Testing 90+ Coloured Pencils: Durability and Strength Test

Prismacolor Premier is one of my favourite sets of coloured pencils. I love how they are soft and blendable, but they come with one huge downside.

They are VERY easy to break.

Even if you’re incredibly careful and never drop your pencils, some brands are just more likely to break than others… and many times, it’s the wonderfully soft and blendable brands that are also the most fragile.

Personally, I LOVE an extremely soft, wax-based coloured pencil. Prismacolor, Caran d’Ache Luminance, Arrtx, Posca, Holbein… they’re amazing to use. But when it comes to fine details like hair or fur, or when you’re someone who is a little more heavy-handed, these may not be the best choice.

A stronger pencil might not be the best at blending, but it WILL handle a little tougher love. And in many cases, stronger pencils will hold a sharp point for much longer, making them great for the finest details in your art.

This durability test was designed to see which pencils could actually hold up under pressure. I wanted to know which would survive a heavy-handed colourist, and which would keep their sharp point for the longest

This is just one part of my larger pencil review where I compared a wide range of features, including blending, vibrancy, layering, and more. You can check out the full breakdown in my Pencil Comparison blog.

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you click them (at no cost to you). I have personally purchased all of the pencils used in this review, except a few that were given to me in the past for other videos/articles. These include Black Widow Monarch, Arrtx, Derwent Chromaflow, Winsor & Newton. None of these brands are associated with this review in any way.

How I Tested Durability

In this test, I chose to focus on 2 things: how well a pencil holds its point and how long the core survives under pressure.

Each pencil was sharpened to the same point, then pressed with firm, even pressure in one long stroke. I stopped when the pencil snapped, crumbled, or became too soft to use effectively.

I then reviewed the results, taking into consideration the breakage point, the time it took to wear down the core, and the thickness of the line during the test (to assess how well it kept its point).

I gave each pencil a score out of 5, with 5 being the pencils that held up the best, with the most core remaining and the smallest point after 3 full pages. Pencils that broke heavily with the first pressure, or that didn’t make it to the end of the 3 pages, received a lower strength score. And the sharp point score was determined by the final width of the line.

The Results

Here are the full results of the test, and how each pencil scored:

Which Pencils Didn’t Break?

If breakage is your biggest frustration, these pencils stood out for how well they held up under pressure. They kept going where others cracked, crumbled, or gave out too early.

It’s no surprise to see many of the student or children’s versions of these sets in this category, because they are often designed to handle more pressure (and the risk of being dropped!).

Caran d’Ache Pablo

Chameleon Color Tones

Crayola

Derwent Artists

Derwent Studio

Faber-Castell Classic

Faber-Castell Polychromos

Fantasia Artist

Koh-I-Noor Progresso Woodless

Lyra Giants

Prismacolor Col-Erase

Prismacolor Scholar

Which Pencils Kept a Sharp Point the Longest?

These pencils did the best job of holding a sharp point for longer. They’re helpful for fine details, such as outlines, hair, or fur, or for creating crisper edges in your artwork.

Anko

Arteza Pastels

Caran d’Ache Pablo

Caran d’Ache Swisscolor

Crayola

Crayola Colors of the World

Derwent Artists

Derwent Studio

Faber-Castell Polychromos

Fantasia Artist

Koh-I-Noor Progresso Woodless

Lyra Giants

Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor

Marco Raffine

Prismacolor Col-Erase

Prismacolor Verithin

Staedtler Ergosoft

Staedtler Supersoft

Best of Both Worlds: Durable AND Keeps a Sharp Point

These are the pencils that stood out in both categories, making them a great overall choice for durability and sharpness.

Caran d’Ache Pablo

Crayola

Derwent Artists

Derwent Studio

Faber-Castell Polychromos

Fantasia Artist

Koh-I-Noor Progresso Woodless

Lyra Giants

Prismacolor Col-Erase

These pencils are often a great partner to a smoother pencil, so you can enjoy all the benefits of great blending and vibrant pigments from another pencil, then sharpen up your edges or add final details with one of these.

From these, the Faber-Castell Polychromos and Caran d’Ache Pablo also performed really well in many of my other tests, which you can see the results of here.

How to Stop Your Pencils Breaking

If you colour with a heavy hand, it’s worth choosing pencils with stronger cores that can hold their shape under pressure. But even if your favourite pencils didn’t make the list, there are still ways to reduce breakage.

• Use a gentler sharpener or switch to a wider point setting to reduce stress on the core. I’ve tested 20+ sharpeners here and found that desktop crank sharpeners were generally more gentle on pencils than hand-held pencil sharpeners
• If you can’t afford a new sharpener, try sharpening your pencil by turning the sharpener, not the pencil. This is a more gentle way to use any hand-held sharpener, and is less likely to cause extra damage from twisting or sharpening at angles.
• Avoid dropping your pencils or storing them loose in a pencil case where they might move around a lot and get damaged. Softer pencils will break along the core, so you won’t always notice until you try to sharpen them.
• If you struggle with being heavy-handed, try holding your pencil further back and tilting it so it’s more parallel with your page. This is a great way to force yourself to colour more lightly, especially when trying to blend colours together or colour big areas without lines.

If you want to dive deeper, I’ve also shared my full pencil comparison blog and my sharpener guide with even more tips. You’ll find side-by-side brand comparisons, helpful visuals, and extra advice for getting the most out of every pencil in your collection, no matter your skill level or colouring style.