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.

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.

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

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

Very professional and efficient! Your art is amazing🤓

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

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

Excellent work ❤. Keep it up 👍...

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…

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

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

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

Prismacolr is expensive everywhete except USA.

I love the wax of prisma on how easy to blend

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 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.

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?

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.

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?

Sounds like you need both!

Like polychromos because I have

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

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 🙂

비교 하면서 보니 색감 차이가 확실히 느껴지네요~~😊😊

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.

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

In Poland and Brazil: Prismacolor is more expensive than policromos

What is wax bloom

W

Can you teach us how blend prismacolors in skin tones