Cretacolor Art Supplies Deals: Compare Sale Prices & Find the Best Discount UK

If you draw, there’s a good chance you’ve used a Cretacolor pencil without paying much attention to the name. Their sketching sets turn up in art classes, gift tins and studios all over the UK, and the brand has quietly built a reputation for offering very good drawing materials at very fair prices.

The story goes back a long way, to Vienna. In 1790 the architect Joseph Hardtmuth developed a way of making pencil leads from a mix of clay and graphite, which is the basic method still used for most pencils today. Pencil making became a proud Viennese tradition, and in 1863 Carl Brevillier founded the Zeus pencil factory in the city. In the 1970s production moved to Hirm, a small town in Burgenland, in the east of Austria. In 1996 Hans Wolfgang Hromatka took over the Hirm factory out of a bankruptcy estate, saved it from closing and renamed it Cretacolor. Today it’s part of the Brevillier Urban & Sachs group, alongside the JOLLY brand, and it’s often described as the only Austrian maker of artists’ materials.

Cretacolor’s speciality is drawing, and the range covers just about everything a sketcher could want. Fine Art Graphite pencils come in a wide range of grades, and the Nero pencils give a deep, velvety black that’s ideal for strong darks. There’s a full range of charcoal pencils, sticks and powder, along with sanguine, sepia and white chalk pencils for classic drawing in the style of the old masters, and Carré square sketching chalks. The Monolith pencils are solid graphite with no wooden casing, so you can draw with the point or lay down broad areas of tone with the side. Aqua Monolith is the water-soluble coloured version, which you can blend with a wet brush. For colour work, Karmina pencils are oil-based colour pencils, while Marino are watercolour pencils, and there are pastel pencils and Mega pencils with extra-thick leads. Then there are the Artist Studio sets, which bring together a selection of these in a handy tin and are some of the most popular drawing gifts around.

In sixteen years in the art supplies industry, including nearly a decade running digital marketing at ARTdiscount, I’ve seen Cretacolor become one of the best-loved brands for drawing on a budget. In our community of 36,000 UK artists at Discount Art Supplies, people often recomend Cretacolor sets to beginners and students, while more experienced artists love the charcoal and chalk pencils, the Monolith pencils and the Nero for strong, dark tonal work.

Getting the best deal on Cretacolor comes down to a few things. First, compare prices before you buy. Cretacolor is stocked by Cass Art, Jackson’s, Amazon and others, and prices on the same set can vary, so check our comparison above, which is updated in real time. Second, buy a set if you’re starting out. The Artist Studio sets are usually cheaper than buying the same pencils one by one, and they’re a great way to try charcoal, chalk and graphite together. Third, top up with single pencils once you know which grades and colours you use most. And finally, watch for sales. Drawing sets are often discounted around back-to-school, Black Friday and the run-up to Christmas, when they’re popular gifts.

A few questions come up regularly. Where is Cretacolor made? In Hirm, Burgenland, in Austria. Is Cretacolor good quality? Yes. It’s well regarded for drawing, especially its graphite, charcoal and chalk pencils, and it offers excellent value. What is a Monolith pencil? It’s a woodless pencil made of solid graphite, so you can use the point for detail or the side for broad shading. Aqua Monolith is a water-soluble coloured version. What’s the difference between Karmina and Marino? Karmina are oil-based colour pencils, while Marino are watercolour pencils that you can blend with water. Is Cretacolor connected to Koh-i-Noor? Both brands come from the same Viennese pencil-making tradition, but today they’re separate companies. Koh-i-Noor is Czech, while Cretacolor is Austrian.

Cretacolor brings centuries of Austrian pencil-making tradition to your sketchbook at a very fair price. Looking for a Cretacolor sale, discount or discount code? Check the price comparisons above, updated in real time, and you’ll always know you’re getting the best current UK price.