Prismacolor Art Stix Colored Pencils, 48 Colored Pencils (2165) Review

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My art professor brought a set of these in for us to experiment with; they're pretty incredible. The pigments are gorgeous, very saturated, vivid, and blendable. I'm getting a set myself for another class, and I think they're well-worth the steep price. I feel like I should mention the blending process--it's time-consuming and slow, so if you're really impatient to be done with a piece these might not be for you. It'll help if you lay down an even layer of pigment. I learned that the hard way when I pressed down too hard on parts of my paper and, even after extensive blending, had darker shades where I wanted one even tone. That said, the results are well-worth it and I'm really excited to be working with these again.

Later Edited to Add: You can speed up the blending process with a bit of turpenoid, a less toxic turpentine substitute. Dab some on a paper towel and use smooth strokes to blend nice even color. Don't use too much and don't go over the same area more than once or twice, or you'll thin the pigment and get a watercolor effect.

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Used them today wonderful selection of colors great for filling in the boring spaces in a picture, will use them often

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I use these in my work and love them. Every now and again you'll get flecks of other colors in each stick. Still well worth it.

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Some large areas of my drawings need a quick broad application of color. This is the solution. I can get the even layer I need without a lot of work or time. Then I work the more detailed areas with the wood covered prismacolors, I finish with a variety of colors in both the soft and core pencils.

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I don't know what to say about these that hasn't been said, but I still feel the need review them because I love them that much.

I've been meaning to get a set Art Stix forever. The sample Stix that come in larger sets of the pencils have always intrigued me and I've always found a use for them, but I hadn't gone out of my way to purchase any. Well, until now.

They're the same super soft, blendable core of Prisma pencils but without the wood. If you a) work on larger pieces b) tend to burn through a specific color a lot c) like the look and feel of colored pencils but wish you could have bigger, bolder marks, then you should get these. I recommend getting the full set (this one) if you can, because even this set has a relatively limited color palette (in comparison to the pencils which has is somewhere around 150 colors now, give or take. I don't remember the exact number, but it's definitely more than 48!)

Unfortunately, the grays have been kind of skimped over, as have peachy flesh tones, but there are more than enough colors in here to create any color that you need. I really like that it comes with the metallic silver and gold.

One other minor complaint is that they don't come chromatically arranged. If they were numbered or named, you could just use the reference on the back to arrange them. I mean, it's not all that hard to organize them, but it would be nice if they came in the 'right' order or if the names were somewhere on them. If you're already familiar with the pencil shades then you should be able to name the colors pretty easily, though.

They DO have a tendency to slightly rub off on your hands, but not too terribly. It's nothing like Conte crayons or chalk pastels, but it might be enough to annoy some people. I'm not really all that bothered by it.

Conclusion: I think this is a great addition to anyone's colored pencil stash. I give it five stars because the quality of the product more than outweighs what small issues it has (which don't affect the quality of the product itself anyway).