June Gold 36 Colored 2.0 mm Mechanical Pencils with 36 Unique Color Leads

I'm not a fine-artist, but I've tried many premium-grade and decent student-grade colored pencil sets. Yes, the ones that cost 2-3 dollars or more per pencil make a huge difference (hint, get a SMALLER set, plus some earth tones, then add only the ones you need as they come up, individually. Don't pay for a huge set with a dozen or more that you will never use...). But those, such a range of properties- wax, oil and water based, colorfastness, fixer-fastness... And yes, save your important works for those premium wood pencils and your best paper... many 'best of' lists can tell you which high-quality artist brands have which properties. But June Gold Mechanical are THE BEST go-to colored pencils of the many many I've tried. Sure, these are not even high end student-grade, they're 'budget grade' - but the waxy pencils DO have decent color saturation- I was surprised, they are not kiddie-grade, they really will address a full expressive range for decent sketching. But I have to defend such high praise for a budget-grade, so here goes: 1- They are mechanical- so ALL your worries about grab-and-go sketch or doodle pencils- broken leads, frequent messy distracting sharpening, disappear. You can ALWAYS just grab any color and it's ready no matter what. You can use them anywhere- a bus, a subway, sketching in front of the tv- you don't break concentration to deal with points that crack and fly off, having to sharpen constantly, when you do, the lead inside is cracked- no worries about being careful, these can ride in your bag and take a beating getting bounce around... Always works, nice and compact. 2-They are a more compact set, and more saturated and easier to use than the little sets of mechanical pencils you can put colored lead into. (I've tried a number of those. Heavy pencil, far more wax than pigment, small range, poor blending...) 3- lightweight-- easy to hold, and the full set of 36 is light (the full set weighs less than most sets of 6-8 colored mechanical pencils...) 4- Each pencil has a sharpener- you never HAVE to sharpen these, but if you want a really crisp tight point, because there's no wood, you can put a needle fine point on the lead in a second. AND, no searching in your kit for the sharpener, no messy wood peels to deal with- great if you're sketching on transportation, in a museum or coffee shop etc. And, just fast, get right back to drawing, no fussing with your sketch or drawing tools. 5- Great range of colors- I was impressed at how many super vivid bright 'modern' colors there were, along with how full the earthtones and the skintones (diverse range- thankfully) there are. They are inepensive but the color choices in the set are remarkably well thought out especially for those tricky ombres, blending, etc. Really full range within each color family. Very close match to a really good oil paint set. - whatever your style- cartoon, graffiti, manga, earthtones, classical, florals, portraits, - for your practice, studies, sketches- don't burn out your expensive good set on that. The beauty of these is the range has no limit, so you can bash these around and still use them with no hassle, while you're sketching around composing the work you want to do with your 'good' pencils. 6- The case is great. Sounds silly. But the crystal clear package they come in - so you can see EVERY color and just reach for it, but they don't spill out, or get all mashed and mixed up in the box (it actually has a clear plastic divider inside to easily keep them neat) is ALREADY all the 'carrying case' as well as laid out 'grab and go' work setup you'll need. - I carry my stuff around with me, and I like it laid out nice on my desk at home. Usually that means transferring them to a case or roll (large, fussy, you can't see all the colors at once without needing a large area to spread them out, etc.) These fit in any bag I have, and I can leave the case IN my bag, flip the top open, SEE all the colors and slide out the ones I need, no fuss. In a coffee shop, or at my desk the compact case shows all the colors in a small area, no pencils rolling around, no popping open a tin and spraying pencils all over, breaking all the leads. If you want super-high end colored pencils for your artwork or important grown up coloring book or mandala work at home at your desk or easle- and you know you want those- DO make the investment. But if you want a colored pencil set that is SUPER easy to transport, store, lay out for use, sharpen if you want to, with a full range of saturated colors and a really good set of colors- full range of blues, reds, ,,,, as well as range of neutrals, black and white- MINUS the fuss of broken points, broken lead all down the wood case, no heavy metal mechanical pencils, nice full range... great for blending? Then THESE are for you. I was absolutely shocked how VERY much value there was in this super-inexpensive set, AND how incredibly convenient and really smart and perfect even the package, it's perfect portable carrying case-was. 95% of the time, my fancy wood colored pencils and even my better student grade, and my limited set of 8 mechancial colored-lead pencils--- ALL sit in their containers on their shelf. Unless I'm doing a nice finished work, for 'art' sake or to give to someone- but all the rest of the time, THESE are the ones I actually use.

The June Gold 2.0 mm Assorted Colored Mechanical Pencils are a fantastic addition to any artist’s or student’s toolkit. The vibrant color choices are impressive, offering a wide range of shades that stand out beautifully on paper. Each pencil is prefilled with bold, 2.0 mm thick lead, making it perfect for smooth, rich strokes without breaking easily. The quality is excellent, with sturdy barrels that feel comfortable to hold. The built in sharpeners ensure the lead stays precise, making them highly usable for both detailed work and broad coloring. Whether for sketching, note taking, or creative projects, these pencils perform consistently well. For the price, they offer great value, providing durability and variety without compromising on performance. If you’re looking for reliable, colorful mechanical pencils that deliver smooth application and lasting quality, this set is a fantastic choice! Highly recommended!

I was looking at getting back into drawing and these were in a beginner price range. I fell in love with these pencils. They feel creamy but hold their point better than Verithin pencils. I love that I don't have to deal with pencil sharpening and with a click I have more lead. They do have sharpeners but I find that if I rotate my pencil while drawing I keep a point. These colors layer well with most other colored pencils. I like how they layer to make even more colors. The pencils don't have numbers or colors written on them. I labeled all the pencils with numbers to keep track of them and how they look on paper. They probably don't have much lightfastness but they aren't professional pencils. I purchased these pencils for using in a journal where light isn't a problem. They aren't too waxy and are supposed to be oil pencils. They do feel different from traditional wax pencils. These pencils have lots of bright colors. They are fun and relaxing to color in my drawings.

Generally speaking these are nice colored pencils. My only complaint is that not all colors blend equally. In the cupcake image you can see how most of the colors blended to create a more dimential image. The wagon wheel, most of the brown is from a different set only the Barrell is this set and the brown did not want to blend. The pumpkins however you can clearly see where the red was not applied in the right order so no blending occurred, though clearly the yellow and light green did a great job on the corn, and the oranges and yellow orange did a marginally well job on the pumpkin. The sharpener on about half of them doesn't seem to work, but not sure that matters much since unlike the other set which came with a single sharpner this set has one on every single pencil so it came with 36 sharpeners.

For basic colored pencils that color reasonably well. These are great. I'd say better than Crayola in ways. Less pigmented. But definitely not a prisma color. If you just want to color and your not an artist. These are perfect. I like not having to shorten my pencils

My daughter absolutely loves these! They are so smooth and the fact that all it takes is a click to get more led out rather than having to sharpen a wooden pencil is a win! Also if you didn’t know that top “eraser” looking part comes off and can sharpen the tip for a finer point and more detailed drawing.

The idea of mechanical colored pencils is great. Unfortunately the leads on these are low on quality. I cannot get the white to lighten any of the other colors or even show up on dark paper. Some of the colors are ok and work like traditional colored pencils (the more pressure, the more intense the color). Others, no matter how much pressure I use, the color is barely visible. It is almost as though the lead is dried out, like a marker. i love the built in sharpener, but I can't use most of the colors I wanted to use for my planner because they won't show up. I would return if it wasn't against Amazon Policy because they "contain flammable liquids or gasses"... I'm not sure what makes them hazardous and am concerned about throwing them away/having them in my home.

These are amazing. Perfect for Bible marking.