With colored pencil set review – dozens of colored pencils in a tiny pouch that goes everywhere

REVIEW – I’ve enjoyed doodling and drawing since I was a little kid. I still have a bunch of monster magazines and comics that I drew back then, and I even made several videos about converting one of my comics to digital format. While I enjoy making art with digital tools, drawing with pens and pencils gives me more joy. When my sister shared an Instagram post about With colored pencil sets, I couldn’t contact them fast enough to see if I could try them out. They were generous enough to say yes, so let’s get doodling!

⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $19.00 – $88.00 per set
Where to buy: With

What is it?

With colored pencil sets are sets of individual colored or graphite leads that work with a lead holder and all fit into a hand sewn canvas pouch.

What’s included?

• Lead holder
• Colored or graphite leads
• Lead sharpener
• Eraser
• DIY color chart
• Canvas storage pouch

Design and features

They offer sets that include nine colored leads up to their deluxe set, which includes 72 leads (63 colored leads and 11  graphite leads). The 36, 72, and graphite sets come in a hand-dyed, hand-cut, hand-sewn zippered canvas storage pouch that has a small carabiner attached. I love the pouch and wish they sold larger ones!

The lead holder is made of cedar wood and has the With logo on the barrel.

There’s an option when you order to customize the holder with your own message in a variety of fonts. 

The lead holder comes pre-installed with a double-length 2B graphite lead. 

How do you use the With lead holder?

To remove the lead, you click the button on the holder several times to extend the lead far enough so that you can grab the end and then click and hold the button to release it so that you can pull the lead straight out from the writing tip end of the holder.  

To add a new lead, you can reverse that operation, or you can remove the button and drop the lead in through the top of the holder, replace the button and click it to extend. Loading the leads this way is a little safer than feeding them through the writing tip. It helps prevent breaking the leads.

The leads are stored in their own plastic storage cases.

The cases are connected with strong tape that allows them to fold like an accordion for easy storage in the pouch. Each plastic case holds nine leads, and there’s a color key sticker on the outside that helps you keep the colors in the right order.

You can also use the color reference card to color in the spots for each color. 

The graphite leads have a colored dot on the end of the leads to help you determine the hardness of each lead. For example, 4B is softer than a 2B, and a 4H is harder than a 2H.

The drawing sets also come with a small lead sharpener that looks like a smaller version of the lead storage cases. 

The sharpener is actually pretty cool and I’ve not seen one like this before. You just pull off the cap to reveal the blades inside.

To use the sharpener, you extend the lead tip and then twist it back and forth against the blades. The shavings drop into the bottom of the sharpener for no mess.

Time to draw something!

I used the pre-loaded graphite lead to outline my little robot doodle.

I like really dark outlines for my drawings, so I then used my fave gel pen – Uniball One 0.38 to outline my pencil outline 😉

Next comes the With colored pencils. I used several colors to define the look of the robot. I was going for a bit of a C-3PO vibe color-wise. 

Let’s try a flower doodle now.

Pencil outline first, gel ink outline next, then With colored pencils.

Yes, I know I’m not all that talented when it comes to drawing, but I like my little doodles, and that’s all that matters to me 🙂

I found it easy to draw outlines and color with the leads. The colored leads are a little harder than my Prisma and Derwent pencil sets, but that means that they might last longer before they need to be replaced. Just like with other colored pencils, the lighter you press, the lighter the color on the paper, and the harder you press, the darker the colors will be.

The lead holder is the size and feel of a regular pencil, so there’s no learning curve there. The only thing you have to learn is how to insert the leads so that you don’t break them. I had no issues so far, but With is so generous that if you do break a lead or two, they will send you a free set of 8 leads (your choice of colors) completely free. That’s amazing that they offer that!

Final thoughts

Using the With colored leads is really no different than using my regular set of Prismacolor pencils when it comes to how I use the colored pencils. But the beauty comes from being able to take all these colors with me wherever I go in such a small little pouch. They make me want to draw/doodle more. I love it.

What I like about the With colored pencil sets

• Ability to carry 72 leads in a tiny pouch
• Quality color and graphite leads
• The extras: the zippered pouch, sharpener, eraser

What needs to be improved?

• Nothing

Price: $19.00 – $88.00 per set
Where to buy: With
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by With. With did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.

Check out these other reviews!

• Kuru Toga Advance mechanical pencil review
• Make your own pencils with this insanely awesome kit!