Art Q&A - Were Prismacolor Colored Pencils a waste of my money? - Lachri

I'm answering one of your questions about a recent purchase of Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils. Did you waste your money or are they still good enough to learn with?

**************************************

**************************************

**************************************

**************************************

New painting videos Wednesdays at 3pm CST

Time lapse and speed painting tutorials and demonstrations by award winning artist Lachri. Learn how to paint portraits, surreal landscapes, pets, lions, tigers, and birds...pretty sure a Wizard of OZ reference should be made right about now. Get tips and watch techniques for working in acrylic and oil paint, carbon pencil, graphite and colored pencil.

This video was shot using the Canon VIXIA HF G20 HD camcorder.

[sambeawesome]

Mine break fairly often too, it's annoying. For me, I don't really see it as a waste, but rather just a reason to use them more often so I can replace them with other pencils once they're gone :) See this as an opportunity to really play around and experiment with the medium.

[debterry]

I LOVE my PrismaColor pencils!!! I have been a happy customer for years... I haven't had too much trouble with breakage... maybe i've just been lucky... I use a PrismaColor sharpener to sharpen my pencils...I also like to use Gamsol with my pencils .. amazing what that does for them... Thank you for your honest opinion.. Hugs! deb

[eleanordixon]

I have the 150 set and I have never had a breakage! Out of all my pencils, (and I have them all), Prismacolors are my favourite.

[Ahart_]

i have had prismacolor pencils for like 5 months and they dont break and i like them as much as my coloursoft pencils

[johncarrico]

My prismacolors don’t break with my electric sharpener the key is to give them a slight twist while sharpening ..and they require a real light amount of color per layer also .. but i love them i do super bright very pretty work with them ..love them

[gwenhyfarbeati]

lisa: "blah blah creamy blah creamy"
me: "bleh really don't like the word creamy in this context."
lisa: "i hate the word creamy. i need to find an alternative."
MIND READER

[mememex-tv]

I love prismacolor, they don’t break, they paint so perfect, eve though I use other brands, derwent are amazing too, steadtler and faber too. Lyra are fantastic too. But my favourite are prismacolor.

[ClaudiaSketches]

I bought a 72 set and they arrived a couple of days ago. I bought Polychromos earlier this year and chose those over the Prismas because of the complaints about breakage. I bought my set on sale on Amazon for £34, so I wanted to give them a shot.

I can see why a lot of artists like them though- they are so smooth to lay down. They don't have any of that scratchy, dry quality that other coloured pencils have. They are quite opaque and very pigmented. (And I'm not sure how much better it is, but I prefer the word "buttery" over "creamy).

[emmalong]

I use prismacolor pencils. I love them. I have one set that breaks a lot because my 5 year old dropped them on the hard floor... but my other larger set doesn't break at all.

[FortheBudgies]

I had 11 pencils out of a set of 75 that broke every 1/2 inch. I emailed prisma and told them which were broken and they ended up sending me a whole new set. I microwaved the broken ones and they don't break anymore. I am just a dabbler, not professional, so for what I do and as I learn Prismas are great and the quality issues are manageable. If you get a bad set that was damaged in shipping just be persistent and pester the company to replace them. I just sent 1 email and had a quick response and about 6 weeks later I had an entire new set. Not ideal, but considering the price difference I'll take it.

[charliebaker]

mine dont break often, and i abuse them alot, honestly the sets i get from my local art store hold up

[ooXChrissieXoo]

I don't think it's a waste when I bought my set of Prismacolors. Very honestly, they are nice pencils to work with if you like creamy very pigmented pencils.
Lead breakage isn't a problem in my set of 12, 24 and 48, and I bought 3 sets because I just wanted to test them with a set of 12, but then I wanted more color, I really like the tin design for the 24, but I meant to get a set of 48, so i bought both. Used all 3 sets, and never a single problem, except I'm not a fan of creamy crayony pencil. So it doesn't really matter to me if it's Luminance or Prismacolor. I won't like them both as much as my Polychromos.
People also said Derwent pencils are bad, due to its lack of pigments. But it's not about what's bad, it is about if you have use for those pencils or not. I personally find the lack of pigments useful for creating some very pale colors, and the very hard lead can create a finer finish, because the point of the pencil can really get into the teeth of the paper.

[miavos]

So many people mention 'breakage' but I have never had a problem with breakage. I think the type of sharpener one uses is very important. I use the school type with handle. I love my Prismas.

[PumpkinPails]

I like Prismacolors, but supplement with a few Polychromos for fine details. I can't afford the Polychromos set, but even if I could I think I'd still use them the same way. The Prismas for laying down large swaths of color and the Polys for those fine details like hair and veins on plants.

[camronpearson]

I absolutely adore this girl and love her work, but dang, she can easily get a part time job as an auctioneer!! Wow! I can't even THINK that fast!! LOL . ..keep up the great work, Doll, and thank you for your time!!!

[IllustrationsByPete]

Maybe "buttery" or "velvety"?

[ladyhecate]

I love Prismacolor Premier pencils. I have many different brands of colored pencils including other top brands such as FC polychromos, etc. I will not buy Holbein simply because one cannot buy open stock. I do not have trouble with breakage since I bought the Sharpener: dahle 133. That solved the breakage issue problem once and for all. Of course, I also handle my Prismacolor pencils with care. With the sharpener, one can sit it on the corner of where you are working and lock it in or it is a stand alone and you can move it around. That is what I do. It is a manual sharpener and sharpens to a fine point. It took a bit to figure out how it works to get the fine point but figure I did. I now love my pencils as they are easy to blend, hardly no breakage and the beautiful colors.

[anneloder]

I h
I to have had the breaking issue but I love the soft creamy feel. I really.love your channel because you are really good at explaining things. I like the review of smart art too

[timea]

I am 13 years old, and i use the Faber Castell Polychromos 24 set and the faber Castell 9000 set. Maybe it's not the best Idea to use quality pencils for practice. But my parents are super supportive and my that usually burn art project on tree boards and then I use to get to paint them with acrylics. Now my parents wants to buy me the hole Fabre castell polychromos set because I am really used to them and I absolutely LOVE to daw with them especially because I practice to daw realistic. (Sorry if I was really bad at explaining, I'm Swedish)

[sawyer]

i personally LOVE derwent color soft pencils. they are soft but not to soft.