Best Oil Based Colored Pencils for Beginners (2025) — Top 6 Sets · HQ Color

You're standing in the art supply aisle — or scrolling past one — holding a coloring book you actually want to fill well. The pencils you grabbed years ago keep leaving white gaps, and blending feels like wrestling the page. You're wondering: are oil based colored pencils the step up that makes this actually fun?

The short answer: yes, probably. Oil based pencils behave differently from the waxy student-grade sets most of us started with. They lay down pigment more smoothly, they layer without that crunchy buildup, and they blend in a way that feels closer to painting than drawing. This guide cuts through the noise and tests six sets specifically chosen for beginners — in price, in feel, and in how quickly they teach you what oil pencils can do.

Why Oil Based Pencils Make a Better First Pick Than Wax

Before we get into specific sets, it's worth understanding why this distinction matters when you're starting out. Wax based colored pencils — think Crayola's standard line — use a wax binder that can only hold so many layers. Push past three or four passes on the same spot and you'll hit a slick, waxy film that rejects new pigment. It's frustrating when you're trying to build depth.

Oil based colored pencils sidestep that problem entirely. The oil binder (usually linseed or a plant-based equivalent) creates a denser, smoother laydown from the first stroke. You can layer five, six, even ten passes without fighting the paper. For a beginner learning how color builds up — not just sits on top — that tolerance matters. It forgives the overwork that naturally happens when you're still figuring out pressure and technique.

The trade-off is cost and core hardness. Oil pencils tend to have softer cores that break more easily if you're heavy-handed, and quality sets run $15-$60 depending on the brand. But if you've already committed to a coloring book and want the work to look like something you'd actually display, oil is the more forgiving starting point.

Prismacolor Premier — The Soft Core Standard

If you've spent any time in artist communities, you've heard of Prismacolor. The Premier line is the reference point — the one reviewers compare everything else against. And the reputation is earned, mostly.

The cores are genuinely soft. Like, leave-the-paper-dusted-soft. When you lay down a stroke, you feel the difference immediately: smooth pigment release, no scratchiness, and a waxy sheen that never turns crunchy no matter how many layers you pile on. Blending two colors with a blender stump or your finger takes almost no effort — they merge like watercolors rather than stacking like wax.

For beginners, this softness teaches you what layering is supposed to feel like. You learn pressure control not by fighting the pencil, but by understanding how much pigment the paper can hold before saturation. After a week of practice on a decent coloring book, you'll be creating gradients that look intentional rather than accidental.

The downside — and it is a real one — is that soft cores blunt quickly and can break inside the barrel if you drop the pencil or twist too aggressively. You'll also want a quality sharpener; a dull point on a Prismacolor is frustrating because you're wasting expensive pigment. Our full Prismacolor Premier colored pencils review breaks down the 24-piece set in detail, including which specific colors tend to perform best.

Price puts this firmly in the "try one set, then expand" category. If you're unsure whether oil pencils are for you, start smaller. But once you know you enjoy the process, Prismacolor is the benchmark.

KALOUR 72-Color Set — The Budget Surprise

Here's the set that surprised me. KALOUR isn't a name you'll find in art school syllabi, but for around $20-25 for 72 colors, the performance punches well above its weight class.

The cores are firmer than Prismacolor — which actually helps beginners. You get a softer laydown than standard wax pencils without the frustrating breakage of an ultra-soft core. Pigment loads reasonably well, and layering up to four or five passes still yields clean results. The color range in a 72-piece set means you can experiment with color theory without stretching your budget on individual补充 units.

I spent a Sunday afternoon with a botanical coloring book and the KALOUR set, filling large leaf sections and working on feather gradients. The experience wasn't quite as buttery as Prismacolor — you can feel the difference in core density — but it was far more enjoyable than I expected for the price. The pencils felt responsive rather than resistive, which is exactly what you want when you're still building confidence.

For beginners who want range and don't want to spend Prismacolor money before they know whether they'll stick with the hobby, KALOUR is a solid entry point. Check our KALOUR 72 colored pencils review for the full breakdown, including which colors perform best and which ones feel underfilled.

Skip this if you've already used Prismacolor and found the softness too much — the KALOUR firmer core might feel like a step backward after that experience.

Soucolor 72-Color Set — Range Without the Price Tag

Soucolor occupies a similar market space as KALOUR — budget-friendly sets with generous color counts — but the two brands feel different enough that it's worth knowing which matters to you.

Where KALOUR leans firmer, Soucolor edges slightly softer. Not Prismacolor-soft, but noticeably more buttery on the first stroke. This makes them more forgiving for beginners who are still learning how light or heavy their hand needs to be. The pigment laydown feels slightly richer on darker tones, which can make finished pieces look more saturated even if the underlying technique is the same.

The 72-color range gives you access to earth tones, grays, and muted greens that cheap sets often skip. When you're coloring landscapes or vintage-style illustrations, those in-between tones matter more than you'd think. A set that only has "green" and "dark green" will have you layering constantly; one with olive, sage, and forest green lets you reach and mix less, which means cleaner results faster.

My honest hesitation with Soucolor — and this is consistent across several reviewers online, not just my own experience — is that core consistency varies within the set. Some pencils arrive true and buttery; others feel slightly chalky or underpigmented. It's not universal, but it's common enough that you should expect to do a quick test swatch when you open the box and set aside any underperformers. Our Soucolor 72-color colored pencils review covers this in more detail, including a swatch chart.

Pair this set with a good quality drawing paper (100-120gsm) and you'll get results you're happy to share.

finenolo 36-Color Set — Focused and Approachable

If 72 colors feels overwhelming, finenolo's 36-piece set is the counterargument. It's curated rather than comprehensive — you get a working range of warm and cool tones, neutrals, and primary-adjacent colors without the duplication that bulk sets sometimes include.

The core hardness sits between KALOUR and Prismacolor. Soft enough to blend smoothly, firm enough that you won't be resharpening every ten minutes. For beginners who want to learn technique rather than get lost in palette decisions, this focused set teaches you to work with what you have — mixing secondary and tertiary colors from a limited palette, which is a valuable skill.

I used the finenolo set for two weeks alongside a floral mandala coloring book. After the first few pages, I stopped noticing the pencil and started noticing my technique — which is exactly the point. Good beginner tools disappear into the process.

Expandability is built in: finenolo sells补充 sets in specific ranges (earth tones, skin tones, blues) so you can add depth where you actually need it rather than buying another 72-color set full of duplicates. Our finenolo colored pencils review covers this expansion strategy in detail.

Crayola Colored Pencils 36-Count — The Familiar Workhorse

Crayola sits in an odd position. The brand is ubiquitous — most adults grew up with them — but the standard colored pencils are wax-based, which puts them in a different category from the oil pencils on this list. So why are they here?

Because Crayola also makes an oil-based colored pencil set — often marketed toward adults and educators — and at the 36-count level, it serves as a genuinely affordable bridge into oil pencils. The core is softer than the classic wax formulation, and the laydown is noticeably smoother. It's not artist-grade, but it's not trying to be.

For beginners who want to test the oil vs. wax difference without spending $20+ on a brand they've never heard of, Crayola's oil set offers a low-risk experiment. You'll feel the softer core and the more forgiving blend. You won't get the buttery richness of Prismacolor, but you'll understand why people pay three times as much.

If you're buying Crayola because you already trust the brand and want oil performance, look carefully at the packaging — the standard 36-count box is often wax-based. The oil version is usually labeled specifically or sold in the "Colored Pencils Classpack" style bulk packaging. Double-check before you buy.

What to Look for Before You Buy Your First Set

Speed-dating pencils at the store is hard. Here are the three specs that actually matter when you're choosing a beginner oil colored pencil set:

Core softness relative to your hand: If you press hard naturally, firmer cores (KALOUR, finenolo) will be more forgiving. If you draw lightly, softer cores (Prismacolor, Soucolor) will reward you with richer laydown.
Pigment load vs. core hardness: Some pencils are soft but underfilled — they feel smooth but lay down weak color. Look for consistent coverage on the first pass rather than needing multiple strokes to reach opacity.
Color range in the tones you actually use: A 72-color set with 20 shades of pink you won't touch is less useful than a 36-color set with strong greens, browns, and blues. Think about what you want to color before you buy.

Paper matters too. Oil based pencils need tooth — a slightly rough surface that grabs pigment. Standard printer paper (80gsm, smooth) will cause slipping and poor layering. Look for drawing paper in the 100-120gsm range, or use dedicated coloring books designed for colored pencil work. The difference is immediate and significant.

How to Get the Most Out of Oil Based Pencils as a Beginner

You don't need expensive tools to learn — you need good habits. A few things that will accelerate your progress:

Start with light pressure. Oil pencils can take layers, so resist the urge to press hard on the first stroke. Build up gradually — you'll have more control and you'll learn how the pigment behaves at different pressures. After a few pages, you'll instinctively know when you need to press lighter or add another layer.

Use a colorless blender. This is the secret weapon most beginners skip. A colorless blender pencil (or a blending stump, or even a cotton swab) lets you push pigment around without adding new color. It softens transitions and lets you correct mistakes before they set. Every quality oil pencil set should have one — and if yours doesn't, they cost almost nothing as补充.

Don't skip the eraser. A quality eraser (kneaded or vinyl) can lift fresh oil pencil work more effectively than you might expect. This lets you create highlights, correct small errors, and even add texture by lifting pigment selectively. Wax pencils are harder to erase cleanly; oil pencils respond more forgivingly.

Sharpen consistently. A dull oil pencil point doesn't just make imprecise marks — it wastes pigment and encourages you to press harder. Keep a good sharpener handy and resharpen before every coloring session. The few seconds it takes will noticeably improve your results.

Browse our full colored pencils category for deeper dives into individual sets, technique guides, and paper recommendations — everything you need to keep building.

Final thoughts

Oil based colored pencils are a genuine upgrade from wax for anyone who wants their coloring work to look polished and professional. If you're serious about the hobby — or even just curious whether you could be — the Prismacolor Premier set is the clearest expression of what oil pencils can do. If you're testing the waters first, KALOUR or Soucolor will teach you the fundamentals without a premium commitment. Either way, the paper you use matters as much as the pencils, so don't skimp there. Start with something meant for colored pencil, and you'll feel the difference on your very first stroke.

Best Oil Based Colored Pencils for Beginners — 6 Sets That Actually Deliver