I'm continuing my study of Prismacolor versus Polychromos colored pencils. I purchased three red polychromos pencils so that I could do a good comparison between the blending of them against the prismacolor.
One of these was colored with Prismacolored pencils (the bottom one); the other with Polychromos. A few differences:
- You might be able to see (in the terrible picture) that the prismacolor leaves a waxy finish. That isn't present with the polychromos - you're able to add more color layers with the polychromos.
- The prismacolored pencils are softer, and may be better for larger areas. The polychromos are harder, and might be better for more detailed images.
- The prismacolored pencils, when you add too much color, shed onto the paper around the image. This I Really Don't Like.
- The polychromos don't break like the prismacolored pencils do. I can sharpen them to a better point, and they hold the point. Also, there is less breakage inside the wood of the pencil - that drives me crazy with the prismacolored pencils, and results in wasted pencils.
I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, but at this point I'm thinking I could use the difference kinds of pencils for different projects. Also, the shedding of color outside the image and the breakage are really turning my heart away from Prismacolor.
