Polychromos
Artists’ Colour Pencils

Finest Artists’ Quality · Made in Germany

Sustainability at Faber-Castell
Change needs creativity
A sustainable future needs new ideas as well as people who are eager to shape that future in acreative way. We as Faber-Castell are a driving force for sustainable development in our industry:
with our products, we motivate people to unleash their creative potential.
As a family-owned business in the ninth generation, we take our responsibility seriously.
Sustainability is not a new trend for us, but an integral part of our value culture and a provensuccess factor in our company’s history.
We understand sustainability in ecological, social and economic terms. We are pioneers in theindustry with our own certified forest management for securing a long-term source of raw material.
But we are also committed to biodiversity, renewable energies, the conservation of resources,
equal opportunities and diversity. As a globally renowned brand company, we see ourselves as a
key player in the economy: our actions have a significant impact on both the environment and society.

The Faber-CastellGroup works on
reducing plastics orreplacing them withrecycled materials
in packaging andproducts.
c t par tsed

plastic

duFaber-Castell offers
a wide range oferasers. Erasers
with this symbol
are produced understrict quality control
and are PVC-free.

>5ycl

P la s t i c p r oWood from certifi edsustainable forestryis the most important
raw material for theFaber-Castell productrange.

0 % rec

Further information can be found on our sustainability website.
https://www.faber-castell.com/corporate/sustainability

Every productcontains valuable
raw materials. Toextend their lifespans,many products arerefi llable.

Faber-Castell stands for quality
Faber-Castell is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of quality products for writing, drawing and creative design –the brand name is world-famous. In the core area of woodcased
pencils, the group is the most important and oldest manufacturer
in the world with a production capacity of more than two billion
pencils and coloured pencils.
Its Art & Graphic range allows Faber-Castell to enjoy a great reputation among artists and hobby painters. Prestigious creative mindshave recognised this expertise since time immemorial – fromVincent van Gogh to Karl Lagerfeld. High quality artists’ pigments
ensure light resistance and thus brilliance and colour intensity
for decades. All products are based on the same colour system,enabling reliable mixing techniques of artists’ pencils, whether
water-soluble or indelible.

Artistsʼ colour pencils

Polychromos

The term “Polychromos” derives from theGreek words ‘poly’ (many) and ‘chroma’(colour). The 120 colours in the Polychromos product range and their infinite variations of mixed colours really make it live
up to its Greek name.
Launched on the market in 1908, artists allover the world have been relying on theexcellent quality of Polychromos artists’colour pencils for more than 100 years.
High-quality materials provide the highest
break resistance, unmatched light resistance, excellent colour brilliance, wiping
and water resistance and an optimal
paintability.
Polychromos artists’ colour pencils areavailable individually and in colourbalanced box assortments.

The paper

Choosing the right paper

The choice of drawing paper depends on
the artist’s intention and drawing style.
Various ranges of grain sizes and textures
influence the brushstroke and thus thedesired character of the picture.
High-quality drawing papers are usuallycharacterised by a higher grammage andfirst-class raw material composition, which
provide for the best usage properties, goodageing resistance and erasability.
Hot-pressed papers are very smooth, produce clearly defined strokes and homogeneous colour areas and are suitable fordetailed, precise drawings.
Cold-pressed papers have fine to coarsegrained surfaces, break up lines and areas
and give the drawing a looser brushstroke.
Colourful and particularly dark papers
emphasise the luminosity of the Polychromos artists’ colour pencil. Polychromos
artists’ colour pencils stick on drawing,water colour and pastel papers and on
rough surfaces, like cardboard, wood,stone, leather and brushed metal.

Holding the pencil

Holding the pencil
As with handwriting, how you hold thepencil influences individual line handling.
Hold the pencil nearer the tip, and you candraw more exactly and with more detail.
Or hold the shaft more loosely to getsketch-like strokes better.
Angle of inclination
The angle of inclination when drawing
determines whether a stroke will benarrow or wide. A steep angle creates aclearly defined line, while a flat angle
provides wider lines up to a colour area.
Particularly large areas can be createdquickly by shading. To do this, the angle
of inclination of the colour pencil has tobe extremely flat.
Varying pressure
Fine, wide, light or dark lines: just one
color pencil can produce different lines byvarying pressure intensity.

Colour wheel

Brighten and darken colours

Colours can be brightened up with a whiteor light colour pencil.

Tip:
Complementary colours put next to eachother enhance each other’s colour effect.
So, for example, orange makes blue shine
when placed next to it.

170

170

As for darkening a colour, not just black orgrey can be used, but also the respective
complementary colour. Complementarycolours are opposite each other on thewheel of colour. The layering of complementary colours creates broken or grey
colour mixtures.

brie+rycothac

121

lou r

bl+1
07

11ant 21
1kened w
idarlemite+113dwh7neit hkened with comradp

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pureco113 lourk+01713610121+ 1361+ 110

136110Mixing colours

Light colours are transparent, dark colours are opaque

By overlapping and compacting colours,
you can create a variety of colour nuances.
Layering light and dark colours increases
the brightness and vitality of the colour.
Depending on the order in which thecolours are overlapped, various mixed
colours can be produced. Thus, yellow
over blue produces something different
than blue over yellow.
Colour gradients can be created by increasing the pressure during drawing, bycovering a colour with a white or lightcolour pencil, or by lightening specificareas with an eraser pencil.

phthalo blue 110 on cadmium yellow 107

cadmium yellow 107 on phthalo blue 110

Techniques

Hatchings

Seen from a distance, hatchings merge
visually into colour areas. The closer thelines are to eachother, the more intenseand dark the colour effect is.
Parallel hatchings
In parallel hatching, the strokes run in thesame direction. Stroke length and distancevary the optical result. Overlapping andcompacting influences the tonal value andmixed tones.
Cross hatchings
For cross hatching, hatchings are overlapped at different angles. Various mixed
tones and shadings define the thickness,colour and cromacity of the cross hatchings.
Formative hatchings
Formative hatchings take on the individual
contour of the object; i.e. the lines run
parallel to it.

Hatchings give a different effectAn aligned hatching with long strokes laid
over the object results in a smooth lookwithout depth.

Short strokes in the same direction create
light and shaded areas through overlapping, and give the object vividness.

Hatchings in the same direction with aheavy overlap provide stark contrasts, but
the detail is less precise.

Techniques

Textures and patternFrottage
In frottage, the texture of a material underneath the paper is used. When drawing, thetexture pushes through the paper. Textured
materials include wood, grained glass
plates, metal plates and rough textiles, toname just a few.
Sgraffito
Known to many people from utilisation
with oil pastels, Sgraffito is also an interesting alternative with colour pencils. In
this technique, two colours are first laid on
top of each other. Then, using a knife, you
carefully scratch out lines and areas fromthe top layer.

Break new ground

Paper edges and stencils
It is worth making use of paper for drawing textures. Stubble fields, grasses or
abstract textures can be created with shortlines going over the edge of the paper.
Embossed paper
Embossing paper is a charming technique.
Random textures or exact contours can beembossed onto the paper surface with asuitable embossing pen or a blunt needle
before you start drawing. Then, when you
start drawing, the deeper lines in the paper
are not touched by the drawing.
Paint colours
Polychromos colours can be dissolved withparaffin oil (baby oil) and used for painting. This creates extravagant backgrounds
which can be drawn upon once dry.

ToolsTools used stylishly

Tools can also be used specifically as astylistic means: colour which has alreadybeen applied can, for example, be removed
from the sheet with an eraser. This allows
you to create white space or less intensive
colour areas.
A knife, sandpaper board or scalpel can beused to precisely place colour pigment on adrawing which can then be effectively
rubbed in with a blending stump or yourfinger. This technique is ideal for fashioning textures or larger colour areas withlittle effort.

Mixed media

Combining is fun

Colour pencil drawings can be very effectively combined with artist’s ink or watercolour pencils.
The lightfast India ink pen Pitt Artist Pen
is perfect for preparatory drawing or for
setting clear lines and accents on drawings.
The Albrecht Dürer artists’ watercolour
pencils create watercolour painted substrates and give the drawing which isplaced on top an expressive character.
The various degrees of hardness of theCastell 9000 pencils can easily be combined with the Polychromos artists’colour pencils.

Accessories

Useful tools in Faber-Castell quality

Perfect sharpening with the metal sharpener
or with the double hole sharpener withcontainer
Handmade multipurpose knife for finest
graphical corrections and sharpening
artists’ pencils
Sleeve eraser and dust-free eraser removes
pencil and colour lines cleanly
Pencil with rubber for rubbing out andbrightening up colours
Sandpaper board: one fine and one coarsegrained paper stripe for producing pigment
powderA blending stump is great for smudging
colourAssortment

11 00 12 (12 colours)

11 00 24 (24 colours)

11 00 38 (36 colours)

11 00 36 (36 colours)

11 00 60 (60 colours)

11 00 06(48 colours)

11 00 11 (120 colours)

11 00 72 (72 colours)

11 00 13 (120 colours)Colours∗ reasonable lightfastness

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ColourPolychromos artists’ colour pencils
163 emerald green
162 light phthalo green
171 light green166 grass green
112 leaf green
266 permanent green
167 permanent green olive
267 pine green
278 chrome oxide green
165 juniper green
173 olive green yellowish
268 green gold
170 May green
168 earth green yellowish
174 chromium green opaque
172 earth green
169 caput mortuum
263 caput mortuum violet
193 burnt carmine
194 red violet
135 light red violet
130 salmon
131 coral
132 beige red
189 cinnamon
191 Pompeian red
192 India red
190 Venetian red
188 sanguine
187 burnt ochre
186 terracotta
183 light yellow ochre
185 Naples yellow
184 dark Naples ochre
182 brown ochre
180 raw umber
179 bistre
176 Van-Dyck-brown
178 nougat
280 burnt umber
283 burnt siena
177 walnut brown
175 dark sepia
275 warm grey VI
274 warm grey V
273 warm grey IV
272 warm grey III
271 warm grey II
270 warm grey I
230 cold grey I
231 cold grey II
232 cold grey III
233 cold grey IV
234 cold grey V
235 cold grey VI
181 Payne´s grey
199 black251 silver
250 gold
252 copper∗∗∗ maximum lightfastness

Polychromos
artists’ colour pencils boxes
11 00 1211 00 24
11 00 3611 00 60
11 00 38
11 00 72
11 00 13
11 00 06

11 00 1211 00 24
11 00 36
11 00 60
11 00 38
11 00 72
11 00 13
11 00 06

Polychromos artists’ colour pencils
101 white
103 ivory
102 cream
104 light yellow glaze
205 cadmium yellow lemon
105 light cadmium yellow
106 light chrome yellow
107 cadmium yellow
108 dark cadmium yellow
109 dark chrome yellow
111 cadmium orange
113 orange glaze
115 dark cadmium orange
117 light cadmium red
118 scarlet red
121 pale geranium lake
219 deep scarlet red
126 permanent carmine
223 deep red
217 middle cadmium red
225 dark red
142 madder
226 alizarin crimson
127 pink carmine
124 rose carmine
128 light purple pink
123 fuchsia
133 magenta
119 light magenta
129 pink madder lake
125 middle purple pink
134 crimson
160 manganese violet
138 violet
136 purple violet
137 blue violet
249 mauve
141 Delft blue
157 dark indigo
247 indanthrene blue
151 helioblue reddish
143 cobalt blue
120 ultramarine
140 light ultramarine
146 sky blue
144 cobalt blue greenish
110 phthalo blue
152 middle phthalo blue
145 light phthalo blue
149 bluish turquoise
246 Prussian blue155 helio turquoise
153 cobalt turquoise
154 light cobalt turquoise
156 cobalt green
158 deep cobalt green
159 Hooker´s green
264 dark phthalo green
276 chrome oxide green fiery
161 phthalo green

NumberLightfastness

Polychromos
artists’ colour pencils boxes

ColourLightfastness

Number

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The colour number system

Faber-Castell uses a standard colour number system for its Art & Graphic products.
For example, a particular colour of a
Polychromos artists’ colour pencil caneasily be used with the same colour
Albrecht Dürer pencil, Pitt Artist Pen or
the Polychromos pastel.

Polychromos artists’ colour pencil
deep scarlet red -219

Albrecht Dürer artists’ watercolour pencil
deep scarlet red -219

Polychromos artists’ pastel
deep scarlet red -219

Pitt pastel pencil
deep scarlet red -219

Pitt Artist Pen
deep scarlet red -219

A.W. Faber-Castell Vertrieb GmbH, Nürnberger Straße 2, 90546 Stein, Germany
Phone +49 (0)911 9965-0, Fax +49 (0)911 9965-5856, www.faber-castell.com