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/

Eraser Comparison and Review

In keeping with my previous theme of essential art supplies, I have decided to do a comparison chart of all of the erasers I have.

Some of them are very popular while others are a little more random, but I thought worth comparing anyway.

The Experiment Setup

As for the experiment, I charted a graph with the types of erasers I will be using and the pencils I will be attempting to erase. I then colored the graph. The charcoal was the hardest, as it's delicate and you'll notice that one line I did the opposite of the others on light to dark. I tried to get consistently on light, medium, to dark tones of each pencil I'm using.

The paper is Bienfeng 8 1/2 x 11" acid free 50lb sketchbook. It has a medium tooth.

Then I proceed to use the following pencils, which I have grouped here and labeled in the chart.

The pencils used are as follows in the order I have them on the chart:

1. General's Semi-Hex Drawing Pencils - 2B and 4B
2. Prisamacolor Premier Colored Pencil
3. Master's Touch (Hobby Lobby Brand) Woodless Charcoal Pencil - Soft
4. Prismacolor Verithin Colored Pencil
5. Derwent Metallic Colored Pencil
6. Tombow Mono Drawing Pencil - 2B and 4B
7. Koh-I-Noor Progresso Woodless Colored Pencil
8. Marco Raffine Oil Based Colored Pencil

The erasers I have used in the experiment are as follows on the chart:

1. General's All Art eraser - a small pink rubber eraser came with the small Semi-Hex drawing set
2. General's Tri-Tip eraser - a soft white rubber eraser
3. General's Jumbo Kneaded eraser 
4. Tombow Mono eraser - Japanese white extra soft plastic eraser
5. Derwent White eraser - comes with some of their pencil sets. Rubber with some sand grit in it. 
6. Papermate Black Pearl - extra hard black rubber eraser 
7. Skyists 5038 Blue eraser - Extra soft rubber eraser. Came with a cheap calligraphy set

The Experiment Results 

In the end, out of all of the erasers, the worst was the General's All Art eraser. This eraser is a bit abrasive on the paper and it also didn't seem to do much in the event of even really erasing graphite. However, this is a good eraser for cleaning other erasers if you need a use for it.

As for the other erasers, none had any trouble erasing graphite. Charcoal and Colored Pencil are the most difficult to erase, however.

I had a surprise with the Blue Skyists, eraser. It came with a cheap calligraphy pen set. It actually is a good eraser. I honestly could say that it might even be worth buying that set alone for the eraser if the quality of the eraser were consistent, which I do not know. It was able to erase even the toughest of colored pencils. Marco Raffine pencils are oil based and I found only the General's Tri-Tip and the Papermate Black Pearl eraser came close.

Now for the feel of each eraser and comparison of the mess the do or do not leave behind. I personally don't mind that, but some people do, therefore, I will put that in my comparison.

1. General's All Art eraser - Hard Rubber eraser. Somewhat abrasive on paper and leaves behind a bit of eraser dust. Did the poorest in my tests of mediums. 
2. General's Tri-Tip eraser - Medium hardness rubber eraser. White, so it will not have a chance of leaving color behind. It leaves a lot of eraser dust as well. Good overall for everything tested and it is helpful for getting into tight corners. It holds it's shape fairly well overall and seems to be fairly long lasting. 
3. General's Jumbo Kneaded eraser - Extra soft and pliable. They are latex free, lanolin free and PVC free. It still retains it's softness if stored in a plastic bag or a case of some kind. This eraser is made to lift things like graphite and charcoal and is good for that. It will not completely remove any markings, however. This does help to erase colored pencils as well, but, only to lighten pigment. It is excellent for shading. It is also great to have around to get into small places as it can be molded into small shapes and pulled apart. There is no eraser dust.
4. Tombow Mono eraser - Extra soft PVC vinyl eraser. This is an excellent all around eraser and you can even vary the pressure to get shading effects. It also does not cause any abrasion on the paper. It leaves very little eraser dust behind and erases especially graphite cleanly. It didn't do a bad job on colored pencil either.
5. Derwent White eraser -Hard rubber eraser with what appears to be some fine sand grit in it. This doesn't seem to be abrasive on the paper noticeably, however. I found this eraser to be the messiest of all of them and it seems to sort of crumble and does not come smooth like the other erasers appear after erasing. With all this in mind, it does often come as a bonus in many art sets from Derwent, so if you use Derwent products, it it worth trying out. It erases colored pencil quite nicely and I've found it to be one of the best for that. 
6. Papermate Black Pearl - Extra hard black rubber eraser. This is a pebble shaped eraser. A lot of people underestimate school supply erasers. but this one is a gem. It is hard and retains it's shape very well. It is very useful for getting into tight corners and leaves very little eraser dust. Two come in a pack, which is a great value as well. 
7. Skyists 5038 Blue eraser - Soft rubber eraser. This eraser did surprisingly well overall with everything I threw at it. It did not leave a lot of eraser dust. Too bad as far as I know, it only comes in a cheap calligraphy set. [I will be reviewing this set in due time].

What I Recommend

Overall, considering the results, value, and ease of being able to purchase I recommend the Tombow Mono, General's Kneaded and the Papermate Black Pearl. I do however, find great uses for the other erasers and I encourage you to try these out as well.

I hope this all helps you in your art and creative en-devours!