Prismacolor Premier Coloured Pencils review

" Prismacolor Premier® Soft Core Colored Pencils feature soft, thick cores that are perfect for layering, blending
and shading. These colored pencils are vivid and intense in one stroke and subtle and soft in the next, making them
great for both beginners and professionals. Available in a wide array of rich, vibrant colors, these high-quality
colored pencils help add enhanced impact to artwork. "

Taken from the Prismacolor website - www.prismacolor.com

Anyone visiting the Prismacolor website looking for information on these pencils will be rather dissatisfied, as there is very little detail at all. What we did find, however, we thought we would delve into and dissect in this article, whilst doing our own research into the history of these pencils. In this article, we discuss our personal views of these pencils from our own trials, but we also include other artists' views, which will provide a wider range of information and opinions.

We know how popular these coloured pencils are, and that many of you reading this article, have been using them for years, maybe even decades. There will be those new to the brand, and those who no longer use them, having swapped to another brand altogether. 

​In this article we go into more detail about this range and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this brand.

CHECKED AND CORRECTED

Prismacolor claim:

Bring out the soft side of any illustration or art project with Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils with soft cores. These pencils feature creamy cores that are the artist’s choice for blending, shading, and layering.

• Soft, thick cores are perfect for shading and shadows
• Ultra-smooth, even color laydown

---

The Prismacolor Premier pencils are definitely soft, probably one of the softest pencils currently available. They are also very creamy, which means that the application is going to be smoother and easier to apply than most coloured pencils. If there was ever an oil paint in pencil form, these would fit the description perfectly. They blend so well, with a butter-like feel, and the pigments are as vibrant as they look.
In our opinion, it almost spreads over the paper like an oil paint, and it is likely that this is one of its biggest appeals.  

The cores are 4mm wide, which is standard for a soft, wax-based pencil. The extra thickness adds a little more support, but this does not make them unbreakable. Softer pencils, by their very nature, creates a certain amount of dust than firmer pencils and are more prone to breakages. How you care for them is of the utmost importance, especially when it comes to sharpening them.
Enough talk, let's show you!

This allows the artist to achieve highly pigmented drawings with less effort. This piece of work depicting the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights, was produced using just 6 colours from the Premier range. Soft lead pencils like Prismacolor Premier allow for even coverage with less hard edges,  allowing you to cover an area much swifter than if using a hard lead pencil. It also 'reduces' the hard edges and makes it easier to blend.
The importance of layering and the introduction. Use the white and black pencils to achieve the values in your work rather than using a large amount of colours, is what makes this drawing effective.
Including other products such as metallic pencils and pens, can add further interest to your work and adds an additional level of realism to your coloured pencil work. 

The percentage of pigment used in the Premier Soft Core Colored Pencils is also greater, resulting in more vibrant colors.

​There are 150 colours available, which include metallics and neon colours, and there is also a colourless blender which softens transitions without any colour change.
​We purchased a small tin of Prismacolor Premier pencils after seeing so many fantastic pieces of art being created with them so we could trial them ourselves. If there was ever an oil paint in pencil form, these would fit the description perfectly.

" A major contributing factor to pencil breakage is if the pencil cores and not central in the barrel"
" In my opinion the hand crank sharpeners are the best because the pencil is kept completely still, teeth in the hand crank sharpener grab hold of the pencil and keep it in place while the blade rotates around the pencil. When we use a handheld sharpener, the pencil is twisted and the blade is kept still, it is this twisting action, combined with the off centred core that causes pressure on the core, causing it to snap. "
​From The Art gear guide

Colours from the set of 12 Prismacolor Premier pencils

Northern Lights drawing using Prismacolor Premier pencils on black paper

---

Wax bloom issues

The wax used in the Premier Soft Core Colored Pencils is a soft wax, which makes their color lay down smooth and creamy. Wax bloom is not limited to the Prismacolor pencil.

What is wax bloom and what causes it? Wax bloom is a natural oxidation process of wax-based materials, just like rust is an oxidation of iron. It appears as a cloudy white film over a drawing or color lay down. If you are plagued with wax bloom, simply wipe your drawing with a clean, dry cloth and spray it with a final fixative to seal out air. If you find your drawings are prone to wax bloom, you may want to use a workable fixative intermittently as you layer your artwork and then finish with a final fixative. Wax bloom is especially prevalent in warmer climates and for artists who apply greater pressure when working with colored pencils.

The lead of a coloured pencil is made of pigment, kaolin (a fine clay), wax and cellulose. The wax ensures for the characteristic creamy colour transfer of the pencil and makes the colours resistant to water. At the same time, however, the wax has the tendency to form a white film on the paper. This film disappears when a thin layer of concentrated fixative is applied. The more fixative, the glossier the result. If a matt finish is required, matt acrylic varnish can be used. A fixative can also be used to protect the drawing from smudging. (edit this to fit PP)

AN UPDATED SECTION TO MOVE ACROSS TO THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ONCE COMPLETE

Prismacolor claim:

Prismacolor: " The Premier soft core colored pencils have leads that are strong enough to be sharpened to a precise point. That means you can effortlessly switch between powerful lines, delicate blends, and silky shadowing. "

• Thick, robust leads resist cracking and chipping

---

The cores are 4mm wide, which is standard for a soft, wax-based pencil. The extra thickness adds a little more support, but this does not make them unbreakable. Softer pencils, by their very nature, are more prone to breakages and this can create dust during use. These pencils can be sharpened to a point and achieve some fine detail, however the point does not stay sharp for long. That is not a fault, simply a characteristic of a soft, wax based pencil. That said, we are very aware of the issues surrounding these pencils. Online searches offer a long list of complaints such as split barrels, warped wood, leads that constantly break, or even fall out of the barrel completely. In the end, these pencils may offer poor value for money in some cases. Not all pencils are like this, it may be a faulty batch, or if you regularly order from an online seller, you may simply be more aware of these issues, particularly if you order from an international supplier, where there is more possibility of damage in transit. There is the complaint of the fault being with the manufacturer and that once production was moved to Mexico, the quality fell below the usual standard. As these complaints spans at least a decade, Prismacolor may the possibility of mass production whilst throwing up some damaged products from time to time, providing quantity over quality means that they can provide their products at a competitive price. For those buying from outside the USA, you may not benefit from such great prices, due to shipping costs.


Enough talk, let's show you what we mean...

When you receive your pencils, the tips are sharpened to a short point in the factory, which will help minimise any damage in transit. 

Breakage issues

We sharpened our pencils to 3 different lengths. The short point is the factory set length, which is achieved by using the large 10.5mm hole. The standard length is from a standard 8mm sharpener and the long length created with the Kum long tip pencil sharpener.

Checking the end of the pencils for any possible defects such as off centre leads or cracks in the barrel will provide some information on what kind of issues you may encounter with some of your pencils. The split in the wood of the red pencil seen in the next image, can be a warning of possible breakages. That said, we have not encountered any breakages during use or during the sharpening process. 

It is impossible to avoid crumbling over your paper if your pencils are prone to this issue. The softer the lead, the more dust. The longer the point on your pencil, the more likely it is to break during use as has happened with the yellow pencil. There is a little less lead breakage and dust on the shorter point of the red pencil, but even less on the orange pencil which has a short point. These pencils have a short lead straight from the factory, so it is worthwhile keeping this in mind. 

Caring for your Prismacolor soft core pencils

• Avoid dropping your pencils onto a hard surface. Place them somewhere safe, where they cannot roll onto the floor.
• To avoid inner breakages, store your pencils safely when not in use. Placing them in a pencil wrap or a pencil chest, will help keep them protected. 
• During use, stand your pencils upright in a container, with the tips pointing up. Your pencils are safer in a container, rather than laying them on your desk, where they could roll off onto the floor.

Karismacolor pencils - Prismacolors' European pencil

Blenders & Burnishers - How to use them

How a sharpener can help your pencil techniques

Coloured pencil mini tutorial - How to layer

Lightfast information and colour chart

Prismacolor: " The Premier soft core colored pencils have pigments of unmatched quality "

• Lightfast, richly saturated pigments

---

Prismacolor Premier pencils are available in 150 colours. Although the lightfast ratings of these pencils are rated using the ASTM D6901 system, some are less lightfast than others, which will matter if you create art for paying customers. 
There are 84 colours that offer very good and excellent lightfast ratings, so buying the full set may not be as cost-effective as you thought. As with most pencil ranges, the earthy colours are the most lightfast and the pinks, purples and blues are the least lightfast.

Lightfast ratings may not be important to you if you use the pencils for colouring books, during art demonstrations or to create art where you will be selling prints from the original drawing. If you do want to protect your work and have used pencils with lower lightfast ratings, there are ways to protect your drawings. You could spray a  UV fixative over the completed drawing and/or during the framing process, ensure the glass is of a UV or museum quality standard, and hang the art in an area that is not hit with strong sunlight for extended periods.

---

CHARACTERISTICS

Base: ​Wax based

Vertical Divider

Hard or soft lead:  Soft

Vertical Divider

Lightfast rating:  ASTM D-6901

Vertical Divider

Costs: RRP £1.90 (ave)

Vertical Divider

No. of colours: 150

---

ADVANTAGES
* Vibrant and strong colour application
​* Lightfast - ASTM - 6901
* Soft pencils
* Great blendibility
* Affordable (outside the USA, less so)
* Open stock
* Large range of colours
* Extensively available in the USA

DISADVANTAGES
* Some colours have poor lightfast ratings
* Customer complaints of poor quality wood and consistent breakages
   - complaints span at least 10 years
* Wax bloom issues
* Few UK suppliers for open stock or sets
* Soft pencils can break easier

---

Design and packaging

The packaging on the Prismacolor Premier pencils, like all brands, has changed over the years. Looking at the older designs, it is the illustrations of today that is far more attractive and visually compelling, which will certainly improve their appeal and their sales.

Image source: EhPencils

---

The artwork on their current designs are highly competent, as well as vibrant and engaging. They show off the range of colours the Premier range offers and against the stark black 

Sets available:

Individual pencils

Metal tin of 12

Tin of 12 - Landscape

Tin of 12 - Under the Sea

Tin of 12 - Botanical Garden

Box set of 23 - Magna art

Metal tin of 24

Tin of 24 - Portrait

Metal tin of 36

Metal tin of 48

Metal tin of 72

Mixed Media set of 79

Metal tin of 132 colours

Box set of 150 colours

If you wish to know what colours are found in each set, we came across a website by Jenny's Crayon Collection, who has created a list providing this information. View the Prismacolor Premier sets and colours charts.

---

Products & Accessories

Prismacolor also have other products that can be used alongside their pencils. These include the Verithin pencil range, which are more suited to finer detailing. They also sell markers, pastels, graphite pencils and water soluble pencils. Their accessories include blenders, sharpeners and an accessory kit.

BLENDER
​This blender is a colourless version of the Prismacolor Premier pencils and helps to soften hard edges. It will smooth out applications without altering the tones in your colour palette. Colours remain bright and brilliant. Waterproof formula. You can find out more about the Prismacolor blender as well as other ways on how to blend your coloured pencils in our article.

VERITHIN COLOURED PENCILS
The Verithin pencils have a hard core and are ideal for use with the Premier soft core pencils. Thin cores are perfect for details, edges and lettering. They are available in 36 colours.

PENCIL SHARPENER
The Prismacolor Premier pencil sharpener has one blade that provides a fine point and a separate blade that sharpens your Prismacolor pencils to a medium point. The blades are premium sharpened steel.

ACCESSORY KIT
The Prismacolor Premier coloured pencil accessory kit includes a colourless blender pencil and dual-tip colourless blender pen. There is also an ebony graphite pencil and a pencil extender, a plastic eraser, a kneaded eraser and a sharpener.

---

Where can you buy stock?

As a UK based website and knowing how few stockists there are of the Prismacolor Premier pencils, the two links below take you to online stores based in the UK that sell these pencils. They also ship internationally too. Links to other sellers for those outside the UK will be added soon.

purchase single pencils - uk

sets and singles (boxes of 12) - uk

The metamorphosis of the Prismacolor pencil

Heinrich Berolzheimer founded the The Eagle Company, based in North America in 1856. In 1969, Berol Ltd (established in 1845), purchased The Eagle company. Throughout the years, Berol has amalgamated with others but its name is still in use in the UK and Canada. Today, the Prismacolor pencil is manufactured under the Newell group. Having moved through numerous companies, production has too, and this will have seen fluctuations in quality.

---

Eagle & Turquoise Prismacolor

The Eagle Turquoise Prismacolor

The Eagle Prismacolor

​The artist grade Prismacolor pencil range was launched in 1938 by the Eagle Pencil Company, which was based in North America and marketed as Eagle Prismacolor. The Eagle Turquoise pencil line was started earlier in 1901. Some of the oldest looking Prismacolor coloured pencils, combined both titles, bearing the title Eagle Turquoise Prismacolor. The Cold Grey Very Light 963 pencil seen above, was discontinued in the early 1990's and replaced with the grey tones you find today. There were 8 colours in this collection and none were replicated in the new grey tones.
Image credits: www.brandnamepencils.com

---

Berol Prismacolor

The Berol Prismacolor

​Berol Ltd. purchased the Eagle Pencil Co. in 1969 and placed their brand name on the pencil. The pencils became the Berol Prismacolor. In 1986, Chairman Kenneth Berol, announced the family's intention to sell the company as there was no sixth generation family successor. The next era of the Prismacolor pencil was in motion once again.

---

Empire Prismacolor

The Empire/Berol Corporation Prismacolor

​In 1986, Berol was acquired by the Empire Pencil Corporation of Tennessee to form the Empire/Berol Corp.  Due to this amalgamation, this was the only Prismacolor pencil that was produced without a company name on the barrel. Empire owned the company for a short period before it was purchased by Sanford in 1995. Berol still continued to produce pencils under its own brand name during this time.

---

Berol Karismacolor - The European Prismacolor

The Berol Karismacolor pencil.

The European version of the Prismacolor pencil was called Karismacolor. This was manufactured in the UK under the Berol name. We believe these pencils were initially manufactured during the Empire years, which began in 1986. When Sanford acquired the Berol company in 1995, production of the Karisma pencil was moved to the USA. Due to falling sales, the European market became unviable and the line was discontinued at the beginning of 2005.
Read our comprehensive guide to the Berol Karismacolor Coloured Pencils.

---

Sanford Prismacolor

The Sanford Prismacolor

November 2, 1995 saw the Newell Company acquire the Berol Corporation with Berol being placed in its Sanford division. The merging of the two companies made Berol a branch of the Sanford Corporation. The Berol name continues to be used in the UK and Canada. The Prismacolor pencil was previously known as the 'thick core' but changed to 'soft core'  

---

Prismacolor Lightfast

The Sanford Prismacolor Lightfast

A new range called the Prismacolor lightfast, was introduced when Sanford took over. These pencils were measured using the ATSM lightfast guide, and each colour were marked using LF1 and LF2 ratings. This was in the early days of lightfast ratings and it was costly to undertake such rigourous testing, which showed in the pricing. Due to these high costs, artists were not buying and the line became unsustainable. The pencils were discontinued in 2011.

---

The current Prismacolor

The Prismacolor Premier

The Scholar Prismacolor

Todays Pismacolor pencil is known as the Premier line. This is the artist grade, with each pencil rated between 1 and 5 under the ATSM D-6901 lightfast system. The earthy colours normally have the superior lightfast ratings. The jewel colours (pinks, blues, purples and some light/pastel tones) tend to have the lowest. There are currently 150 colours available. It was previously known as 'thick core' but is now called 'soft core'.
The Scholar range is the student grade, which are not lightfast. They are harder than the Premier line which presents fewer breakages. They are also sold in box sets, ideal for school use. There are 60 colours in the line.

Mention about the Eberhard Faber amalgamation too. This is where the NuPastels came from

---

All sources used for historical information:
Colour My World - Pt 1      -      Colour My World - Pt 2      -     ​Brand Name Pencils      -       Grace's Guide     -     Art Pencils rare

---

​Article written: February 2016
Updated: 2021