Since getting my Prismas this week I thought it would be nice to have one thread that keeps all of the info, tips and tricks in one place!
For those that dont know:
Prismacolor Premier pencils (referred to on here as Prismas) are pigment pencils in a wax base - they are the same type of pencils as those you used as a child to colour in at school!
Made my Berol, the Prismacolour range is more than just the premier. There is also a range of watercolours, lightfast pencils and more! The ones most commonly used by stampers are the premier.
If you can't get hold of the Prismas then I am told that the Derwent Coloursoft pencils are excellent too!
Many people have asked about flesh colours and some suggestions are:
Light Peach and Peach Prismas and a red for cheeks
Light Ivory and Light Pink with a darker pink for cheeks
Tattered Rose Distress Ink (Applied with a waterbrush I believe)
There are many ways to use the pencils but the most common is:
Colouring an image with the pencils and blending with a liquid called Sansodor. This is a brand name of Winsor & Newton and can be bought at most art outlets for between £2-4. Other equivalent products can be found called "low-odour solvent", "low-odour thinners", "Gamsol", "Odourless mineral spirits" or "Zest-it" to name just a few!
To apply the liquid, most commonly people use paper stumps which are also known as tortillions or tortillons. These are basically stumps made of paper twisted to a point. Just dip and blend! To use the stump for a different colour, a quick rub with a nail file or sandpaper will remove the old colour. Some people also report great results from using cotton buds, the ones that are tightly wound work best although can be very tricky for small areas.
Some great tutorials on how to colour with these methods can be found here:
A lot of people seem to experience some troubles in sharpening their pencils when they get them. The best advice I've seen on this comes direct form the Prismacolor website. It says:
When first getting your colored pencil set, it is best to sharpen all of your pencils and from then on, keep them sharpened. Since the "leads" are colored pigment in a wax base, care should be taken and one should not use excessive pressure or "force" when sharpening. Some members of the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA) suggest keeping your pencils extremely sharp. Using an electric sharpener quite frequently shaves off only a bit of wood each time (as compared to letting the pencil get extremely dull and then grinding it down about a half an inch). Another suggestion is to use an electric sharpener initially and then afterwards, sharpen your pencil manually with a handheld sharpener. We offer a manual Prismacolor sharpener (item no.24188) for this purpose. Cosmetic sharpeners (the kind used for pencil eyeliner, for example) can also be effective. If you decide to use a hand sharpener, it is less stressful on the pencil to hold it vertically in the hand sharpener. Please note that the more common method of holding it horizontally with a natural wrist action causes stress on the colored core and thinner wood near the top. If your pencil splinters when sharpening, evaluate the force you are using, how you are holding the pencil when sharpening and check that you are using a sharp sharpener. If a particular pencil is breaking, you may want to try a larger opening sharpener, which can be a little gentler.
The last thing is regarding inks and cardstock... Which are best for use with these techniques?
There are a lot of different opinions with regards to which ink to use. I, myself, use Versafine. Others that work well are StazOn and India Black, Brilliance and Archival. The most important thing is that the ink you use is water resistant so that it doesn't run into the beautiful colours!
As for card, there have been many suggestions about which are best for prismas. Some suggestions are:
"Whisper White" cardstock from SU!
White cardstock from The Paper Mill Shop
Good-quality white postcards
Concorde record cards - details can be found here.
White card from Staples' Green range
Matt photo paper
Most important is not the brand of the card, it is how smooth the surface is. The smoother the surface, the easier it is to 'push' the colour across the page.
Finally, I've attached a PDF that I created which lists all 132 colours of the Prismacolor Premier range, plus the colourless blender. It's designed to go on 4 sheets of A5 paper. I printed mine out and coloured in the little boxes with the colours so I can see at a glance which colours I have and which I want to use for my project. There is also an excellent chart here that also has info on lightfastness.
I hope this little post helps to answer some of the common questions that crop up on here! Feel free to PM me with any extra info and I'll get it added ASAP.
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