketchbook if you're not fussy) to get started. The three together will see you a good way into your journey. Throw in a drawing board if you're feeling fancy. Indeed, for most instruction programs, this and some paper is all you'll need. it is a very well provided kit. Going through all of it, piece by piece. The case itself is quite sturdy (my cat has taken a try at destroying it, and I've taken a try at over-stuffing it, and it's survived both of us.) It holds everything securely and presents them well with the built in stand. Pencils include 8B, 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB (HB is your standard #2 pencil by the way), 2H, 3H, 4H, and 5H. For those familiar with drawing pencils, you already know that's quite a huge range. For those unfamiliar, H measures hardness and B measure boldness. 5H is so hard it barely makes a line and 8B is so dark it's practically charcoal. Speaking of charcoal, this kit contains a box of 4 sticks of willow charcoal (made it though a lot of rough treatment because the case does a good job of protecting it until I finally broke them intentionally), three sticks of charcoal (soft, medium, and hard) and three charcoal pencils (soft, medium, and hard). The charcoal sticks are the darker matte ones. The shiny one are graphite. On the graphite side there are three sticks (soft, medium, and hard) and a 6B soft graphite pencil. On the pastel side, there are four pencils: Black, Grey, Red Brown, and Sepia. It comes with two pencil sharpeners, and here I took one out to make room for something else (I've been tweaking the kit a bit -- more on that in a bit) and replaced one as it wasn't a terribly sharp sharpener. That was the only bit I was disappointed in, and it happens sometimes. It also comes with sandpaper and an Xacto knife for additional sharpening options. I've used the knife to cut cardboard with no issues. On the eraser front it has a kneeding and a vinyl eraser. That's all you need. It has three blending stumps (very generous -- most kits have just one) and a double sized pencil extender. Now, since I'm weird, I extended the kit a bit. To wit, I've added: an eraser shield (that it would have been nice if it came with it, but it would have been hard to present it well -- I just stuck it behind the pencils), Pilot FriXion Colors Erasable Marker, 6 Color Set (SFC-60M-6C3) (the only thing that isn't secured in the kit) An eraser for said markers (that's what replaced the extra sharpener) Three Conte crayon pencils One white pencil Pentel Arts Pocket Brush Pen, Includes 2 Black Ink Refills (GFKP3BPA) The point of that simply is, with moving stuff around the kit is quite versatile and suited for individual customization. There is room to make this kit uniquely yours. Castle Art is extremely responsive to customer concerns (I emailed them with a question about the kit and they got back to me promptly and with very helpful information). They do not, at the time of this writing, offer refills, but I have found each of the components either here at Amazon or at various online and brick and mortar art supply stores, so it won't be hard to refill the case at need

Great portable set for beginners or masters. Has everything one needs to get creative.

Set came with everything shown. The books inside really help with showing how to shade and what pencils to use! This is the perfect purchase for anyone that wants to learn shading or drawing! Worth the price!!!

Beginner friendly indeed, the ex loves it

The product is very good, and the logistics are fast and it is received earlier than expected. When it is received, the platform is in a good and reliable mood

So I'll start this off by saying the cons of this- this product is a LOT bigger then the photos make it look, and it can be potentially an issue if your limited on storage. This isn't as bulky as some of castle arts other products, but it is longer. In total this measures to 16 inches across in length and 11 inches wide. (This is the measurement of the full case); this does include a pamphlet that gives the full inventory of the case in that it also explains what should come wrapped or not wrapped, for my case the 3 graphite sticks were supposed to come wrapped (just like the charcoal sticks and pastel sticks which both did come wrapped) unfortunately these were not wrapped which allowed them to move freely during shipping. While this isn't necessarily the fault of castle art I do still feel the need to mention it so people have full expectations of what could happen - the way this is packaged is other then the straps and the few items which are either wrapped or have plastic caps which help protect them there was nothing in place to keep things like the pencils safe during shipping; due to this one of my water soluble graphite pencils was broken on the tip (which overall isn't horrible, a good sharpening will fix it but it did make me a little disheartened since it's brand new and something is broken before I can even use it). Because there's nothing protecting anything to keep them in place lots of things ended up shifted around due to shipping. Overall in terms of packaging, besides the bubble wrap and box Amazon provided it comes in plastic wrap.

Gave this to my 7 yr old niece and she drew a picture of me with the body of a whale (I am 8 months pregnant) so while it is not my favorite portrait of myself, it is very accurate based on perception! Took the sharp stuff out and she absolutely loved it!