Colored pencils is a term is usually applied to wax based colored pencils that are mostly used by children or craft.

Most colored pencils are weak in pigment load due to the ingredient proportions needed to make the pencil.

For artists and illustrators, there are several brands of artists quality colored pencils such as Derwent Pencils or Faber-Castell Pencils that are worth experimenting if you enjoy this drawing medium.

Some colored pencils are water soluble and called Aquarelles. These are generally the most interesting of the colored pencils for artists, they can be applied in a dry state and then brushed over with water and smudged to give a watercolor effect.

Other drawing implements similar to colored pencils are the hard chalk pencils, some times generically called pastel pencils but more commonly called by brand names such as Conte, Pitt or Cretacolor which are highly useful drawing materials giving the powerful results many artists prefer these are often used instead of charcoal for life drawing purposes.

For more information, see: Graphite Pencils or if you are looking for manufacturers of colored pencils see the directory of: Artists Pencils Manufacturers, or Artists Pens Manufacturers.