Review Of The Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set
Review Of The Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set
Lots of art companies sell their own version of a sketching set, these sets mostly comprise of a selection of graphite pencils, various forms of charcoal, a few pastel pencils, eraser and sharpener. With this Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set, I think this is one of the largest, if not thee largest, drawing sketching set and for the price point which I will discuss further into the review.
Not only is this Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set exceptionally priced, but it is also well thought out with one or two very minor exceptions and even they are quite subjective. The overall packaging is impressive, again considering the pricing point and this is not simply a generic drawing set which Castle Art has made their own, this is clearly the making of Castle Art and its clarity is refreshing.
Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set Contents and Packaging
For this particular set, it comes in a well made, sturdy canvas wallet; within the wallet the contents is all held firmly in place so nothing moves about during transit or out in the wild sketching you favourite landscapes. The elastic bands that hold the contents in place are thick and strong and although I have not had this set long myself, I have put a lot of pressure on the elastic bands for testing purposes only and the withstood strong. There is a canvas handle attached to the wallet making carrying easy, I feel for most people this will not be essential however for those with arthritis or similar issues, the handle will be a welcomed addition. This also applies to the zip running around the which sports a tassel making it easy to open, even for those with dexterity issues. The wallet itself is a black canvas and on the front of the wallet is a white Castle Art Logo which is very striking.
Once you open the wallet, it folds flat like a book with each side containing a range of various graphite, charcoal and paste drawing implements. All drawing tools are held into place with elastic bands however, they are placed on a separate slate of canvas like material, which is help into place with velcro. At first it took me a while to work out what it was supposed to do as my initial assessment of it being removable was proved wrong as only one end is attached with velcro and the other securely fixed. I am not the brightest spark and I am Irish so I am permitted certain allowances when it comes to stupidity. Nevertheless, the velcro side to the slates lifts up with a section able to bend back on itself creating a makeshift stand for the pencils. This makes selecting your pencils and removing them from the elastic band holdings so much easier.
As you look at the opened Castle Art Wallet the slate on the left side contains the following. There is a section of graphite pencils with graphite grades of 8B, 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, 2H, 3H, 4H and 5H. At first when I lifted the pencils out of the wallet they felt light and a bit cheap, which made me think that the graphite was going to also be of a low quality. This was absolutely not the case, with every pencil I tested, including the 4 and 5H grades which are notoriously scratchy or gritty, every grade in the set was smooth. The lay down from every pencil was smooth and consistent. I did feel that there was little gradient difference between the 8B to the 3B but this for me was not significant in any way.
The pencils themselves, despite their light weight look quite striking with every pencil barrel lacquered in a blue color, the barrel of the graphite pencils is hexagonal in shape with the end of the barrel sporting an inch and a half black cap. Printed along the barrel is the Castle Art Logo and name, followed closely by the pencils graphite grade. the only issue I have with the pencils is the placement of the graphite grade, I would have preferred it to be placed toward the very end of the pencil on the black cap. The reason for this is so that the graphite grade stays on the barrel as long as possible, located three quarters of the way along the barrel means that quite a bit of pencil will remain after sharpening without the knowledge of the pencil grade.
Under the graphite pencils is a packet of willow sticks, I have to admit, I have never actually used willow sticks before, but when I tested them I was quite impressed with their versatility. I know quite a lot of charcoal artists and even some pastel artists will use the willow sticks to gently lay down a preliminary sketch and with the excellent quality of the Castle Art Willow this was not an issue in my testing.
Next there is three short Charcoal Sticks graded soft, medium and hard, when I used and tested the charcoal sticks I was able to achieve a consistency coverage and one that was easy to blend and smudge. The ticks themselves have the Castle Art Logo printed on them as well as the grades for each block.
Finally on the left slate there is three thin graphite sticks, at first I thought they looked like thin metal blocks that wouldn’t really amount to anything, however when I tested them I was incredibly impressed. As with the charcoal sticks, the three graphite sticks, also graded Soft, Medium and Hard laid down a solid consistent coverage of graphite. Although the graphite sticks are not graded in the traditional method, they appear to be grade around the B, HB grade.
Next we take a look at the contents of the right side of the wallet. Working from the top down, the first item is the three charcoal pencils and as with the charcoal sticks, the pencils are graded Soft, Medium and Hard. The charcoal pencils come unsharpened and so it is up to you as to how and with what you sharpen them. For brittle mediums such as charcoal and pastel, a lot of artists agree that they are best sharpened with a craft knife or the like. this is of course just a recommendation and not at all what you have to do, I personally used a pencil scraper to sharpen the charcoal pencils and they sharpened perfectly. I have reviewed this pencil scraper before and if you are interested learning more about it follow the link.
The is a lone woodless graphite pencil in the set also which I really enjoyed using, the grade on the barrel is soft, no actual grade, however if I had to guess I would say the woodless graphite is about B or 2B in strength. As much as I enjoyed using this woodless graphite pencil, given the amount of graphite in the set, I would love to have seen this pencil replaced with perhaps a woodless water soluble graphite pencil. I have used water-soluble graphite before the the results garnered are incredible, again this is just a nit picking critique and a personal although subjective choice.
Next to the charcoal pencils is a small selection of pastel pencils, this is a pretty standard item to find in such sets and this little bit of extra color can add dimension and prominence to your graphite or charcoal artwork. The colors available in the pastel pencil set is Black, Sepia, Red Brown and Grey. Again the Sepia tone is very common in such sets as is the Red Brown. The Grey in the set is almost like a Blue Grey or Steel Grey, a color I have not seen before in such sets but welcome it in the Castle Art Drawing Set. There is also a Black Pastel Pencil in the set, however, with this being a pastel pencil the pigment and texture provided is not quite that of the charcoal pencils, I would have loved to see a white pencil in the set, either charcoal or pastel. I think a white pencil would help to add light and drama to the artists graphite or charcoal work.
Next to the pastel pencils we start getting into all the really interesting and cool stuff. The first item is a pencil extender and it is double ended. For those of you who may not know what a pencil extender is, when you sharpen you pencil so much and it becomes uncomfortable to use because it is so small, rather than bin it a pencil extender can be used. In the case of this particular double ended extender, one end of the extender is for slimmer barrels and the other end is for larger barrels such as the charcoal and pastel pencil barrels.
Next to the pencil extender we have two paper blending stumps, both with the Castle Art Logo on them which I think makes the set professional looking, it is the small touches I think that make the difference. Beside the two paper blending stumps is what is commonly known as a color shaper or rubber blender. This tool is excellent for using with your pastel pencils and charcoal, the rubber tips on either end of the barrel, allow you to gently pus the pastel or charcoal pigment into the tooth of the paper. Because both mediums are quite powdery, to simply lay on paper would result in some of you work dusting off once the surface is lifted. However the color shaper helps to prevent this from happening.
Below the pastel, charcoal pencils and pencil aids is a sanding block, this is really a must have tool when using pastel pencils and charcoal pencils. Once you have sharpened your pastel or charcoal pencil, especially if you are using a craft knife, you will never get a point like that of a graphite pencil, at least not with the craft knife alone. This is were the sanding block comes into play, this allows you to rub the core of the pencil along the sandpaper thus refining the core into a perfect point. As the core wears down, you can continue this method quite a few times before having to return to the craft knife.
Along the very bottom of the right side slate there is a vinyl eraser and a Kneaded eraser. I found the vinyl eraser to work really well on the graphite and charcoal even in the darker areas on the paper. The kneaded eraser is actually quite hard, which can often be the case when you first use them. However, after a while of kneading the eraser and warming it up, the eraser normally becomes soft and malleable but this was not the case with this particular Castle Art kneaded eraser. Kneaded erasers are of course not really essential, so long as you have some form of eraser as the Castle Art Drawing Set has, you are good.
Finally there are two different sharpeners, there is a plastic sharpener which is generally for pastel and charcoal pencils. These sharpeners are notoriously difficult to use and actually get to sharpen the pencils, this is more to do with the pencils and less to do with the actual sharpener. When I used a craft knife to take most of the wood of the pastel pencil, I tried the black plastic sharper to refine the core point and provided I was slow and gentle, I was presented with a sharp core. The metal sharpener on the other hand works a dream, this is a double ended sharpener, similar to the pencil extender, a small opening for slim barrels and a larger opening for barrels with a larger girth.
Castle Art Drawing Set Pricing
Given all the items I have mentioned above, right down to the wallet the Castle Art Drawing set resides in, the price for this set globally is in my opinion excellent. However, if this 40 set is not for you, Castle Art do offer smaller sets starting with a 12 set of the Castle Art Graphite Pencils and a 26 piece drawing set containing a reduced selection of the items mentioned above.
Here in the UK the Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set will cost a fantastic £34.
For the same set in the US, this will cost you approximately $39.99
Finally in Europe the Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set will cost approximately €37
For prices on the 12 set of Castle Art Graphite Pencils and the 26 Piece Drawing Set, simply click the image of the item you would like to know more about on the shopping bar provided throughout the review.
Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set Performance
I have provided as always a test sheet showing the various shades and tones available with all the pencils and sticks available in the set. I also completed some real time testing on my YouTube Video Review which you can check out. I have also completed a speed drawing video which will help you see the pencils at work or if the speed drawing is too fast I have provided a page here on The Art Gear Guide with high quality images of the art work at various stages of completion.
This page on the site enables you to click on any image, enlarge the image and inspect the pencil strokes and various marks made at your own leisure. I feel initially the page provided on The Art Gear Guide with still images from the art work provided was accepted as a gallery rather than a place for you to really dig deep and inspect the results of the product on review at that time.
Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set Conclusion
I personally really love the concept of these drawing or sketching sets that so many companies have provided for us artist and art enthusiasts, so when I seen that Castle Art had one, given my enjoyment with the Castle Art Colored Pencils, I was thrilled to be given the opportunity of reviewing them.
I really enjoyed using the Castle Art 40 Piece Drawing Set and think that it is packed with really useful tools to help the artist both during the creative process and when some of the pencils start to get smaller via sharpening.
There were a few tiny little things that I mentioned about the set, however most of what I mentioned was really my own personal choice and subjective. For example the graphite grade location on the pencil barrel, the replacement of the woodless graphite pencil for a water soluble graphite pencil, a white pastel pencil or charcoal pencil and a softer kneaded eraser. As you can clearly see, most of the things I have mentioned are very subjective and not really to do with the performance of the product.
I have provided a fully detailed YouTube Video Review of this amazon Castle Art Drawing Set, as well as the video review I have provided a speed drawing video on YouTube to help demonstrate the products inside the set. Finally I have of course provided a page with high quality images from the artwork at various stages of completion for you to enlarge and inspect at your own leisure, under no time constraints. As always thank you all so very much for your wonderful support, amazing comments as well as your touching and personal messages. Stay safe and keep well my friends and I look forward to sharing the next review with you.
