Prior to the 1980s, coloured pencils were virtually unused by fine artists. The last twenty five years has seen rapid growth in interest in this medium. Techniques and methods for working with coloured pencils have been developed. The popularity of the coloured pencil medium continues to increase as artists become aware of the beautiful art that can be created. The Colored Pencil Society of America was established in 1990 and the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society in 2001.

Professional grade coloured pencils are designed by chemists to produce a core of shaped and bonded pigment, which is wrapped in a wooden casing. The bonding process uses wax or oil to give each pencil its colour spreading qualities. Many properties are taken into consideration including pigment composition, lightfastness, hard/softness, colour consistency, and lay-down characteristics.