Disclaimer: This review was conducted by Suzy Goodyear. This item was purchased by me as part of my personal collection. Some of the links below are associated with affiliate programs which provide me with a small commission from any orders you may place. This will not affect the price or quality of products you receive but will assist me with the costs involved in running this site. For more details please see our Disclosure Statement.
Basic Description
Staedtler ergo soft ® 157 Coloured Pencils are wax based artist quality pencils with a triangular barrel shape. They are sold in a maximum of 24 count sets.
Pros
- Artist quality pencils
- Pencils are light to hold
- Triangular barrel means they are easy and comfortable to hold and won’t roll off a flat surface.
- Number of color is printed on barrel
- Color of pencil barrel is a reasonable indicator of the color of the pigment
- Little pressure required to achieve good color coverage
- Vibrant colors
- Smooth feel on paper when coloring
- Generally easy to sharpen to a point for detail work
- Leads have a special coating to provide a resistance to breakage
- Colors are the same across the Staedtler range of products (pencils, fineliners, fibre-tip pens) which is a benefit when coloring with mixed media.
Cons
- Produces some pencil dust when coloring
- Limited range of colors
Price Range
- $$$ – typically AUD $20.01 – $50.00 / US $15.01 – $40.00 / £10.01 – £26.75 / €13.26 – €33.00
Conclusions / Recommendations
- These are the pencils recommended by Johanna Basford (artist for Secret Garden; Enchanted Forest; Lost Ocean)
- A good pack of artists’ quality colored pencils but with a limited color range
- These pencils don’t require much pressure to get the best out of them so if you have any fine motor, hand or arm problems these may be a good option
- Ergonomic design of the triangular pencil barrel may be useful for people with hand or arm problems