www.penciltopics.co.uk
THIS PAGE IS PART OF THE SECTION DEALING WITH
This link will take you direct to the main contents page for the site
THIS SECTION ALSO CONTAINS PAGES COVERING :
PRISMACOLOR
Manufactured in the USA by Sanford, part of a major US conglomerate,
the website is at http://www.prismacolor.com
I have had difficulty linking to the Sanford Prismacolor site in the past. The link seems to die on me quickly after being set up.
If the link goes dead again, you will need to search Google under Prismacolor for information.
PRISMACOLOR enjoy the position of the major American brand in the USA which is the major worldwide market for Coloured Pencils.
A large proportion of top USA pencil artists use them and virtually all the books published in the USA feature them.
A Sanford subsidiary, Berol, used to make an identical pencil ( KARISMA ) in the UK until the plant was closed in an economy drive a few years ago.
There are signs of the Prismacolor pencils appearing in UK specialist retailers and they are readily available through UK based Internet suppliers (such as www.1buy1pencils.co.uk ).
They are much cheaper to buy mail order from the USA if despatched to an address in the USA, but VAT and import Duty as well as high shipping costs make direct import to the UK and Europe uneconomic.
For this reason I recommend you try the stockist listed above or check for an Internet supplier in your local country in Europe.
The lady who runs www.1buy1pencils.co.uk (who have provided an excellent service
in the past) has had medical problems in 2011 so service has been intermittent.
An alternative web site -
They do ship across Europe, however. Look at-
The PRISMACOLOR range includes several different categories with some lightfast to ASTMS 6901. The standard line has the same core and many of the same colours as the old UK Karisma brand so Karisma users in the UK are not totally without their ‘fix’.
The pencils are made with a wax binder and are soft in feel, working at their best
on a softer surfaced paper such as are produced for making prints ( Stonehenge -
Since early in 2010, Sanford are reported to have moved Prismacolor manufacture entirely to Mexico.
Production problems sometimes result in pencil stock going out for sale with bent
wooden outer sleeves, broken pigment cores and loose pigment cores, so that buyers
in the USA report a number of methods to keep the pencils working -
The Prismacolor Lightfast line ( all pencils manufactured to ASTMS 96901 ) has been discontinued and there is no indication when
( or if ) it will again be available
In October/November 2011 Prismacolor in the USA announced the return of the Deco range of colours that had been previously discontinued and announced the addition of a number of new colours to their Premier range ( the main selection).
This additional 18 colours makes the range up to 150 colours. The Prismacolor website gives details here :
http://blog.prismacolor.com/2011/10/introducing-
FAULTY GOODS
We still get reports of Prismacolor pencils being shipped for retail sale which consistently break, are bent , and have cores which slide out when used ( as recently as October and early November 2011 ). Quality control does not seem to have improved with the move of manufacturing to Mexico.
My own feeling is that if you are going to spend around £1 50p each for pencils,
you need to be sure they are going to be useable, and if they prove to be faulty,
you have the ability to complain and return the faulty goods. In Europe, this is
much easier with European manufacturers -
Readers of books published in the USA who need to match the colours described will find that several are unique to Prismacolor,
but the UKCPS publish a set of comparison charts compiled by the Society Founder, Bob Ebdon, which give nearest equivalents.
The charts are available at modest cost (depending on the postage and whether you are entitled to a membership discount ),
They are no longer featured on the UKCPS Website, but if you contact me (Peter Weatherill)
through the contact page on this site, I will be happy to give you details -
IF YOU WISH TO COMPARE COLOURS from the Prismacolor range with those of other manufacturers, there are sets of charts available in the section of this site titled ‘Colour comparisons’ where charts can be downloaded that enable you to get an approximate colour match. The colour range in Prismacolor is shown in the Karisma/Prismacolor colour set
These new charts are the most up to date system I have for comparing Prismacolor with other brands
Be aware, though, that the chart published here is based on working the colours with a set of the old Karisma coloured pencils.
The colour range is the same for those colours that match by name and number, but since the close down of the Karisma factory in the UK, there have been a number of new colours brought into the selection and those have not been included as I haven’t sent off for a new set just to do the charts !
Latest revision November 2011
Coloured Pencil BRANDS
LIGHTFASTNESS of pencils 1 and LIGHTFASTNESS 2 ( some test5s carried out in strong sunlight by a reader
PRICE & CONTENT of Coloured Pencils : COLOUR COMPARISONS between brands :
and a listing page by page of the various manufacturers selling Coloured Pencils in the United Kingdom and in Europe.
DERWENT ; FABER-
DALER ROWNEY ; CONTE ; CRETACOLOR.