Review Of The Brutfuner 120 Set Of Square Colored Pencils
Review Of The Brutfuner 120 Set Of Square Colored Pencils
The Brutfuner Colored Pencils are quite a popular low cost budget range colored pencil at the minute, I have received many request to review them and as I always aim to please, here is my review. Now before we get right into the review, I just want to briefly talk about White Labelling.
White Labelling is a process that effects many products, however, it is very much affecting artists, in particular colored pencil artists and hopefully The Art Gear Guide can help shed some light on the matter over time. If you are unfamiliar with the term White Labelling, basically what it means is a set of 120 colored pencils are manufactured in a factory, but two or three subsidiary companies can purchase the same pencils and sell them under their label. This means that in theory, you could buy a set of pencils from one company, buy another set from a second company but end up buying the exact same pencils twice.
You would think that there would be a law against this type of thing, even if it simply meant that information was printed on a website or packaging, letting the consumer know that the exact same product exists under a different company logo, preventing good honest people from wasting their hard earned money. I am all for business and enterprise etc, but I am not for large companies financially placing their metaphorical boots on our necks. Anyway, on with the review.
Brutfuner Colored Pencil Characteristics
As I mentioned, Brutfuner is a popular pencil, certainly from the budget persuasion, they have quite a few different sets, but the set that we are reviewing here is the Brutfuner 120 Set Square Colored Pencils. On the packaging they are referred to as Brutfuner Oily Colored Pencils. I have had a look on their website, although when I looked, only the home page was working, all links lead to a 404 Error page, but on the home page they mention that they only sell oil based colored pencils or watercolor pencils.
I have ordered a few other Brutfuner sets which I will of course review as soon as they arrive, including the new 520 count of Brutfuner split into two sets of 260, so as of yet, I can’t really comment on the differences between the other sets just yet, but will conclude a full comparison breakdown once all sets are in my possession.
The Brutfuner Square colored pencils sport a heavily pigmented 3.3mm core, encased within a sturdy 7.2mm square barrel. When I have reviewed square barrelled pencils in the past, of which there have only been two, I assumed that sharpening would be an issue and on both occasions I was wrong.
However, with the Brutfuner 120 set colored pencils, sharpening was a huge problem, but only at the beginning. The first few pencils I tried to sharpen barley fit into the handheld M&R sharpener I love and use so often. After a bit of pushing and shoving the barrel became easier to sharpen, looking at 115 pencils still left to sharpen, I thought there must be a better way. I tried my Caran d’Ache Hand Crank Sharpener and experienced the same issues. There wasn’t really much for it other than perseverance, but once the corners of the barrels were rounded down a bit, sharpening became much easier. I must admit there was a sadistic grin of satisfaction for a single second, I somewhat felt silly in the past assuming there would be an issue sharpening square pencil is round sharpeners only to be proven wrong on both occasions.
Each barrel of the Brutfuner is lacquered the same color as the pencil core, making visual selection of pigment quick and easy. The Brutfuner barrels are uncapped, exposing the core, which I know does not affect the performance of the pencils but, it is just something Im personally opposed to, not for any reason in particular, just personal preference.
There is not much in the way of information printed along the barrel of the Brutfuner, which in all honesty is to be expected on budget colored pencils. On one side of the barrel there is printed in gold metallic the company name “Brutfuner”. On the opposite side of the barrel is the printed the pigment name in Chinese followed by a number which corresponds to the pigment as well.
As I mentioned earlier, I checked out the Brutfuner website but couldn’t access any of the other links taking me to other pages. On the limited information I could gather, there is not pigment names listed in English for this particular set, nor are there pigment names listed on the packaging. I know this is not the end of the world and at least the barrels have numbers on them which is really helpful for when you create your own swatch. I have reviewed sets in the past that have no information whatsoever on the barrel regarding pigment, meaning that even when you create your swatch, unless you place the pencils back in exactly the same place within the trays every time, you will have no way of easily selecting your required color.
The Brutfuner 120 Set of Square Colored Pencils come in quite a sturdy hinged tin, each layer of colored pencils inside the tin are held within plastic trays which have elastic straps on either side of the trays to help remove them from the tin. I think a lot of people prefer this method of removal over the thumb grips which can be incredibly cumbersome at times.
The tin has a cardboard sleeve covering it with quite a colourful design on it, really eye catching and attractive, that being said, even when the sleeve is removed and the tin exposed, the tin is pure black with the Brutfuner logo in silver, simplicity yet stylish.
Brutfuner Colored Pencil Performance
I did complete a piece of artwork with the Brutfuner Colored pencils which I was actually really happy with, but I will talk more about the artwork further along. For those of you new to the channel, welcome and thank you so much for stopping by. I always conduct a series of tests which help demonstrate the performance of the pencils and the first test I always conduct is to swatch the colors out.
On opening the Brutfuner tin for the first time, you are presented with sheet of good quality paper, on which there are squares printed for the artist to create a swatch on, each square has a space at the side for the pencil pigment name or number to be written. I have seen pre made swatches occasionally in marker sets, very rarely in colored pencil sets, but often the paper is terrible quality and only good for the bin. However, on this occasion Brutfuner has provided decent paper which will allow for a good representation of the colors.
I always suggest when artists create a swatch, if at all possible, create said swatch on the paper you are most likely to be using or paper closely relating. I know this can be costly, depending on the paper, but the results will differ from paper to paper. You want to see exactly how the colors are going to look when selecting your palette for the art. On this occasion I created the Brutfuner swatch on Clairefontaine Paint-On Mixed Media Paper, which is an excellent mixed media paper and quite inexpensive, an excellent alternative to a mid range Hot pressed watercolor paper or Bristol Velum paper
As you can see from the swatch provided, a well balanced palette over all, perhaps a little bit heavy on the greens, but from a personal stand point I loved this as I enjoy botanical art and it was this election of greens that aided in my art selection for the review. Again a nice selection of Blues, Reds, Purples, Caucasian flesh tones as well as beautiful skin tones for many other cultures. However, I think I was most impressed with the greys, I know I harp on about the Greys, but I feel with a good selection of Greys you can go a long way. Most 120 sets that I have reviewed from the budget or student ranges, scrimp on the greys and seem to go overboard on the metallics, but this set of 120 Brutfuner and the last few budget sets I’ve reviewed have all had a good selection of Greys.
The next test is the layer test, for those of you new to the Art Gear Guide, I do have reasons behind the tests that I display on the reviews, for I do conduct other test, not all of them need to be showcased. Nevertheless, the layering test is done with two aims in mind, the first is to determine the layering ability. Some peoples can go on layering for as long as one requires, but I have concluded a limit of five layers and rounding up with a single heavy application. Five layers give a good indication of how well the pencils layer. Secondly, those artists who use Odourless Mineral Spirits, agree that at least five layers of pigment should be applied in order for the OMS to generate the desired effect.
In this test you can see that even on the first layer of all four colors, the pigment strength is pretty remarkable. I must advise that throughout the test, I held the pencil toward the very end of the barrel in order to achieve fairness throughout, but of course I am human and worse than that, Irish; so unfortunately there may have been times were pressure of the pencil varied. Overall, the Brutfuner layered beautifully on this test, which was carried out on Strathmore Bristol Velum 300 Series. The single heavy application also yielded excellent results, thick opaque pigment levels, vibrant and no sticky or tacky residue.
Next up is the blending test, the purpose of this test is to simply achieve a third color with the blending of two completely different colors. In the case of the tests performed here I have used simple primary colors, Yellow and Blue to get a Green, Red and Yellow to get Orange and finally Red and Blue to create a Purple.
Occasionally this blending test will yield unrecognisable third colors when conducted with substandard pencils, pencils sporting low levels of pigments. However, in this test, you can clearly see that the Blue and Yellow have created a beautiful Green, the Red and Yellow has created a vivid Orange and the final test of Red and Blue has generated a clear Purple.
The next test is the actual application of Odourless Mineral Spirits, as you can see from the image provided, I have drawn a sphere using a selection of Violets from the Brutfuner 120 set and a black for the darkest area. A number of layers has been applied and this test has also bee created on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Velum paper.
For this particular test, you can watch my youTube video review to watch the application of OMS in real time. As with all OMS tests I used Zest-It which I know is predominately available in the UK, however, there are many other alternatives, such as Gamsol, in the US and around the world that accomplish the same results. I have added both a before and after image of the sphere here, but the purpose of this test is to breakdown the pencil ingredient on the paper and transform it into an almost painterly consistency. Whilst this is not my own preference, another fantastic benefit of applying OMS is that on break down of the pencil ingredient, the tooth of the paper is often rejuvenated, allowing for more layers to be applied.
My final test is the application of the Brutfuner Colored Pencils on Black paper, this test does not decide if the pencil is good or poor, simply whether the core of the pencil is opaque or translucent, neither is good or bad, simply a personal preference. A lot of Colored Pencil artists enjoy the Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for many reasons, one of which is the translucent nature of the core. On the opposite side of the scale would be the thick opaque covering that the Prismacolor Premier pencils provide.
As you can see from the image provided, the Red, Yellow and Green are translucent, after application the black of the paper is still visible, whereas the Blue and White colors are thick and opaque. This is often the case in colored pencil sets were a mixture of translucent and opaque pigments reside.
According to the packaging of the Brutfuner Colored Pencils, they are oil based colored pencils and after extensive testing I would be inclined to agree with oil be the predominant ingredient, when applying the heavy applications the oil ingredient lends itself to the glossy, emulsion like consistency.
The core of the Brutfuner is best described as firm, even when sharpened into a fine point, when light pressure is applied during use, the point remains intact, which oddly enough can’t be said for every pencil I have reviewed. That being said and despite my description of a firm core regarding strength during use, the lay down of the Brutfuner is soft and smooth, a real joy to use.
There are of course no lightfast ratings for the Brutfuner Colored Pencils, which is to be completely expected given the price of the Brutfuner 120 set of colored pencils
When I review a set of pencils, I always check out the palette after swatching and try to determine a subject that would help to demonstrate the pencils as best I could. With the Brutfuner palette, the wonderful selection of Greens gave me the idea of drawing this little Tree Frog. The drawing was completed on Derwent Lightfast Paper which provided a wonderful surface for the Brutfuner Colored Pencils.
It is worth mentioning for those of you a bit down in the dumps and perhaps needing a wee pick me up, I am absolutely terrified of reptiles, no matter what their potential is or how small they may be, snakes, lizards and even frogs, which I know are essentially not reptiles. So drawing this was a challenge and a half for this once fearless soldier.
Brutfuner Colored Pencil Sets and Prices
As I noted at the beginning of this review, there are quite a few different sets of Brutfuner Colored Pencils and Watercolor Pencils of which I will review and then complete a comparison review of so I can help answer the difference between said sets. For this section of the review I will only be adding the prices for this particular set, but I promise to add the additional sets as and when.
Here in the UK, you can purchase the Brutfuner 120 set of Colored Pencils for a fantastic price of £27.99, which considering all of the points highlighted in this review thus far, I think this is a wonderful price for 120 good quality colored pencils, this equates to approximately £0.23 pence per pencil.
For colored pencil artist in the US, you can purchase the same 120 set of Brutfuner Colored Pencils for $29.99, I am not suggesting that $29.99 is cheap or irrelevant, $29.99 to a lot of people is a significant amount of money, to some us a weekly allowance for food. However, if you are looking for a good quality set of pencils and are on a budget, the Brutfuner is an excellent place to start.
For Colored Pencil Artists in Europe, you can expect to pay approximately €22 for the 120 set of Brutfuner Colored Pencils. I of course echo my sentiments of above to my fellow colored pencil artists of Europe.
Brutfuner Colored Pencil Conclusion
I know that I have reviewed a lot of what some would call “Budget Range” colored pencils or cheap colored pencils and I don’t really make any apology for this. thus far I have reviewed all the top range colored pencils and I promise, any more high end colored pencils released I will be on it lighting quick. But for now my aim is to simply continue adding to the review list here at The Art Gear Guide. All I want to do, is provide the most comprehensive review list I can with pencils from all over the world, from both ends of the scale cheapest to the most expensive and in-between.
I don’t mean to upset or cause issues with people who may not like the reviews I write or upload, I know pleasing everyone is impossible, or so they say, but I have always been up for a challenge and I will always try to please as many as I can. The reason I turned to art was because I witnessed the very worst humanity had to offer when serving in the British Army, I thought and still think that art is humanities way of showcasing the very best we have to offer, beauty, love, tranquility, compassion etc.
Money is terribly difficult for us all at the minute, but if every now and again, we can save or set aside £30, $30 or €22, we can buy ourselves a set of pencils such as the Brutfuner that will provide us the ability to create beautiful art whilst supplying joy. I loved the Brutfuner 120 set of Square Colored Pencils, an excellent price point, fantastic blending properties, excellent layering qualities and a comprehensive palette to chose from.
The Brutfuner is an excellent pencil for Adult Colouring Book Artists, I tried them in three different quality colouring books and the pencils performed well on all papers. The Brutfuner colored pencils would also play well with the crafters in the world as they performed well on all papers tested. As for Colored Pencil artists, the only thing the Brutfuner Colored Pencils are lacking is a lightfast scale, we all need Lightfast pencils, without them goodness knows where we would be, but they are not required for everything all of the time.
As always, if you would like to know more about the Brutfuner Colored Pencils you can check out my YouTube video review of the pencils where you will find more information as well as a real time demonstration of the Brutfuner pencils having Odourless Mineral Spirits applied. You can also watch the short speed drawing I have supplied of the Tree Frog or failing that you can check out the images I have added of the artwork at various stages of completion from start to finish.
