

The Art of Colouring In: A review of Berol pens

A household name in the stationary world, Berol pens are the ones we remember using at school and wishing we had at home, but when tested against each other which of the Berol colouring pens comes up trumps?

We got together four different types of Berol pens and did a little colouring in to find out.

The competitors were Berol Colourbrush, Colourfine, Hand Huggers and Colourbroad and first up to the test were the Colourbrush pens.

These pens are designed with a brush style fibre tip, similar to that of an artists' paint brush so that fine lines can be achieved when using the tip but when used at an acute angle a much broader line is produced. The line width on the Colourbrush pens is 1.5mm making it bigger than the Colourfine pens but smaller than the Hand Huggers and Colourbroads.

Berol ColourbrushWhen using these pens we found you have to be gentle when wanting detailed lines and slightly firmer for a thicker block of colour where more colouring in is required. This makes the Colourbrush quite versatile and economic as you can achieve both detail and general colouring with just one pen.

Berol ColourfineFor more detailed colouring and writing the Berol weapon of choice would often be the Colourfine pens. These were great for controlled colouring such as trying to stay within the lines but also effective for larger areas of colouring despite some initial doubts. Colouring more substantial areas does take longer with the Colourfine pens but it does generally look very neat and there aren't many white gaps showing through the ink.

Next up in our test were the Hand Huggers which are designed with young children learning to colour and write in mind. These are also available as pencils and have an ergonomic shape to encourage the correct grip when writing and drawing as well as reducing any hand strain. The Hand Huggers have a line width of 1.7mm just like the Colourbroad pens so the colouring experience with both was quite similar, the only difference being less hand strain when using the Hand Huggers.

Berol Hand HuggersMoving on to the Colourbroads, these quickly coloured in larger areas on the page but it was quite difficult trying to fill in smaller, more detailed parts of the picture and trying not to go out of the lines often resulted in white gaps on the page. One thing we did find interesting about the Colourbroads was that the ink can be worked with a wet brush in order to create a subtle wash of colour.

Berol ColourbroadOverall, the Berol pens we found best value for money and easiest to use are the Colourbrush and Colourfine pens. The Colourbrushes as they allow variety in creating thin and thick lines and the Colourfines as they allow for detailed colouring and provide a more opaque ink coverage on the page. Next would be the Hand Huggers which only exceed the Colourbroads because of how comfortable they are to hold, making them ideal for longer colouring sessions. Finally are the Colourbroads which are great for colouring, but we would recommend them for large colouring tasks or poster making as their thick line width is great for making words stand out. A larger colouring area would also allow you to fully embrace the technique of using them with a wet brush to create more subtle areas of colour.

Berol pen comparison

All of these Berol pens contain washable ink which will wash out of most fabrics and the Colourbroads, Colourfines and Colourbrushes can all be left uncapped for up to 14 days without drying out, making them perfect for at school and at home.

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