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Prismacolor Premier Pencils – a closer look

8 December 2021 by Louise

Prismacolor Premier colour wheel colour family pinterest 1

The Prismacolor Premier coloured pencil range holds 150 pencils. 85 are lightfast with ratings of I or II, and 65 are non-lightfast with ratings of III, IV or V.

You have limited time and energy, yet you want to thoroughly know your coloured pencils. You know it will take time to make colour charts and to sort your pencils according to lightfastness and type.

This post will help you get to know your pencil colours a bit better without you having to sit and swatch out your colours – especially if you need them in a hurry. You can also use our post on colour harmony together with this post to help you choose the colour combinations for your artwork.

Deeper analysis

An earlier blog post explored the question which are the better coloured pencils and looked at four artist coloured pencil sets. Two were wax-based, and two were oil-based. However, the analysis was limited to looking at four pencils in each colour wheel colour family.

It was further limited in that some coloured pencils brands had fewer – or more – than four pencils in a colour family when grouped by lightfastness.

We have explored each of the sets.

These are the wax-based Caran d’Ache Luminance 76, the expanded range of 100 Luminance pencils, and Prismacolor Prismacolor Premier (also explored by lightfast and non-lightfast); the oil-based Faber-Castell Polychromos 120; and the Caran d’Ache Pablo 120.

Also, further to this analysis, we have had closer looks at the wax-based Derwent Drawing pencils and Prismacolor Art Stix woodless coloured pencils; water colour pencils – these being Caran d’Ache Museum and Caran d’Ache Supracolor, as well as other mixed media – the Derwent Inktense water soluble ink blocks, the Caran d’Ache Neopastel oil pastels, and the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II water soluble art crayons. We have also looked at the Derwent Procolour range of coloured pencils, Caran d’Ache Neocolor I wax crayons, and the Derwent Lightfast range of coloured pencils.

Subscribe to our email list and access a pdf that compares 7 brands of pencils. Click the image below to find more information.

Link to coloured pencil comparison charts

We have created a slim interactive colour chart where you can quickly search and sort the 150 Prismacolor Premier range of pencils.

Read this disclaimer about the analysis.

Let’s separate these pencils into two colour family groups – the colour wheel colours, and the neutral colours.

Let’s Start…

The Prismacolor Premier is a set of 150 wax-based coloured pencils.

This post has images of hand drawn colour swatches for each pencil in the range.

The Prismacolor Premier colour wheel colours

The Colour Wheel Clock

The colour wheel moves clock-wise around the wheel. The image below shows the colour family positions on the clock.

Colour Wheel showing the colour wheel family colours in clock positions Artnitso.com

Of the colour wheel colours, the make up of each colour family is outlined below. While the colours are of varying shades and tones, the predominant base colour belongs to the colour wheel family in which it has been placed.

Red – 12.00 o’clock

We will start with red at the 12.00 o’clock position.

Prismacolor Premier Red - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-11 colour harmony number 12 prismacolor premier red - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and red and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
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Red-Orange – 1.00 o’clock

The next colour family group is red-orange at 1.00 o’clock.

Prismacolor Premier Red-Orange - Artnitso.com

PPP1022 colour harmony number 01 and prismacolor premier red-orange - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and red -orange and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Orange – 2.00 o’clock

Next colour wheel colour family is orange at 2.00 o’clock.

Prismacolor Premier Orange - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-1 colour harmony 02 prismacolor premier orange - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and orange and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Orange-Yellow – 3.00 o’clock

Orange-Yellow sits at the 3.00 o’clock position.

Prismacolor Premier Orange-Yellow - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-2 colour harmony number 03 prismacolor premier orange-yellow - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and orange-yellow and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Yellow – 4.00 o’clock

At 4.00 o’clock sits Yellow.

Prismacolor Premier Yellow - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-3 colour harmony number 04 yellow prismacolor premier - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and yellow and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Yellow-Green – 5.00 o’clock

Yellow-Green sits at 5.00 o’clock.

Prismacolor Premier Yellow-Green - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-4 colour harmony number 05 prismacolor premier yellow-green - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and yellow-green and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Green – 6.00 o’clock

The colour family of green sits at 6.00 o’clock.

Prismacolor Premier Green updated - Artnitso.com - Copy

PPP1022-5 colour harmony number 06 prismacolor premier green - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and green and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Green-Blue – 7.00 o’clock

Green-blue is at 7.00 o’clock.

Prismacolor Premier Green-Blue updated - Artnitso.com Aug 2021 - Copy

PPP1022-6 colour harmony number 07 prismacolor premier green-blue - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and green-blue and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Blue – 8.00 o’clock

The colour wheel colour family blue sits at the 8.00 o’clock position.

Prismacolor Premier Blue - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-7 colour harmony number 08 prismacolor premier blue - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and blue and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Blue-Violet – 9.00 o’clock

Blue-violet sits at the 9.00 o’clock position.

Prismacolor Premier Blue-Violet - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-8 colour harmony number 12 prismacolor premier blue-violet - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and blue-violet and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Violet – 10.00 o’clock

Violet sits at the 10.00 o’clock position.

Prismacolor Premier Violet - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-9 colour harmony number 12 prismacolor premier violet - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and violet and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Violet-Red – 11.00 o’clock

Violet-red is the last colour that sits at the 11.00 o’clock position.

Prismacolor Premier Violet-Red - Artnitso.com

PPP1022-10 colour harmony number 11 prismacolor premier violet-red - Artnitso.com
You can buy a printable pdf about colour harmony and violet-red and neutral Prismacolor Pencils. You can find product information here.
BUY NOW

Prismacolor Premier Colour wheel colour family – Summary

As you can see from the above images, the Prismacolor Premier coloured pencil range has pencils in all the colour family colours.

Now let’s look at the neutral and metallic colours included in the Prismacolor Premier range of coloured pencils.


Colour Harmony Products - Colour Harmony and Prismacolor Premier pencils
We have created products about colour harmony and Prismacolor Premier pencils. You can find information about them here.

Prismacolor Premier – Neutral colours

First, there are the metallic colours. Please note that there is a user warning on one of the metallic colours. This for PC950 Gold, as it contains copper. Please see the image below of a warning from the Prismacolor Premier 150 box of pencils.

Warning notice from back of 150 Prismacolor Premier set
Warning notice from back of 150 Prismacolor Premier set. Gold coloured pencils contain: COPPER

Let’s now look at the metallic colours.

Prismacolor Premier Neutral-Metallics - Artnitso.com

Next are the neutral-black pencils.

Prismacolor Premier Neutral-Black - Artnitso.com

Follows is neutral-cool beige.

Prismacolor Premier Neutral-Cool Beige - Artnitso.com

Next is neutral-cool grey.

Prismacolor Premier Neutral-Cool Grey - Artnitso.com

Neutral-warm beige follows.

Prismacolor Premier Neutral-Warm Beige - Artnitso.com

Neutral-warm grey is next.

Prismacolor Premier Neutral-Warm Grey - Artnitso.com

Neutral-white is the final neutral colour.

Prismacolor Premier Neutral-White - Artnitso.com

Colours summary

As you can see, the Prismacolor Premier coloured pencil set and range is made up of a variety of colours and neutrals.

As noted above, the selection of colour is subjective and the reviewer has chosen colour by looking at the actual coloured pencil swatches. Nevertheless, you may find that particular colours belong in different groups or families.

Lightfastness

Of the 150 set of coloured pencils, 26 have the lowest lightfast rating of V, 14 coloured pencils have a lightfast rating of IV, and 25 have a lightfast rating of III, 26 have a lightfast rating of II, and 59 have the highest lightfast rating of I.

Therefore, of the range of 150 coloured pencils, 85 coloured pencils are considered lightfast (being rated I and II), and 65 coloured pencils are considered non-lightfast (being rated III, IV and V).

Therefore, more than half this range of coloured pencils are lightfast.

Only got a few pencils?

If you’d like to try this range of pencils, you can try a basic set of 12. We have analysed the small set, and provide colour swatches, and the colour recipes of 144 colours that you can make from the basic set. You can see the 144 Prismacolor Premier colour recipes here.

Make your own colour chart

For your knowledge, it’s advisable to draw up your own colour chart so you can get to know the actual colours of your coloured pencils. You will then be able to see how your pencils perform on the papers you use for your drawings.

However, it takes a long time to make your own chart, and it usually is something that we don’t get around to doing.

We have created a workbook where you can record your own Prismacolor Premier pencils. You can use this workbook to mix and match colours and create your own colour combinations,

product Book Colour Harmony - prismacolor premier cover - Artnitso
We have created a product where you can create your own colour combinations using Prismacolor Premier pencils.

Interactive Prismacolor Premier colour chart

To help you with this, we have outlined the Prismacolor set of 150 in a slim interactive colour chart. You can access this chart where you can search and sort the pencils by name, number, and lightfast rating. See hand drawn colour swatches as well.

This post was originally published in 2019. It was updated on 6 October 2020, 20 January 2021, 16 August 2021, 29 September 2021, and republished on 8 December 2021. It was last updated on 4 January 2023.

Filed Under: Coloured Pencils, Drawing Tagged With: lightfast coloured pencils, non-lightfast coloured pencils, Prismacolor Premier, wax-based coloured pencils

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