I do a lot of crafts and I have some pencils that are artist grade in water color and in oil. I do work with wood burning and use the oil pencils sometimes to add a touch of color to my work. These pencils are not on the same plane as the professional pencils BUT these offer a pretty nice substitute for the $$$. I would recommend these as beginner to intermediate pencil quality. The color on the outside of the pencils are a close representation to the actual color- if you use a lot of color placement (repeated application). I've enjoyed using these pencils mostly for the variety you get in the 136 count pack! I have enjoyed the metallics especially.