Prismacolor Premier 72 set Unboxing and Review

Hello Everyone!

こんいちは、皆さん。

Today, I am going to show you and unboxing and share a review of the Prismacolor Premier 72 colored pencil set. 

I have had this set for a while, but as many of you may know, I like to actually use the products for a while before sharing them with you in order to give an honest review.

Here are a list of the colors contained in this set along with a page I've done of a color swatch. I will put the corresponding numbers with the color names as these are easier to identify for some people.

"One each of: Cream, Ginger Root, Lemon Yellow, Canary Yellow, Yellowed Orange, Yellow Ochre, Spanish Orange, Goldenrod, Sunburst Yellow, Sand, Orange, Pale Vermilion, Poppy Red, Carmine Red, Crimson Red, Crimson Lake, Magenta, Process Red, Mulberry, Pink, Blush Pink, Light Peach, Beige, Peach, Dark Purple, Lilac, Parma Violet, Violet, Imperial Violet, Violet Blue, Ultramarine, Copenhagen Blue, True Blue, Lt. Cerulean Blue, Peacock Blue, Cloud Blue, Indigo Blue, Light Aqua, Aquamarine, Parrot Green, Yellow Chartreuse, Chartreuse, Lime Peel, Spring Green, Apple Green, True Green, Grass Green, Olive Green, Dark Green, Sepia, Jade Green, Putty Beige, Light Umber, Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown, Terra Cotta, Tuscan Red, Dark Umber, Dark Brown, Warm Grey 20%, Warm Grey 50%, Warm Grey 70%, Cool Grey 20%, Cool Grey 50%, Cool Grey 70%, Black, French Grey 20%, French Grey 50%, French Grey 70%, White, Metallic Silver & Metallic Gold coloring pencils"

Color list taken from description at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Prismacolor-3599TN-Premier-Colored-72-Count/dp/B000E23RSQ

Prismacolor Premiere Pencils have a buttery texture. The leads are really soft and can lay down a lot of pigment very quickly. I personally find that this can be a good and bad thing. It is good in the sense that the pigment is high quality, but not so good when you want something really light. I find it difficult to use the pencil in a lighter shade with these pencils as opposed to other ones where you can vary the pressure used, in an easier way. This is because these pencils also have a very high wax content which allows for this intense pigment saturation.

Therefore, I have discovered that if I lay down my lightest colors with a pencil which has a harder lead or not as much pigment, I can then blend over it with these pencils and slowly achieve the technique and shades I want. 

These colored pencils are easy to blend, but if you want to mix a lot of colors together, you need to use a heavier paper in order to allow for more layers of color.

The leads are quite soft and can be quite delicate at times. I haven't had too much problem them breaking like some people have said, but I think it has to do with how I sharpen them and that I'm very careful with them. I can use quite a bit of pressure before they might break. 

As for the 72 set, for the price of professional quality colored pencils, the price is very good for this set. It is also a good variety of colors to start someone off or continue their collection. I bought them in order to continue collection and the price at the time was very good. 

The pencils come in a tin with three plastic trays. I recommend taking them out and putting them into a case for easier access, and I use the tin for other things. It's a very nice tin.

One unfortunate thing for Prismacolor is that they used to be made in the USA and now are made  in Mexico. I think the quality has suffered due to this outsourcing. Some of the leads are not completely centered as they should be in the wood casings. 

Overall I would rate these as a 4/5

Pros:

• Professional grade pigments for an economical price compared to other professional brands.
• Painted barrels generally match the color of the pigment.
• wax-based leads 
• Can be purchased individually or in sets.
• 150 color range - one of the largest in colored pencils. 
• Blend very easily.
• Heavily pigmented.

Cons:

• Can sometimes be rather fragile.
• You need to be careful when sharpening them.
• Difficult to color lightly when you don't want intense pigment or if you want to build up color
• Wax bloom can be a problem for some people.
• Quality might not be as consistent since the company was outsourced to Mexico from the United States. 

Overall Rating: 4/5

I hope you find this helpful and thank you for reading!

Purchase the Prismacolor 72 set:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Prismacolor-3599TN-Premier-Colored-72-Count/dp/B000E23RSQ

Hobby Lobby: https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art-Supplies/Drawing-Illustration/Colored-Pencils/Prismacolor-Premier-Pencil-72-Piece-Set/p/3872

Blick Art Materials: https://www.dickblick.com/products/prismacolor-colored-pencils-and-sets/

Master's Touch Charcoal Pencils

Hello everyone!

Today, I am reviewing the Master's Touch Charcoal Pencils. These can be purchased from Hobby Lobby. 

First off, I would like to say that this is going to be a very mixed opinion review, due to my experience with these.

These come in a pack of six. Two of each soft, medium, and hard woodless pencils. They are quite a bit shorter than a standard pencil. 

The first thing I noticed is that the packaging is a semi hard plastic and very difficult to get into. I had to cut along the side and even then, be careful to not cut myself on the very sharp edges of the plastic package.

At first, I thought I could simply store them in my pencil case with the other colored pencils and pencil media I have. However, three of them broke this way. I taped them back together and they are still useable, however these are quite fragile. I have since put them in a harder case seen here.

As for the way they work, they have a different feel to them along the different gradients. However, unlike graphite pencils and even colored pencils, there isn't much ability to shade with the charcoal itself. You therefore have to use a lot of various shading tools to get the effect you want.

The soft charcoal could lay down quite a lot and quite quickly. It was also, quite smooth as well. The hard was quite hard feeling and the strokes were maybe slightly lighter than the soft pencil. It was also a little scratchy on the paper. The medium, I guess you could say, is the best of both worlds.

As for sharpening, that is where the real adventure comes in. Rather, should I say, conundrum? Take your pick. I used my Bostitch Twist n' Sharp ratchet sharpener. It is very nice and gentle on colored pencils and so I thought it would work well for these. Well, it did not and nothing against the sharpener.

However, as I was sharpening the soft pencil to finish a drawing, this happens. It broke inside the sharpener. That was not the worst of it. I was able to get that chunk out rather easily, it was the fact that what appears to be a lacquer coating, like what other wooden cased pencils have, was instead some kind of plastic coating.

This got stuck in my sharpener, thereby decommissioning it for the moment. I had to use a number of things including paper clips and a craft knife to get it out. The poor pencil sharpener went through a lot for this. It is useable now, but I have had to remove the blade and resharpen it to remove rough edges from the damage.

I will be either using a cheap sharpener from now on or a craft knife to sharpen these.

Overall, the charcoal seems to be pretty good quality, but if you choose to purchase these, do not use your best sharpener on them.

Pros:

• Reasonably priced $5.99
• Woodless - you can use more of the charcoal, but it's slightly cleaner than the sticks.
• Three different kinds - two of each in soft, medium, and hard

Cons:

• Not much difference in shade between the gradients, just the feel on the paper.
• While sharpening, one broke off in the sharpener and slightly damaged the blade.
• Break easily if not well protected
• Packaging difficult to open

Final rating: 2/5 stars

Bonus: here is a picture I drew with these and graphite. It is of Faith Connors from Mirror's Edge Catalyst. I decided to do a face study with a picture from her in the art book. 

Charcoal Pencils: Apparently the woodless charcoal pencils are no longer available on the website, but they are still in the physical store. Here is a similar product, however. 

https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art-Supplies/Drawing-Illustration/Pencils/6-Count-Compressed-Charcoal-Sticks/p/11596

Mirror's Edge Catalyst art book:

https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/29-418/The-Art-of-Mirrors-Edge-Catalyst-Limited-Edition-HC

I hope you enjoyed this review. Please look forward to more!

Thank you for reading!

Hobby Lobby Tracing Paper Review

Master's Touch Tracing Paper

Tracing paper is something almost every artist uses for a variety of things. I use it to learn how to draw. I can place it on top of a picture and trace the lines and details to get a feel for how it is done. Then, I sometimes use graphite transfer paper to transfer the image or I draw it freehand in my sketchbook and learn from there.

Another way I have used tracing paper is to trace and later transfer an outline of an image I wish to paint.

Paper shown through natural light

Transparency of paper for tracing

It is important to have good quality tracing paper. I don't like it so thin that it tears and wrinkles easily, yet too thick and you can't easily see through it.


Another thing is, that it is smooth and has very little paper grain. This helps to obtain crisp lines.

Master's Touch tracing Paper from Hobby Lobby is an economical tracing paper, which has these qualities. It also comes in a variety of sizes.

• Acid Free paper
• Sizes: 9" X 12", 11" x 14", and 14" x 17" 
• 50 sheets each pad
• 25 LB paper
• Cover made of study heavyweight paper and the back of hard board
• Fold-over cover for easy tearing out of pages.

Cover information

Paper smoothness shown still in the pad

One thing I really like about this paper is the quality for the price.I have used this with pencils, mostly, but I have found it to accept charcoal and it helps with not allowing ink to bleed through other pages when inking a drawing. I have yet to compare this with other brands like Canson, and Bee, but for the price this is definitely worth it. 

I have the 11" x 14" inch paper pad.

Thank you for reading! 

Master's Touch Tracing Paper