Coloured Pencils or Markers?

I started colouring in July, this is what my stash of colouring books looks like now, I was very lucky at Christmas - it was definitely a colouring Christmas!!!

If you're colouring, I'm interested to know your preference in coloured pencils and markers.  I prefer to colour with pencils but some pages just call for markers, really, just about every page in the "Fantastic Cities" page does, as the images are so small.  

I started out with a small box of Hilroy pencils, I quickly knew that would never be enough, I bought a small box of Crayola, then moved on to the big Crayola box.  I was happy with the array or colours but as I coloured more, the leads started to break, sharpening was really doing a number on them.  At this point, I probably would not buy any more Crayola.

I was hoping for something better for Christmas, I wasn't disappointed.

My husband secretly picked up the box of Sargent pencils the last time we were in the US at Hobby Lobby, I really like these pencils, there are 56 different colours, there are so many extras in this box which is great.  I also received a metallic box of Faber Castell pencils, I like the way these ones colour too.    My son gave me Prismacolor Premier pencils they are beautiful, they glide along the page, the colours are vibrant, I love them!  I might be spoiled!!

My first package of markers came from Dollarama, they're not bad at all, I had one dry up, maybe the cover wasn't on tightly, and one tip break off.  So, I thought I had to have more colours, I bought this box of Maped markers at Staples, not good - I couldn't even finish a flower and the marker was dried up, it happened to me twice, I haven't used them much since - I don't want to ruin another page.    Do you use markers and what kind?

Storing your pencils is another problem - where to put them for easy access.  My husband bought this art box at a yard sale or thrift shop, he made slots for my pencils and now I have a really nice storage box.  It opens up on top too so I can keep extra paper in there to put between the pages.  I love it!!

This page I did with the Prismacolor pencils, in the Animal Kingdom book.

Another page from the  Animal Kingdom book, done with the Sargent pencils.  I really like this book and any book that has thick pages is my favourite!

I'd love to hear what your preferences are...