With the prismacolor pencils I use their little barrel sharpener and I use the short point setting and doing that I haven't seen any breaking. I just bought the polychromos 120 set in the wood box saved heaps using black Friday sale which is what I would recommend people wait for the big sales of the year
Bought the 72 set of Prismacolour recently on amazon USA site, was delivered yesterday, haven't tried it yet. I also have Polychromos, bought the 24 set a while back and have since added 26 more individual colours. I love the polychromos more out of all the pencils I've tried. Next fave is Derwent drawing pencils. I'm not crazy about Caran d'ache and I hope the prismas are not too similar to them cos I have a few individual Caran d'Ache and I just hate the wax bloom. I'm definitely a Polychromos girl. And I heard that the Derwent coloursoft are a great alternative for prismacolours for those struggling to get a hold of the prismas.
Thank you for a good comparison video. I dont have Prismacolor, because they are not as available where I live as the Polychromos. Having said that… Since the core of the Polychromos are harder, they will need sharpening less often than Prismacolor, is my estimation, so that will weigh up some of the cost.
Hi Gemma, great video! I also love the polychromos and should maybe start adding individual pencils to my set like you do. I’m also an art teacher and wondered how you make time for your own art/making content? Do you have a schedule that you try to stick to or just draw when you feel like it?xx
Hi 😊 thank you so much! I usually make time on a Wednesday evening, however motivation can be affected by school stress! I try and make a video each week, but when school is getting tough I end up losing track of my schedule a bit. I also try making the most of the holidays and have strict boundaries on what school work I do at home x
I started out with Derwent , i have both polychromos and prismacolor, but prefer polychromos everytime, i can get more layers, easier details and a far superior depth of colour. Polychromos also seem to last alot longer too. Prismacolor are so soft and prone to breakage that although they appear cheaper, they cost more in the long run because you have to replace them more frequently. That and lightfastness is important too. Loving Derwent lightfast. Also you can create amazing and realistic art with just a 12 set if you're on a budget x
Highly recommend them, they are so vibrant and I think unmatched too. The range of lightfast purples in unrivalled, most other brands the purples seem to be fugitive. They have some stunning pale colours (wheat and Arctic blue) that are similar to luminance 10% albeit a different hue. A great range of neutrals too. They are softer than polychromos but firmer than prismacolor. Get a few openstock of the colours you know you'll use, and use them alongside your other pencils. They do play nice with both caran dache and polychromos
Absolutely love my prismas, never find they break and I combine them with faber castells. I also use solvent sometimes, but you must use good paper. Not a real fan of caring d ache, they're OK.
Thanks for your review! I love the albrecht Durer pencils. Have the pablo from Caran d’ache and the Polychromos. I take the polychromos most of the time because I have them on my couch. They are in a leather rol. The pablos, I bought them separate, laying in special drawers for pencils. But the Polychromos are nearby. So also when I teach I tell people this. Also the Inktense and the graphitint. Don’t like the graphitint. But personal.
I have the 120 set of polys but have had a smaller set of Albrecht Druher watercolour pencils pencils & up to buying the full 120 set of Albrecht Druher a few years ago, they had remained as just a normal coloured pencil as the colour payout whether wet or dry is great. You couldn't really do the same as inktense as by activating the colour pay out it is like a better colour happens when inktense is activated.❤
Oh man trying to get a Prismacolor set for a reasonable price in the UK is near impossible, glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. That combined with how prone to breakage they are, they just don't seem worth it to me. I personally much prefer the polychromos and Derwent Artist pencils, even though they do involve more layers (however blender pencils have made things easier)
I just bought the prismacolor today and I am so disappointed... the more you layer, the more it slides and makes wax blooms grrr I hope the store will take them back :(
I got Prismacolors as a gift for someone one who wanted to learn colored pencils, and like you she doesn't like how they feel. I'm hoping she grows to like them eventually. 😅 Prismacolor are expensive here too, for me personally I'm so new to colored pencils, I buy cheap ones since to me I have been using them to relax with coloring books. 😅
Hopefully she'll enjoy them eventually, it took me a while to appreciate them, as I was so used to a harder core pencil. There are lots of great cheap pencils out there. Enjoy our colouring!
