The BEST Prismacolor ALTERNATIVES: I put 7 affordable colored pencil sets to the test!

Watch next: My NEW favourite budget pencil - BRUTFUNER! - https://youtu.be/pg7nHYAv7AA And my Holbein alternatives review - Comparing Pastelowe, Marco and other pastel colors against Holbein - https://youtu.be/B22CIv93sqA

Anytime I have a pencil that breaks I dont keep sharpening. I put the pencil in a heating pad, turn it on high & let it sit in for about 15 or 20 mins. Take the pencil out & let it cool completely & sharpen. The pencil will no longer break!!

Prismacolor order: arrives My youtube recomandations:

Giving kids good-quality pencils gives them a good appreciation of art. Otherwise, they get frustrated and discouraged.

FINALLY someone who has brought up in a video the issue of Prismacolor pencils constant breaking. I quit buying them because of it and have not had luck with finding another brand till recently. I have started to get very fond of the Black Widow pencils. I just wish they had more colors. So I am so happy to have found this video. Thank you!

I’m so glad that you discovered how the Castle Arts pencils in the case smell. I bought a set for my grandson for Christmas and opened them to check them. That smell, which reminded me of a strong crayon odor, really put me off. In my experience, I’ve never smelled that on any other pencils. I returned them to Amazon and bought my grandson his very own set of Prismacolors. He loves them.

One reason why pencils break is because we are used to turning the pencil in the manual sharpener. I learned from one colored pencil company to turn the manual sharpener and hold the pencil still. As weird as this seemed to me, it really made a difference. They also said to keep the pencils in the tin and not knocking around into each other in a pencil cup, which breaks the core inside the wood.

I've been using a fluffy makeup brush to sweep off wax bloom for decades and have never had a problem with them causing streaks.

You need to try Faber Castells Goldfaber or Classic Color. Goldfaber is a step down from Polychromos and are amazing!

I definitely agree on the Arteza. And for a cheaper alternative to Polychromos, the Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor are a pretty nice oil based pencil.

An old art teacher of mine once used to make us put a tally on our folder every time we dropped a pencil (we had to use the pencil we dropped to make the tally). And the conclusion was the ppl like myself always dropping crap dealt w a lot more breakage than ppl. Made me hyper aware of how I handle my art supplies now especially my pencils and I rarely deal w breakage. Whether it’s a coincidence or in my head idk. But also my theory is if they break a lot straight out of the case it’s Bc the factory, shipping, manufacturing ppl whoever where tossing em around not realizing they’re shattering the lead inside the casing. 🤷‍♀️ I have also noticed my pencils that come in cylinders have less breakage, for some reason tin w plastic trays break the most in my experience, again blaming shipping and stores for that.

Try sharpening with an x-acto knife rather than a pencil sharpener to avoid breakage. Also makes the pencils last longer because there is less wasted.

I think I have a new favorite cheap pencil! https://youtu.be/pg7nHYAv7AA

Thanks for the comparison, it's always good to see how they stand up against each other! I used the standard Faber Castell Watercolour pencils before getting a set of 72 Marco Raffine, which opened a whole new world. I used the Marco Raffine for a long time before I could afford a 36 set of Faber Castell Polychromos (which I loved) then finally could afford a set of 150 Prismas. I still pull the MR's out and am never afraid to let the kids use them. I must admit it did take me a while to get used to how the Prismas work after using the MRs and Polychromos. I use my Prismas most these days just because of the variety of colours (I'm lazy these days when it comes to mixing).

I’ve just published my NEW review with 26 brands! Testing ALL the BEST COLORED PENCILS: https://youtu.be/rC2AErhcKQE

Thanks Sarah for this review. A few additional thoughts though: 1) Let's keep in mind that this is about matching Prismacolors and their garish colors. Not everybody likes overburnished pictures (I don't) so this is a review on getting very saturated colors, again, not to everybody's taste. 2) I really get the feeling that Castle Arts didn't get a fair trial, probably because these pencils are more suited to drawing and coloring as opposed to "trying to make colored pencils look like paint". I really don't understand what all that commotion about the smell comes from. I have the most sensitive nose ever and I can hardly smell anything, or at least nothing I could find even remotely disturbing. 3) Nothing is said about the kind of paper Sarah has used. See review of Castle Arts pencils in Bruno Art Gallery's channel on proper paper - completely different. 4) Wax build-up IS a huge issue. 5) Arteza Expert pencils are better quality than those showed here. Not that cheap either... 6) What about color ranges? Marco Raffinés are exceptionnally well-designed in this respect, Arteza not so much. even the 120 set is relatively poor in pinks and skin tones, few pastel colors. 7) What about Guang Hui (Brutfuner, Laconile, etc.)?. These will give you huge bang for your bucks. 8) Back to Prismas. They are the easy way out since a 5 year-old can blend them easily but I really wish they hadn't become such a standard. They are OVERPRICED, especially in France, quality has rocketed down and people only want them or similar results. Give me Polychromos any day. These ARE quality pencils. And let's root for quality and variety!

I use Steadtler and I love that they are soft core. And they seem to blend well. They are also affordable to people on a budget.

I don't know why but in the UK it just seems impossible to get prismacolor premiers and all of my online social media colouring groups rave about them. I'm glad that you did this video because I have been struggling with the spectrum noir pencils for a while and wanting a change. I have just purchased some Arteza to see if I get on with them better. You are still the first artist to inspire me to get my colouring pencils out; I am an alcohol markers gal usually!!

I've been using Crayola and its so frustrating, it feels like I have to go over the same parts 10 times for the color to be opaque enough. Finally switching!! 🥳👍

I wanted to try Arteza for a long time and this video just.. Ordered me to buy them. Thanks for the review. A new subscriber earned