Hi everyone and welcome back to another week on the Chrissie Murphy Designs blog. You know, before I ever launched this blog, I spent a fair bit of time planning. I can remember sitting in one of my fave coffee shops one lunch hour, I had my notebook and I was trying to come up with 50 topics for blog posts. When the blog launched and I started creating content, the list went out the window… until today! Because this is one of my original blog post topics – Prismacolor’s, and why I love them. It’s a bit of a review, so let’s get into it.
Their Opacity Level = Master!
If you’ve been following my work for a while, you’d know I LOVE vibrant colours. I’m not a pastel girl, or an earthy tones kinda chick, I love vibrancy! And I love my colours to be opaque, because you need to be able to get lost in them.
In my mind, translucency leaves too much room for interpretation, because you see other things in the colour. It’s a bit like being in a mist versus being in a fog. Translucency is like the mist, you can see your way through it and make out other forms. Opaque colours are like the fog, they’re dense and easy to get lost in. And I want people to get lost in the colours of my work.
I know, that’s a lot of waffle just to point out that Prismacolor are a brilliant opaque coloured pencil. The colour is smooth, creamy, soft and waxy. If you can recall working with Craypas crayons as a child, they are a little bit like that. Just not quite as soft. But the creamy waxy results are very similar. The colour goes down so thick that opacity is easily achieved.
They burnish and blend with a shine!
Because the colours go down so thickly, burnishing and blending the colours can produce a wax-like shine. I’ve had my ups and downs with this. There’s been times when I wanted to blend and burnish further, but it was impossible because no more colour would take to the paper. And then there’s been times when I’ve finished a gem and the shine adds even more to the overall result. It makes the gem look even more like a gem! Score!
Maybe it’s because I’m limited in my experience with other brands, but Prismacolor’s do this well and I’m yet to find another brand that replicates these sorts of results. I keep coming back to the softness of the colour, because other coloured pencil brands have much harder cores. It’s really about there being different strokes for different folks, some artists prefer the harder core, but for me, I love the soft waxy cores of Prismacolor’s. You’re either gonna love them or hate them, there is no in between.
There is a huge range!
Quite a while ago, I bought the full set of Prismacolor Premier Coloured Pencils. There’s 150 pencils in the set and there hasn’t been a time where I haven’t had a colour that I needed. I don’t draw portraits of people, but if I did, there’s such an awesome range of skin colour tones in the set to choose from. There’s also metallics (gold, silver and bronze) and hands down, the best white pencil on the market today is the Prismacolor.
You might be wondering what happens when I run out of a colour. I just do a search for it on eBay. There are plenty of sellers in Australia and overseas who sell individual coloured pencils. I just order the colours I need as required.
Each pencil has a colour code and a colour name
This is vital when it comes to reordering. Each pencil is numbered, and the colour name is also displayed on the pencil. I have a sticky note on my desk that has the colour codes of the pencils I need to reorder. When I have a half a dozen or so on the list, I will do an order online to replenish my stocks.
They are a professional quality coloured pencil
Again, I confess to having limited experience with other brands, but Prismacolor’s produce professional results every time I use them. This is the main reason I have such limited experience with coloured pencils, because I haven’t needed to look elsewhere.
Don’t get me wrong here, I have watercolour pencils and regular coloured pencils I love in other brands. If you haven’t tried Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, you need to because they are amazing!!! But… I keep coming back to my Prismacolor’s over and over again. They produce professional polished results that I’m satisfied with time after time. And if you’re on a winner, why look elsewhere hey?
So there you have it, I’ve shared it all about Prismacolor’s – And Why I Love Them
You know I mentioned earlier that you’re either going to love them or hate them. A google search on Prismacolor’s will also bring up a tonne of negative reviews. There are many people who feel just as passionately about why they’re no good, as to those who love them.
At the end of the day, it comes back to you, the artist. It comes back to what you’re looking for in a coloured pencil, the results you’re wanting to achieve and whether or not you’re a mist lover or a fog dweller. I dwell in the fog.
If you do too, and you love Prismacolor’s as much as I do, I’d love to hear why? If you’re passionate about another type of coloured pencil, leave me a comment, I’d love to learn why you love them as much as you do.
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Until next time, listen to your heart and sharpen your coloured pencils. A masterpiece awaits!
Bless you my friend
Chrissie xx
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