Faber-Castell Polychromos Vs. Prismacolor Colored Pencils
On Christmas I received a 24-set of Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils from my dad!
I have been wanting to switch brands for a while but wasn’t 100% sure if it would be a good idea or not. Now that I have this set, I can make some comparisons between the two brands before investing in all 120 Polychromos pencils!
As many colored pencil artists know, Prismacolor pencils are notorious for their fragile leads.
It is almost comical how frequently they break. Tonight, for example, I pulled out Scarlet Red for this comparison post. I lost count on how many times the lead broke. By the time the pencil was usable, it was shaved down to two inches:
Polychromos leads, on the other hand, are bonded to the wood barrel, meaning that if it breaks, only the tip of the lead breaks. I’ve been drawing with them all day and did not encounter a single break.
The quality of the cedar used for the Polychromos barrels are amazing, too. There isn’t much resistance when I sharpen. It’s like butter.
In addition to the bonded leads, I experience no breakage because Polychromos leads are harder than Prismacolors. They keep their point longer, meaning less sharpening. This is a huge plus for me. It’s tedious having to stop so frequently to resharpen.
I used to draw on smooth-finished papers, but switched to thicker, toothier Stonehenge for its ability to handle many layers of color, more erasing, plus a final wash of alcohol. But since it has more tooth, my drawings now have a grainier texture, even when I draw on the smoother side of the paper. Of course, the graininess is smoothed out when I apply alcohol, but I don’t want the alcohol to become a crutch.
I colored a couple small areas (about 1-inch squares) with dull and sharpened points:
This is before any smudging or alcohol application. Notice how the right side of the box colored with a sharp Prismacolor is grainier than on the left side. Halfway through coloring, the sharp point was gone. To get the box as smooth as the Polychromos box, I would have had to sharpen the Prismacolor pencil again and carefully color in the holes.
Sometimes I need to erase, whether it is because I made a mistake or because I need to lift color to add highlights. For this test I used my battery powered eraser on these tiny 1-inch shapes (black because it would be the most difficult to erase):
To my surprise, the Polychromos pigment lifted very easily. When I tried to erase the Prismacolor shapes, the pigment smudged into the paper before being lifted away.
For this comparison post I drew the same potted plant with each brand. Once these two drawings were complete, I made up my mind on which brand I prefer:
The colors are slightly different between the two brands but aside from that, I had better control with the Polychromos. I was able to draw fine details in the soil and stems, even when the pencils were not at their sharpest.
As I mentioned earlier in this post, I could possibly get the Prismacolor drawing as smooth as the Polychromos drawing, but it would have taken way too much time carefully coloring in the holes and resharpening over and over. The leads already broke 10 times and I didn’t want to keep fighting them.
5. In Context II - Alcohol
The Polychromos drawing is presentable without blending with alcohol, but since I do use alcohol frequently, here is what my potted plants look like after this final step:
The Prismacolor drawing is a lot more vibrant, but is still significantly grainier than the Polychromos drawing.
Another plus for Polychromos colored pencils is that they are oil-based. Prismacolors are wax-based, and sometimes a Prismacolor drawing will develop a thin, waxy film on the surface called wax bloom. It can be removed, but is still a hassle to deal with! I don’t have any photos of wax bloom at the moment but I have seen it on my drawings before. With Polychromos colored pencils, this is no longer an issue.
As soon as I am able to, I will be purchasing the complete Polychromos colored pencil collection. I like to have crisp edges and put a lot of fine detail into my drawings, so the Polychromos colored pencils suit my style needs better.
Note that this comparison post is based on my own preferences and how I handle my pencils. Prismacolor is not a bad brand. I’ve used them for almost 10 years and would continue to recommend them to new colored pencil artists. They are the easiest to find in stores and are fairly inexpensive compared to other brands. Who knows, maybe Prismacolor is the perfect brand for you!
Well, that’s everything I have for now! Thanks for reading. Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions :]
