Colored Pencils: The Sweet Spot
This is where most of your budget should go. And the good news: the sweet spot for quality-to-price is lower than you think.
🏆 Best Overall: Crayola 50-Count ($8–12)
Yeah, Crayola. I’m not being ironic. The 50-count set has decent pigment, smooth laydown, and a color range that handles 90% of adult coloring pages. They don’t blend like Prismacolors, but they’re not supposed to — at this price point, they’re the king of “good enough to actually enjoy.”
The 50-count gives you enough variety to shade and layer without feeling limited. Skip the 24-count — not enough colors for adult books.
→ Crayola 50-Count Colored Pencils
✨ Best Upgrade (Still Under $25): Arteza Professional 72-Color Set ($20–25)
If you have a little more room in your budget, the Arteza 72-color set is the best value in colored pencils. Rich pigment, smooth application, and 72 colors means you’re almost never reaching for a shade that isn’t there. They blend reasonably well and the leads are sturdy — not prone to breaking like some budget pencils.
This is the “I want to enjoy coloring without thinking about my tools” price point.
→ Arteza Professional 72-Color Set
🎨 When You’re Ready to Splurge (Over $25 — For Reference)
These aren’t in our under-$25 budget, but they’re worth knowing about so you can decide if the upgrade matters to you:
→ Prismacolor Premier 72-Color Set (~$35–45) — buttery soft leads, incredible blending, the gold standard
→ Faber-Castell Polychromos 60-Color Set (~$55–70) — oil-based, won’t break, European craftsmanship
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Coloring Books Under $15 That Are Actually Good
A bad coloring book is worse than bad pencils. Thin paper, boring designs, or tiny spaces that make you cross-eyed — none of these are worth even $5.
These are the ones that deliver:
For Quick Sessions (10–15 minutes)
→ Mindfulness Coloring Book by Emma Farrarons (~$8–10) — Small, portable, designs that are satisfying without being exhausting. Perfect for “I just need to color something right now.”
For Getting Lost In (30+ minutes)
→ Secret Garden by Johanna Basford (~$10–14) — The OG adult coloring book. Intricate gardens, hidden objects, pages you can spend an hour on. Thick paper that handles pencils and fine-tip markers.
→ Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford (~$10–14) — Basford’s follow-up, even more detailed. The “lost in the woods” vibe is real — you genuinely forget where you are.
For Something Different
→ Tropical World by Flora Chang Marotta (~$8–10) — Bright, tropical designs that feel like a vacation. Great for markers or bold pencil work.
→ Worlds of Wonder by Mythographic (~$10–14) — Surreal, imaginative scenes that feel like coloring inside a dream. If standard mandalas bore you, this is your book.
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The $3–8 Accessories That Make Everything Better
You can color without these. But these small investments make such a disproportionate difference that I can’t not mention them.
✏️ Kum Automatic Long Point Sharpener ($5–8)
This is the single best value accessory in coloring. A sharp pencil makes clean lines. A dull pencil makes muddy ones. The Kum gives you a perfect long point every time — the kind that makes you go “oh, THAT’S what these pencils can do.”
→ Kum Automatic Long Point Sharpener
🗑️ Kneaded Eraser ($2–4)
Not just for erasing mistakes — a kneaded eraser lets you lift pencil to create highlights, soften edges, and add texture. It’s like having a “make it look intentional” button.
→ Kneaded Eraser
🖊️ Prismacolor Colorless Blender ($4–7)
If you’re using the Arteza or Prismacolor pencils, this is the cheat code for smooth blending without solvents. It’s a pencil that burnishes the pigment into the paper, making layers look seamless.
→ Prismacolor Colorless Blender
🔧 Pencil Extender ($5–8)
When your pencil gets down to a stub, you throw it away, right? A pencil extender lets you use every last inch. It saves money *and* feels better in your hand than a tiny nub.
→ Pencil Extender
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Three Complete Under-$25 Kits
Don’t want to piece it together yourself? Here are three setups that each come in under $25:
### The “I Just Want to Start” Kit — $10–14
– Crayola 50-Count Colored Pencils ($8–12)
– Mindfulness Coloring Book by Farrarons ($8–10)
That’s it. Under $15 shipped. You’re coloring tonight.
### The “I Want to Enjoy This” Kit — $22–25
– Arteza Professional 72-Color Set ($20–25)
– Mindfulness Coloring Book by Farrarons ($8–10, if budget allows — or use a book you already have)
The Arteza set alone is enough. Add any book and you’re set for weeks.
### The “I’m Hooked” Kit — $24–28 (slightly over, sorry)
– Arteza Professional 72-Color Set ($20–25)
– Kum Sharpener ($5–8)
– Use a free printable coloring page (seriously — Pinterest has thousands)
This is the setup where you stop fighting your tools and start enjoying the process. The sharpener alone changes everything.
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What to Skip (Save Your Money)
Marker sets under $15. Cheap markers bleed through paper, have inconsistent ink flow, and dry out fast. If you want markers, save up for alcohol-based ones. Pencils are better at every budget under $25.
Giant pencil sets (120+ colors) from unknown brands. More colors doesn’t mean better quality. You’ll get 15 shades of beige you never use and cores that crumble when you sharpen them. The Arteza 72 or even Crayola 50 will serve you better.
“Celebrity” coloring books. You know the ones — they have a famous person’s name on the cover and generic designs inside. The books I recommended above are loved because the *artists* made them, not because a brand stamped a name on them.
Electric sharpeners under $15. They eat pencils alive. The Kum manual sharpener gives you more control for less money.
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The Honest Truth
You can spend $200 on coloring supplies and still make something ugly. You can spend $8 and have one of the most relaxing evenings of your week.
The tools matter — but not as much as the practice. Start with what you can afford. Color regularly. Upgrade when you notice your tools limiting you, not because an ad told you to.
The best supplies are the ones you actually use.
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*This post contains affiliate links, which means ColoredCalm earns a small commission if you purchase through them — at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we genuinely use and love.*
