Prismacolor Vs Polychromos - Which Colored Pencils Should You Buy?

Why do you think that the Pablo's aren't mentioned very often.? I really like the Pablo colored pencils and find them to be of very good quality. But, they aren't mentioned all that often. Thank you.

I find the reason for breakage on the prismas is the lead is offset on some of them. If you look at the flat end of a handful of them you can usually see a couple where the lead is off center in the wood. Quality control issue? Also sharpen them by hand not in and electric sharpener

i prefer the prismacolor.

One thing I have found with Prisma is use no tooth paper and put down much less material. I like posterboard and card stock.

This is a great, professional overview of the two popular brands. Thanks!

I want ro buy Prismacolor but they are to expensive

I still would prefer the prismacolor pencils

Very helpful.

This is the video I've been waiting for. I've always used prismas but so hard to get in the UK for a good price. I've just got the polychromos set and can't work with them

Yea i saved and saved. Im getting the polys in the wooden case and the full prismacolor set. Im really redicovering my art side again. Thanks for video.

Very well explained 👏❤👌

Like polychromos because I have

I love the wax of prisma on how easy to blend

Has anyone mixed the two types of pencils in the same drawing, do they blend well or somehow one repels the other? Like using the prisma as the initial base color and the oil-based pencil for the detail work?

This is sooooo helpful!
Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge!

This was a really good comparison video. I have both brands and I agree.
If I had to give up ALL of the pencils I own right now, and start all over again from the beginning with new pencils, I would start with the 72 set of the prismacolors, and either the 36 or 60 set of the polychromos, depending on how much money I could spend.

I'm going to be blunt: Prisma colors are garbage.

Back in the early 2000s they were great, But they're manufacturing methods and location have changed and they are now a complete waste of money, No matter how cheap you find them.

If you want, oil-based, Go for Polychromos. If you do realism and you want wax based, Go for Caran D'ache. If you want the best of both worlds— A phenomenal mixture of wax and oil, for any type of drawing—go for Holbein.

What is wax bloom

Thanks very much for the very fair, very balanced review! One additional question I have is whether there's a significant difference between them when blending with solvents?

Oil vs Wax .... Oil (Polychromos) takes more patience when it comes to blending/layering. Wax (Prisma) is easier and beginner friendlier.

That's actually true i keep hearing people saying prsma is cheaper its around 30 dollars for 72 pencils while in my country the 72 set is more than 100 dollars

Love your work and your presentation is easy to listen to and natural x

비교 하면서 보니 색감 차이가 확실히 느껴지네요~~😊😊

Excellent work ❤. Keep it up 👍...

I saved up and bought both. I like the Prismas for my colouring books, but for drawing I much prefer the Polychromos. I think Faber Castell’s products are superior and excellent quality, I have their watercolour pencils, pastel pencils and watercolour paints. Prismas are great for blending and colour blocking areas smoothly, but Polychromos, for me at least, feel, handle and look better and produce results I am happier with.

Is one better than the other when drawing over with pen & ink? 🙂

I have a set of Berol Karisma pencils, which are the predecessors of the Prismacolors (Berol was bought by Sanford and then became Prismacolor). I think the Karisma pencils were the best but never took to the Prismacolors because of production issues. I found that the frequent breakage when sharpening was down to the core not being centred. In fact, that pink pencil you are showing in the video has an off-centre core! This means that when you start sharpening, the force exerted on the pencil is uneven and that may lead the point to break. I really wish they would address this because it is a well-known issue and if they manage to fix it, it would make their pencils so much better! WIth regards to wax bloom, the Karisma's never had an issue with these either. Derwent Coloursoft pencils are the worst I have experienced for this. They even form wax bloom on the pencil core if you don't use them often enough 🙂

Sounds like you need both!

I keep hearing about wax bloom problem with the Prismas, as well. have used them for a long time now and in all honesty, I got wax bloom once and only once and that was the very first time I used them. I used only a few layers because a) obviously, I was used to them and was getting a feel for them and b) the paper quality I was using and again, I wasn’t use to it either. It wasn’t horrible per se’, but it isn’t the greatest either (NOT createspace/Amazon paper.)

I could be totally wrong about this, but based off of my own experience, plus listening to/reading comments by others who also love layering and who also don’t get wax bloom from their Prismas, in my opinion, the main reason that so many have this problem is because the vast majority of people who use them, are either a) heavy handed, b) don’t like layering (or at least don’t like layering with these, while they have no problem doing do with say, Polychromos). I believe that it is when you use only 1 to say only a few thicker layers that cause the wax bloom.
I have also heard of people finding it coming back up through the image, several years later, unless they spray fixative on the images. I can truthfully say, that I have never seen that happen with my images…not even with the very first image that I did, where I did initially get some wax bloom and I don’t spray my images…

I use Prismacolor because it's the pencil that feels right in my hand, it layers and blends nicely, and it's the brand most easily available in open stock at the art supply stores in my area.

Can you teach us how blend prismacolors in skin tones

Thanks, been looking for a decent video comparison. I’m still trying to find the justification on spending on a decent set. I bought a set of shuttle art pencils which had some favourable reviews, and were have the price, but really fancy some more expensive ones.

I prefer prismacolor but I agree polychromos is better for animals. What do you think of Caran d’ ache luminance?

Very professional and efficient! Your art is amazing🤓

Prismacolr is expensive everywhete except USA.

There is also a nice video here on YT on the Faber Castell website showing how the pencils are made. Very interesting to watch.

In Poland and Brazil: Prismacolor is more expensive than policromos

One other thing to consider is the type of paper. I mostly work on sanded papers and personally find Polychromo pencils work better. However, when working on smoother surfaces I do enjoy that almost buttery quality of the Prisma pencils.

Can they be mixed..use each brand in a drawing?

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Thank you for this, I was waiting for this comparison ❤❤❤ It was pretty useful 😊