Summary prismacolor pencils

Reviewer's Comments

I use prismacolor pencils to color stamp images. To blend I use oderless mineral spirits. I have tried many other types of waxed pencils such as this and I find the prismacolor to have the most vibrant colors when used this way.
You do need to be careful that they don't drop or the leads may break inside..but I have only had this problem with a few pencils.

Summary Could have been no 1

Reviewer's Comments

If the built quailty of this brand wasn't so lousy then this would be my no 1 choice. The pencils are just wonderful to work with, very soft and blendable.

But the quility of the pencils.....no other brand breaks so much as Prismacolor. I think the value for the money is poor because if you are unlucky you might have lost almost the entire pencil the first time you sharpen it.

Summary A great staple

Reviewer's Comments

Opacity varies greatly between the colors, although this only becomes truly apparent when working on colored grounds or layering colors.

Summary Beautiful colours...

Reviewer's Comments

The Prismacolour pencils does the job amazingly. The colour is rich and creamy like butter. The price is average, but I can find open stocks of them at Michaels which I like since there's no other open stock CP o.O

I would definitely prefer that they increase their lead and wood quality since a few of them were down to a stub before I really even got to use them. I had stuck with Bruynzeel Fullcolor since forever since I had gotten a few sets for Christmas a few years ago. Eventually, as expected they died down, but I was determined to not let this stop my art work. I decided to try Prismas since so many praise them and I agree they do leave vibrant and beautifully colours, but the lead quality...eh.

I'm taking the defective pencils to my art stores for a refund and of course get new ones back ^^
I might try out some other brand, but I think I fell in love with them with the first few strokes. Damn the breaking lead!

Summary Uk version - Karismacolor

Reviewer's Comments

Karismacolor by Berol are the UK/European version of Prismacolor - for as long as there are any left in the shops or at online stockists. It's been announced that they are being discontinued.

I very much like the butteriness and blendability of my Karismas and especially value some colours - such as Greyed Lavendar - but I have had problems with the leads from time to time. More so than other quality brands.

I'm not sure I'm going to import any Prismas as the other brands seem to cater to my needs and I don't think I want to provide another reason for breakages to occur. On the other hand if a UK stockist imported them and sold them at reasonable price I'd probably continue to buy them.

The value for money rating reflects the number of pencils chewed up in sharpeners without being properly used!

Summary Very vivid color

Reviewer's Comments

I just love the bright vivid colors and blending is outstanding. There is a wide variety of colors. I bought the 120 set at dick blick on sale + hit a time when they had a $25 mail in rebate.
The only problem is the lead breaks easily when sharpend I bought a prisma color pencil sharpener and there is less breakage but sharpner works so well you need to be careful they sharpen quickly and break. I find them not too expensive to replace cost me between .99 to 1.09 I use my prismacolors on paper and also have done some drawing on wood with them and it looks painted.

Summary Prismacolor Pencils

Reviewer's Comments

I have used Prismacolor pencils for the past year. They do have a good variety of colors, sometimes too many in fact. The colors blend well. The biggest compliaint I have is that the lead breaks so easily. I loose a lot of pencil due to breakage. It's not from me dropping them either. They come out of the box that way. I don't know if it is a shipping issue or a quality issue. And you loose a lot of pencil when sharpening. When you are trying to get a very sharp point. It seems that you grind up a lot of pencil to get a really sharp point.

Summary Wood shaft cracks

Reviewer's Comments

The wood on many of my Prismacolors splits, actually cracks down the shaft and I loose a lot of the pencil. I have a request into Prismacolor and I will see if they have a solution. I live in a dry climate and wonder if this is the reason. I have purchased the pencils in various parts of the world so it cannot be just one batch which may have been bought primarily at a local or online store.

Summary Good selection

Reviewer's Comments

These pencils come in a wonderful variety of colors, one of the best things about them is that they have the most comprehensive selection of greys.

I do feel like this brand could use more greens, especially for people who like to do foliage, I've resorted to supplementing with other brands. The good news is Prisma's blend well with other brands. If they ever decided to extend their line of colors, I'd also wish for more browns and more blues! They do have lovely colors for skin tones, though I hope they can work through the lightfastness issues with some of those.

These pencils sharpen very well using a good electric sharpener. I know many people have trouble with breaking leads or wood casings, but I have not had a problem with that at all since using an electric sharpener.

I think these are about the best value for money because they deliver nice rich colors for a lot cheaper than many other artist grade brands. I would actually recommend buying in open stock though rather than getting sets because you just can't limit yourself to what each set offers (except for the 120 that is).

Summary too much breakage

Reviewer's Comments

Prismacolors are practically the industry standard and are easy to find, i.e. they are the best pencils found in most consumer-level art supply stores. But, I've had the worst time with them breaking in the shaft. I still use them for the reasons mentioned above, but I'm close to switching to another high-end brand.