Castle Arts just released their Autumn set, and honestly — the timing couldn’t be better. This is the third drop in their Seasons Collection, following Spring and Summer, and it brings 72 brand-new colors that are so perfectly fall it almost feels cozy just looking at them. We’re talking warm golds, rusty oranges, deep burgundies, olive greens, and all those dusty, moody neutrals that we reach for constantly this time of year. In this video, I’m unboxing the tin, swatching every single color, and then putting them to work on our new autumn-themed coloring cards — so you can see exactly what these pencils can do.
Video Description
Castle Arts just dropped the Autumn set in their Seasons Collection — 72 brand-new colors after Spring and Summer. The palette is the star of this one. Warm golds, rusty oranges, deep burgundies, olive greens, and those dusty fall neutrals we keep reaching for. I unbox the tin, swatch every color, and then color with them on our new autumn-themed coloring cards. We really like these pencils, and this palette is the reason.
===COLORING BLISS PRODUCTS===
Simple Bliss Autumn Coloring Cards
Packs A & B: https://www.coloringbliss.com/product/coloring-cards-autumn-charm-packs-ab/
Pack A: https://www.coloringbliss.com/product/coloring-cards-autumn-charm-pack-a/
Pack B: https://www.coloringbliss.com/product/coloring-cards-autumn-charm-pack-b/
Simple Bliss Autumn Coloring Book
Printed Version: https://www.coloringbliss.com/product/simple-bliss-volume-8-autumn-charm/
Digital Download Version: https://www.coloringbliss.com/product/simple-bliss-volume-8-autumn-charm-digital-version/
See All of Our Coloring Cards
https://www.coloringbliss.com/new-coloring-cards/
See Our Swatch Books
https://www.coloringbliss.com/shop-swatch-books/
===LINKS===
Castle Art Supplies 72 Autumn Colored Pencil Set
https://amzn.to/4hiYpDh
Castle Art Supplies Autumn Coloring Book
https://link.amazon/B0hx8TT1k
Glass Pump Dispenser Bottles
https://amzn.to/4sobIoj
Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits
https://amzn.to/4tVzSb9
Blending Stumps
https://amzn.to/4tGuN6l
===RECOMMENDED VIDEOS===
My Favorite Liquid Storage – Art Studio Must-Haves!
https://youtu.be/k3KJSb7MdkM?si=V849k8RlhcijUSuH
===CHAPTER MARKERS===
00:00:00 – Welcome & Introduction
00:01:28 – Unboxing & First Look
00:09:19 – Swatching
00:18:27 – New Autum Coloring Book & Cards
00:21:00 – Coloring
00:29:21 – Autumn, Spring & Summer Cards Reveal
00:30:40 – My Recommendation
00:33:00 – Steve’s Fall Footage
—
Coloring Bliss is not a sponsored channel/page unless indicated in the video/post. Occasionally some products are gifted by the manufacturer for review purposes, always with the understanding that Coloring Bliss is under no obligation to give anything but an honest review. These products are always disclosed. Some links provided are affiliate links which does not affect the price to the consumer but does give a small commission to help support this channel/page. Any questions or business inquiries, please contact support@coloringbliss.com
—
Website: https://www.coloringbliss.com
Website: http://www.willowshare.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColoringBliss/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColoringBliss/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ColoringPagesBliss/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/coloringbliss/
X: https://x.com/coloringbliss
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coloringpagesbliss
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coloringbliss.official
Transcript
Castle Arts Autumn Seasons Collection Review
Spring, summer, autumn — Castle Arts has just released their newest edition in their Seasons Collection, and I have it! I’m so excited to show it to you. We’re going to swatch it, color with it, and talk about what makes an autumn color palette — and whether that’s what’s inside this tin.
Another question I have is whether this is a standalone set. If you started collecting the Seasons Collection with autumn, would you be happy, or do you need to start back at spring? We have lots of questions to answer today, all about Castle Arts. My name is Jennifer Stay. This is Coloring Bliss, and let’s celebrate autumn together.
What Is an Autumn Color Palette?
When I picture an autumn color palette, I’m picturing something vintagey — some golden tones, beautiful dark oranges, interesting browns, and really beautiful greens. Usually they are tones or shades of our standard color wheel colors, giving us a relatively dark, rich color scheme on the value scale. That’s what I picture when I think of autumn, so I’m really curious to see what Castle Arts imagined when they came up with their autumn set.
The Tin
Let’s start by looking at the tin. I’ve seen the cover on the Amazon listing, but not in person, so we’ll look at this together.
Wow. This is exactly what I was talking about — deep oranges, interesting reds, and golden colors. This is exactly what I was picturing. I really like this tin. It’s beautiful and it absolutely makes me think of autumn. I love the little autumn leaf detail on the front.
If you’ve seen the other tins, you’ll notice they each have a different little symbol. Summer had a little sunshine, and spring had a little flower. My guess for winter is a snowflake when we get our fourth edition.
This tin came out in April and is currently available for $49.99 USD on Amazon as of September 2026. The summer collection is also available at the same price. I was also able to find the autumn coloring book for $19.99, so if you’re collecting both the tins and the coloring books, that’s available as well. Last time with the summer set, not everything was available at the time of filming — so I’m happy to say all three items are available right now.
Opening the Tin
Once the plastic wrap is off, we get our first peek at the colors. The tin reads: “72 colored pencils with silky smooth velvety leads in a natural earthy autumn palette.” I’m so excited to see these pencils.
The inside lid shows us the full autumn palette, and I love it. Look at all those oranges and golds!
Inside, Castle Arts includes several extras, as usual:
- Advertising leaflet for the coloring book (links in the video description — we appreciate you using our affiliate links at Coloring Bliss, as it helps our small business grow at no extra cost to you)
- “Create This Autumnal Colored Pencil Drawing” leaflet — this walks through the steps to recreate the tin cover illustration
- Universal color chart and product guide — this comes in every tin and shows all the different products and colors
- Six coloring pages — printed on a textured gray paper rather than true white, which actually helps the colored pencils lay down more pigment. The pages show suggested color schemes, which is a nice touch.
- A swatch chart — I don’t personally use this, as I prefer to swatch into my own books, but it’s a nice inclusion
About the Pencils
Something worth noting for collectors: the 72 colors in each of the four Seasons tins are unique — they don’t duplicate any other Castle Arts sets. That makes collecting all four really exciting.
Each pencil is labeled with “Castle Arts Seasons” and then the collection name — in this case, “Autumn.” I love this detail. If I eventually combine all four tins into one large case, I’ll always be able to tell which set each pencil came from. For example, “Tiger Orange” came from the autumn set, and if I ever want to return them to their original tins, I can do that easily.
On the reverse side, each pencil shows the color name and a number. The only minor complaint I have is that the labels are printed in metallic ink, which can sometimes be harder to read — but the text is large enough that it’s generally fine.
The trays have elastic bands to hold them in place, which I really appreciate. The last set of pencils I worked with didn’t have these, and it made removing the trays much more difficult. Such a small detail, but it makes a big difference.
The pencils are numbered sequentially — from approximately 1145 through 1216 — and that’s how they come organized in the tin.
Reorganizing and Swatching
I’ve reorganized the pencils according to the color wheel, which is how I prefer to have my colored pencils arranged. It also helps me analyze the set as a whole and answer that key question: is this a standalone set, or do you need the other tins to have a well-rounded collection?
I’ve set up three swatch books — tan, white, and black — and I’ve already reserved pages for all four Castle Arts Seasons sets. I’m now working on the autumn section. If you’re interested in getting a swatch book for your own collections, follow the link in the video description. One of these is printed on colored pencil paper, and the other two are more of a mixed media paper, so it’s interesting to compare.
Swatching takes a lot of time, but I always learn so much in the process — it’s absolutely worth it.
Swatching Observations
After swatching all 72 pencils across all three books, here’s what stands out most to me: the yellows, yellow-oranges, and oranges. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in one set, and it makes complete sense for an autumn palette. All those gold-toned colors come together in a really beautiful group.
To compare: in the spring collection, we had a certain number of yellows and yellow-oranges. In autumn, we have six more colors in that range than spring had, and summer only had about two rows. It’s clear that Castle Arts was intentional and thoughtful about the colors in each set — they didn’t just divide a large set into four equal parts and slap a seasonal label on them. Each set genuinely reflects its season.
Is Autumn a Standalone Set? (With Steve)
I invited Steve to take a look at the swatches with me, since we’ve had this conversation with each previous set.
Here’s how the collections break down across the swatch books: spring is soft and pastel — very springy. Summer has more midtones with a range of blues. Autumn is rich, warm, and deep.
Steve’s verdict — and mine — is that autumn is not a great standalone set. Here’s why: there are very few blues. Only about three, and one of them leans more blue-green. There’s no real blue-violet. You won’t have one color from every part of the color wheel in a way that lets you blend and build a complete, balanced piece.
However, if the autumn vibe is your vibe, I think Castle Arts absolutely knocked it out of the park. Autumn is one of the easier seasons to define by color — we all know what to expect. Summer was trickier because “summer colors” are harder to pin down. But autumn? They nailed it.
On the swatch books: the autumn colors look absolutely stunning on tan paper — that warm undertone is a perfect match. On white, they’re equally beautiful and vibrant. On black, they don’t wow me, but honestly none of the three collections have. Black just isn’t where these pencils shine.
Castle Arts calls these wax-based pencils with a 3.8mm core, which aligns with what the product literature states.
On the topic of blacks and whites: each set includes a black and a white pencil — but each one is unique to its collection. That’s right, even the blacks and whites are supposedly different from one another across the four sets. After we get the winter collection, I’d like to do a side-by-side comparison of all four blacks and all four whites. It’s entirely possible to have four distinct blacks — a reddish black, a bluish black, a neutral black, and so on. That’ll be a fun test to save for the winter review.
The four tins combined should give us 288 unique colors total (72 × 4), all exclusive to the Castle Arts Seasons Collection.
Coloring with the Autumn Tin
I’m going to color using only the autumn tin — no reaching for other sets or other brands. I want to see what we can create with just what’s given to us.
For today’s coloring, I’m using one of the new autumn-themed coloring cards we’ve released here at Coloring Bliss — 100 hand-drawn autumn illustrations, available as a full book or in two card packs of 50 each (Pack A and Pack B). The book is also available printed on beautiful tan paper, which pairs perfectly with the autumn color palette as we saw in the swatches. Links to everything are in the video description.
I chose an illustration with a variety of leaves so I could really explore the different yellows, golds, reds, and greens in this collection.
Before I dive in, I want to share some inspiration: the photos you’re seeing now are of quaking aspen trees here in Utah. Notice how many colors appear on the leaves of a single type of tree — brown, yellow, green, and everything in between. Don’t be afraid to use different color variations on the same style of leaf in your own coloring. It’s completely true to nature. Quaking aspens are my favorite tree, and every autumn I love going up into the mountains to listen to the leaves quaking in the breeze. It’s a magical experience. Steve is a talented photographer, so make sure you hang until the end of the video for some of his beautiful autumn imagery.
Coloring Tips
The cards are printed on 120 lb / 325 gsm card stock — we call it our Goldilocks paper. It has just enough texture for dry mediums like colored pencil, but not so much that you can’t use a marker confidently. It really is just right.
Odorless mineral spirits (OMS), also known as Gamsol, are a wonderful tool when working with wax-based colored pencils. OMS breaks down the wax and leaves behind the pigment, allowing you to build more layers on top. You can see the difference clearly in my footage — the areas treated with OMS have rich, vibrant color with no white paper showing through, while untreated areas still show some texture. I love this technique.
I use a small glass bottle labeled “M” that holds my OMS and keeps it covered, since it is a mildly toxic substance — please keep it away from pets and follow all safety guidelines. I apply it using a blending stump, picking up just a small amount and working it into the paper. Cleanup is minimal and fumes are kept to a minimum. I’ll link a more detailed video about this technique in the description.
The secret weapon for this piece: Blackberry No. 1208, a deep, rich purple. After coloring all the leaves, I went back in with this color to deepen the shadows. It makes everything look brighter and more three-dimensional. A deep purple in the shadows is a powerful tool — and I’m so glad they included it in the autumn set.
For the background, I used a two-tone blue approach: Denim No. 1215 on the bottom and Midnight Blue No. 1212 on top, blending with OMS to create smooth, even coverage.
The Finished Card
Here’s my finished autumn coloring card using only the colors from the autumn tin. I think it turned out beautifully — soft, colorful, and very autumn. I love all the different leaf colors. There’s one leaf that I wanted to blend a bit more, so I grabbed my blending stump for a few finishing touches — and then I had to stop myself from fussing with it any further!
Here’s a look at all three cards side by side: the spring card, the summer card, and today’s autumn card. I’m so excited to have this third card to add to the collection, and I can’t wait to add a fourth when the winter set arrives.
Pricing and Final Thoughts
One last tip: Castle Arts loves a good sale. I’ve seen the spring and summer tins drop to $39.99 (down from $49.99). If you haven’t started collecting yet, I’d suggest adding all three tins to your Amazon cart, using “Save for Later,” and watching for a sale. At $10 off per tin, that’s significant savings — especially when you’re committing to a four-tin collection.
If you’re like me and couldn’t wait, you paid full price — about $50 per tin. I’m currently $150 into this collection, with a final investment of $200 once winter arrives. So I’ll ask: do you think I’m overpaying? Comment below and let me know!
Also — are you collecting the Seasons Collection? Are you enjoying the pencils? I’m really loving them, and I’m already thinking ahead to what I’ll do once I have all four tins. Will I keep them as a collector’s set, or pull them out and use them regularly? I honestly don’t know yet. But right now, I’m just enjoying every step of the journey.
I’m not sponsored by Castle Arts — I purchased all of these pencils with my own money so I can give you the most honest, unbiased review possible. Thank you so much for supporting the channel and making videos like this one possible.
I hope you all have a wonderful, colorful, blissful day. Bye-bye, everyone!
