Easily blended, brilliantly colored, well crafted pencils. Good for any type of work. Very waxy; if you are heavy-handed, watch out for blooming. They are a little too soft for precision work; buy a few Verithin. Sanford Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencil Set, 48/Tin
I have been doing illustration work for my personal enjoyment since the 1980s, and I have been using Prismacolor Premier colored pencils for nearly 15 years. This 48-pencil set was the one I started with, and it served me well. After using these pencils for a while I soon found that I wanted to expand my horizons and I invested in the 120 pencil set. Now you have the option of 72, 120, or 130+ pencil set. Enjoy!
I have to tell you that these pencils are a pleasure to work with. I use them mainly for doing biological and scientific illustration, but I use them for other things as well. I was introduced to them by a professional biological illustrator who's guidance was, use only the best. Of the colored pencils I've used over the years, these are the best I've found.
Prismacolor Premier colored pencils have a soft lead, so soft that you need to tread lightly as you apply them, or the lead is easily broken. On the other hand, the soft lead makes these colors much easier to blend once they are on the paper, and allow you to put down your colors layer by layer and produce the effects you are after.
I find that for my work a good companion investment for these colored pencils is an electric pencil sharpener, because a sharp lead allows you to put the color down onto paper with greater precision, and gives better results.
I have used these pencils on a variety of surfaces ranging from drafting velum to mat board to Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Board Pads - 14 x 17, Bristol Pad, 20 sheets, Vellum, and Canson Mitientes 122 Flannel Gray - 19x25 Inch Sheet which comes in many colors, as well as hot press and cold press board, 300 lb. water color paper, and a variety of other art boards. Of course, colored pencil works best on a surface that has at least a moderate tooth (paper surface roughness), because once the tooth is filled with lead it is extremely difficult to put down more color.
Word of warning: Make sure that you handle these pencils carefully, because if you drop them on a hard floor the lead can break inside of the pencil, ruining it.
5 stars all the way! You will enjoy these pencils as long as you realize that you can't power them onto the paper, and that the lead will wear down quickly because they are so soft. Enjoy!
Everyone who has used these pencils, and even those who research them, will know that the soft cores are prone to breakage usually from handling.
1) Check your packaging!
This item was sent to me by Amazon in a box that allowed too much movement inside, and packing
material only on the bottom.
2) Check your pencils!
I found that 2 of the pencils were not from the set I ordered. They had different foil stamps
and a few pencils were shorter ( which means they were Used).
Make sure you get what you ordered, (I didn't get any Artstix in my package) It's not a debate about the usability of Artstix --just give me what I paid for!
All in all, I felt like someone was trying to pull a fast one at my convenience. At least I only have to wait another week (even though I am a Prime member) and hopefully will get the right item packaged and shipped correctly, new and unused.
These are very nice colored pencils. Of course with Amazon they came very quickly and were undamaged. I rated these as as 4 only because I find them to be a little too soft and smear or blend too easily. I am not a professional though, I only bought these to color coloring books and do some basic drawing with so the softness of the pencils maybe something that is sought after. I would say if you want pencils for detailed work and/or that do not smear easily to buy the Verithin line from Prismacolor as it is a harder core. I think I will end up going through these pencils faster than I would have hoped given the cost of them because of their softness.
These are great pencils. I would purchase them again but not thru Amazon. The product title and review stated Sanford Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencil Set 48/Tin with Two Bonus Artstix. The item came without the two Artstix. I contacted the seller and never got a reply. They also didn't look uniform. They still work great though. I would just pay the extra and buy them from an art supply store.
Packaging different (the reason I bought this was because I thought it had different art from the one w/ the orange lady), no art stix or metal sharpener. Pencils look used and out of place. NOT happy. I have seen other reviews w/ the same problems: but I thought since it happened once, it wouldn't happen again.
Still, great pencils though.
I got the pencils on time, and compared the horror I went through ordering a different set of pencils, this was easy. However...
1) There were no "bonus artstixs" in the package.
2) Package allowed for way too much movement and breakage.
3) All of the pencils were sharpened and as much as half an inch was missing from the pencils. (2 pencil tips were broken off from what looked like the sharpening)
4) They looked used! There were small dents and tiny scratches in all of the pencils, whether this is from someone using or "testing" them or package movement, I'm not sure.
All in all still great pencils, still work, but it's extremely disappointing to have to deal with such low quality from amazon. - Art Products - Prismacolor - Art Supplies - Pencils'
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