These are wonderful pencils. Had the 36 for awhile but only used them recently for very tiny areas. Put them in a binder, but kept the box. By the way why not put a basket immediately behind, below your letter box. It catches items before they hit the floor.
There are two lightfast rating systems. One goes from 1 to 5, 1 being the best and the other goes 5 to 1 with 5 being the best. However individual pencil in a set can have a different rating. I believe Faber-Castel doesn't give you the lightfast rating on the pencils either.
Faber Castell didn't give you the lightfastness rating on their classic colored pencils, but they did give on Polychromos by using star (3 stars for the highest rating and 1 star for the lowest rating).
I went to Michael's for prismacolors, normal premier, and I didnt notice until I was halfway home that the cashier gave me verithin. I wasnt quite sure what they were, and I was disappointed they werent pre sharpened, but I plan on taking them back tomorrow in return for the normal ones. :)
Oh wow, so sorry to hear about your inconvenience, there is nothing worse than realising you have to make another trip back to the shop, when that was the last place you ever wanted to return to. I am sure they have been very apologetic, I’ve never been in a Michaels, but I’ve heard quite a lot of good things about them.
sorry for late reply but they do come in 40 colours, the other 4 colours are open stock. It would be better if the verithin came in 150 colours as well, and also their art stick and their watercolour pencils.
Great video Harry! 😆 I hope you get to feeling better very soon...being sick sucks! I have the 36 set of verithins, they are older...says made in the USA. I got these really for one reason. They are good for putting color on a wood burning. In fact, I have a video coming out tomorrow using these (and others) showing what to watch out for when blending with oms on wood grain. I had no problems blending out the verithin with oms...they did a good job. Take care my friend! 🤗
Thank you so much for your many extremely helpful videos, but I don't understand why your tests in this video, of this particular pencil, don't reflect its intended use. I was hoping to see some line work. Not for nothing, or just to hear myself complain... I'm hoping you will consider doing a short addendum video with line work. :)
Hi Leha thank you so very much for you lovely supportive comment. I completely agree with your analysis of this video. I did this video a few years ago, not long after getting into art, and at the time I just didn’t think my artwork was good enough to put on display. I thought adding my art to the videos would only degrade the product. However all my recent videos do have art to help demonstrate and support the product. I will revisit this product and put them to the use they were intended. Thank you so much for your lovely comment, advice and support thank you so much.
I have the verithins but when you showed the stand i had a bit of a chuckle because when I got my first set of 48 prismacolor premiere back in the late 1980's they came in that same kind of box/stand. BTW you wrote in your review that none of them were breaking during sharpening etc. like the premiere's. I'm in Canada and I haven't had nearly as much trouble with my premiere's as I have heard from people in the U.S. and elsewhere but 2 of my 36 verithins I sharpened halfway down before i even used them due to broken cores. Now I have been lucky because up until a few years ago we had a prismacolor factory in Quebec and didn't have the quality control issues that seem to be coming from the ones produced in Mexico. That plant in Quebec is closed now, I assume because it is cheaper to produce them in Mexico but I have found quite a few pencils that were made in Canada in small family run art and stationary stores. If I lived closer to a large city I'm sure I could find more of them. I buy as many as I can when I find some produced here.
You know Shannon it took me ages to work out that box before the video, I must have looked like an Ape with a food blender or something lol. The thing about the Prismacolors is that I absolutely love them, they are just beautiful pencils and they have a wonderful selection of colours. I can't tell you the number of times that I have logged into Amazon and come so close to buying the 150 set, but I just keep thinking about the two 72 sets I bought and the problems I have with them. I must say though that I know a lot more about looking after pencils now and the sharpeners I have are much better quality so that might help.
I keep hearing how much trouble other people have had and while I too have some issues with them breaking in the sharpener from time to time, I haven't had nearly the amount of problems that others have had. I bought a 72 set a year and a half ago and by buying them open stock a few at a time soon had the whole set. Being from a small area I have noticed that quite a few of the pencils that I bought are old stock so that may explain why I haven't had as much difficulty with them. Like I said, I have had a couple that were a problem but that's not too bad when you consider I have over 150 premieres and 36 Verithin. It is a tough one though because the colour does lay down so well with them and blends beautifully. I only work part time due to health problems and I can't really justify spending the money on the Caran D'ache when the prismas are working. I did splurge and ordered the 120 set of the faber castell polychromos last week so now pacing by the post box every day!!! LOL
Shannon Wolff I live in Canada also and haven't had any issues with my 150 set of prismas. I have however had a breakage problem with my Derwent colorsoft. That I didn't expect at all.
Thanks so much for this review. I'm new to using colored pencils and found your review to be thoughtful, thorough, and quite fair. It helped me understand much better uses for the "Verthin" set(s). I've had a 24 set for years - I wasn't thrilled and went no further. However, recently [3+ years after you posted, the pandemic has had a silver lining😉 ] I picked up the pencils again. Since then, I've found a couple of other sets and now, thanks to your review I'm confident my colored pencil projects will improve noticeably. PS I've heard the Prismacolor cores can be repaired after shattering by placing them in a warm oven. Do you know if this is true???
Hi, I realise this is an old video but I wondered if you had a link to verithin lightfast ratings? I'm tempted to make the assumption they are the same as the premier but it would be good to have confirmation from source. I tried to find it on prismas site but couldn't and because I'm in the uk was unable to use their automated contact form because I couldn't provide a US phone number!
I’m not a great artist, not even good. Thank you for your feed back. I could make a blending video of everything I know,though. Maybe we can make a collab video? I love your special effects and your reviews.
HI! I am working on a very detailed art project where I am utilizing a lot of my my Prismacolor Verithin pencils. I am using them where the items are small, and where I also do not want them to blend, as the Verithins don't blend well which is the desired result. The set is only a 36 piece set and I found myself wishing the set has more colors in it. Can you suggest any other pencils that would work the same as verithins, and offer more colors? Again I am looking for a hardcore pencil with vibrant colors for fine details that does not blend.
I just ordered the 150 set. I am using my Marco Raffines 72 is a great compliment for hardness, pigment, and fine point I think. Do you feel like the Verithins are better? I have been using the Raffines with my 24 Prismacolors, happy with the results, but maybe they are on to something. Thanks for this review and so sorry youre having that flu. It was real hard on me over the holidays! Ugh! Get well soon!
BobbyTheDogUSA I still have them, in fact, I actually emailed Prismacolor about it all and I have to say they were excellent about it. However up until the point they found out I live in the U.K. They couldn't really help, because they don't officially sell them in the U.K. At least this was what I was told. So I'm guessing for those living in the US, write to them and they will do what they can to help.
The Art Gear Guide Hello again. This weekend the BIG A delivered to me a heavy medium size box (a heavy metal dog cot) inside a much larger box with nothing to stop the inner box from moving around inside it. The warehouse thru in a small blending pencil set I ordered which got broken and strewn all over. Such fun!
I had some of these years ago. Made in The UK under the "Berol" name. They were well made but not really artists quality. Derwent Studios are a better option in my opinion.
Hello Harry, thank you so much for your answer. I like working with many layers but I can't do that with the coloursoft. I really don't like the chalkiness of them either. That's just me...I have the Koh I Noors and I agree with you totally, they are perfect for me. However, I love the round form of the derwent coloursoft and the fact that they have a large diameter, I mean the pencil itself, not the core. It just lays in your hand perfectly, I don't know how else to express it...The Progressos of Koh I Noor do that too, they are lovely thick and heavy. I tend to get painful fingers when I use hexagonal pencils, I have bumps on my fingers. I got one derwent artist and I think it is a lot better for me, but I can't get just one studio. Just the core is thinner right? I guess my next love will be the Derwent artists...just hope that the colours are vibrant enough. Do you know cretacolour? They are austrian pencils. I can get them here. I would love to send you a set as a sign of my appreciation for your good vibes you put into the world for you to keep for yourself. Can you send me an email to Le_Empie@hotmail.com so I can react and get your adress to send them to you? Thank you, blessings from Germany!
Great review as always, Harry! :) These are on my wishlist as well and I have seen other artists use them for drafting and sketching, or doing the line art underneath watercolours with them, so I hope to try that out myself some time also. Sure they are not too dear, so, ... soon. :)
Hello Harry, thanks for all the good work you do! I bought a set of these here in Germany and they were not cheap, and all I can do with them is throw them in the garbage. I bought a really expensive sharpener but that doesn't help either. All of them keep breaking, you don't get to use them at all. I tried tu put one on low in the microwave but no luck.Never again Prismacolor. It was not the packaging because it was packed very good, it is a quality issue. Which pencils from Derwent are comparable to the hardness of these? You say artist and studio in your review but which ones would you recommend first? I am looking for bright colours. Any other brand maybe? I appreciate your opinion very much! Best wishes from Germany!
Marvelenia Hi Marvelenia I am so sorry to hear about your experience, I must admit, I have experienced and heard many horror stories of the Prismacolor Premier breaking all the time, but not these particular pencils. I can only imagine that although they arrived to you packaged well, they may not have arrived to the German store you bought them from well. Regardless I can understand why you are frustrated and looking for something new. I would say that the Derwent Studio are most compatible to this brand of pencil. The Derwent Studio are a hard core and really thin allowing for detail. However of all the Derwent pencils I have reviewed and used and I've used them all, I personally don't like the Studio because the pigment is quite weak. I do have a review on my channel of the Studio pencils if you'd like to take a look at that. Are you looking for a particularly thin cored pencil? Is there a specific reason you have purchased these in the first place. The reason I ask is because the Koh-I-Noor Polycolor are a really nice pencil and relatively inexpensive. They have a slightly thicker core than the Verithin but the Polycolor lays down well. The Polycolor are oil based pencils so hard but not quite as hard as the Verithin. I hope I've been able to help you on this matter but I will also take a look through my collection for a pencil comparable to the Verithin.
Hello Harry, I have a question about color pencils in general. Are they manufactured in each company's pencil factory? Or are they made in a large factory and branded with the color pencil company that has contracted them? Just wondering. Thankx and hope your cold gets better😎
Danette Trostle hi Danette thank you so much for the question. I know that the likes of Derwent, Faber Castell and Caran D'Ache all have on site plants making their pencils, in fact I've been to the factory that Derwent run, but not inside it. Now I know some companies do this in fact I watch a video review from a good friend of mine Marty from owingsart. I can't remember which pencil it was, but the company stated the pencils were from their country of origin, but as Marty pointed out, on the back of the package it said designed in that country but made in China. I'll have to find the video and link it here for you, but it does happen. Hope this helps
+Esme Hi Esme, no they are just made of a harder Wax core. Also I think because they have less pigment than the Premier, this makes them harder, whereas the Premier are just loaded with pigment making them so soft, well at least partially the reason they are so soft.
The store that sent you that set should have packaged them better to go through the mail. Prismacolor are putting them in a box to display in a store, but if you buy online the place you bought them from should know to protect them better to go through the post!!! I know it was dropped from your mail slot in the door but you also don't know how it had been handled before then. Those poor pencils may have had quite the adventure!!
They're probably going into the same sharpener as your other pencils, meaning they're getting the same point. This makes Verithin a scam in my eyes; just work your sharpener.
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These are wonderful pencils. Had the 36 for awhile but only used them recently for very tiny areas. Put them in a binder, but kept the box. By the way why not put a basket immediately behind, below your letter box. It catches items before they hit the floor.
I love these for underdrawing and edge cleanup with watercolor. Solid pencil, great value!
"Very thin" lol sorry haha love the vid mate!
Please continue longer reviews I love listening to you, you can talk as much as you want!
There are two lightfast rating systems. One goes from 1 to 5, 1 being the best and the other goes 5 to 1 with 5 being the best. However individual pencil in a set can have a different rating. I believe Faber-Castel doesn't give you the lightfast rating on the pencils either.
Faber Castell didn't give you the lightfastness rating on their classic colored pencils, but they did give on Polychromos by using star (3 stars for the highest rating and 1 star for the lowest rating).
I went to Michael's for prismacolors, normal premier, and I didnt notice until I was halfway home that the cashier gave me verithin. I wasnt quite sure what they were, and I was disappointed they werent pre sharpened, but I plan on taking them back tomorrow in return for the normal ones. :)
Oh wow, so sorry to hear about your inconvenience, there is nothing worse than realising you have to make another trip back to the shop, when that was the last place you ever wanted to return to. I am sure they have been very apologetic, I’ve never been in a Michaels, but I’ve heard quite a lot of good things about them.
sorry for late reply but they do come in 40 colours, the other 4 colours are open stock. It would be better if the verithin came in 150 colours as well, and also their art stick and their watercolour pencils.
How do they compare to caran dache luminance pencils?
Great video Harry! 😆 I hope you get to feeling better very soon...being sick sucks! I have the 36 set of verithins, they are older...says made in the USA. I got these really for one reason. They are good for putting color on a wood burning. In fact, I have a video coming out tomorrow using these (and others) showing what to watch out for when blending with oms on wood grain. I had no problems blending out the verithin with oms...they did a good job. Take care my friend! 🤗
Should I buy faber castell classic or this for blending?
Personally I would go for the Faber Castell Classic they are slightly softer are better at blending in my opinion
Thank you so much for your many extremely helpful videos, but I don't understand why your tests in this video, of this particular pencil, don't reflect its intended use. I was hoping to see some line work. Not for nothing, or just to hear myself complain... I'm hoping you will consider doing a short addendum video with line work. :)
Hi Leha thank you so very much for you lovely supportive comment. I completely agree with your analysis of this video. I did this video a few years ago, not long after getting into art, and at the time I just didn’t think my artwork was good enough to put on display. I thought adding my art to the videos would only degrade the product. However all my recent videos do have art to help demonstrate and support the product. I will revisit this product and put them to the use they were intended. Thank you so much for your lovely comment, advice and support thank you so much.
@@TheArtGearGuide You are obviously a kind and thoughtful soul. Looking forward to more of your videos. 🙏
I have the verithins but when you showed the stand i had a bit of a chuckle because when I got my first set of 48 prismacolor premiere back in the late 1980's they came in that same kind of box/stand. BTW you wrote in your review that none of them were breaking during sharpening etc. like the premiere's. I'm in Canada and I haven't had nearly as much trouble with my premiere's as I have heard from people in the U.S. and elsewhere but 2 of my 36 verithins I sharpened halfway down before i even used them due to broken cores. Now I have been lucky because up until a few years ago we had a prismacolor factory in Quebec and didn't have the quality control issues that seem to be coming from the ones produced in Mexico. That plant in Quebec is closed now, I assume because it is cheaper to produce them in Mexico but I have found quite a few pencils that were made in Canada in small family run art and stationary stores. If I lived closer to a large city I'm sure I could find more of them. I buy as many as I can when I find some produced here.
You know Shannon it took me ages to work out that box before the video, I must have looked like an Ape with a food blender or something lol. The thing about the Prismacolors is that I absolutely love them, they are just beautiful pencils and they have a wonderful selection of colours. I can't tell you the number of times that I have logged into Amazon and come so close to buying the 150 set, but I just keep thinking about the two 72 sets I bought and the problems I have with them. I must say though that I know a lot more about looking after pencils now and the sharpeners I have are much better quality so that might help.
I keep hearing how much trouble other people have had and while I too have some issues with them breaking in the sharpener from time to time, I haven't had nearly the amount of problems that others have had. I bought a 72 set a year and a half ago and by buying them open stock a few at a time soon had the whole set. Being from a small area I have noticed that quite a few of the pencils that I bought are old stock so that may explain why I haven't had as much difficulty with them. Like I said, I have had a couple that were a problem but that's not too bad when you consider I have over 150 premieres and 36 Verithin. It is a tough one though because the colour does lay down so well with them and blends beautifully. I only work part time due to health problems and I can't really justify spending the money on the Caran D'ache when the prismas are working. I did splurge and ordered the 120 set of the faber castell polychromos last week so now pacing by the post box every day!!! LOL
Shannon Wolff I live in Canada also and haven't had any issues with my 150 set of prismas. I have however had a breakage problem with my Derwent colorsoft. That I didn't expect at all.
Hi Harry, hope you feel better soon. Great review, thank you.
Hiya Harry, great review again. Hope you feel much better soon too.
Do they smear/smudge?
Thanks so much for this review. I'm new to using colored pencils and found your review to be thoughtful, thorough, and quite fair. It helped me understand much better uses for the "Verthin" set(s). I've had a 24 set for years - I wasn't thrilled and went no further. However, recently [3+ years after you posted, the pandemic has had a silver lining😉 ]
I picked up the pencils again. Since then, I've found a couple of other sets and now, thanks to your review I'm confident my colored pencil projects will improve noticeably.
PS I've heard the Prismacolor cores can be repaired after shattering by placing them in a warm oven. Do you know if this is true???
Are they like a graphite pencil but color?
Can you tell me is there another pencil on the market like verethins? I have the 36 count of the verethin and love them.
Hi, I realise this is an old video but I wondered if you had a link to verithin lightfast ratings?
I'm tempted to make the assumption they are the same as the premier but it would be good to have confirmation from source.
I tried to find it on prismas site but couldn't and because I'm in the uk was unable to use their automated contact form because I couldn't provide a US phone number!
I’m not a great artist, not even good. Thank you for your feed back. I could make a blending video of everything I know,though. Maybe we can make a collab video? I love your special effects and your reviews.
Great review, again. Do the leads break easily?What sharpener do you use?
Nice review again😊I hope to ever own some Nupastel from prismacolor, i heard those are really great.
JenW Fine Arts oh I'll have to try them Jen, thanks for the heads up on those
HI! I am working on a very detailed art project where I am utilizing a lot of my my Prismacolor Verithin pencils. I am using them where the items are small, and where I also do not want them to blend, as the Verithins don't blend well which is the desired result. The set is only a 36 piece set and I found myself wishing the set has more colors in it. Can you suggest any other pencils that would work the same as verithins, and offer more colors? Again I am looking for a hardcore pencil with vibrant colors for fine details that does not blend.
I just ordered the 150 set. I am using my Marco Raffines 72 is a great compliment for hardness, pigment, and fine point I think. Do you feel like the Verithins are better? I have been using the Raffines with my 24 Prismacolors, happy with the results, but maybe they are on to something. Thanks for this review and so sorry youre having that flu. It was real hard on me over the holidays! Ugh! Get well soon!
what happened with your original broken set? I'm afraid to buy any pencils thru the mail.
BobbyTheDogUSA I still have them, in fact, I actually emailed Prismacolor about it all and I have to say they were excellent about it. However up until the point they found out I live in the U.K. They couldn't really help, because they don't officially sell them in the U.K. At least this was what I was told. So I'm guessing for those living in the US, write to them and they will do what they can to help.
The Art Gear Guide Hello again. This weekend the BIG A delivered to me a heavy medium size box (a heavy metal dog cot) inside a much larger box with nothing to stop the inner box from moving around inside it. The warehouse thru in a small blending pencil set I ordered which got broken and strewn all over. Such fun!
I had some of these years ago. Made in The UK under the "Berol" name. They were well made but not really artists quality. Derwent Studios are a better option in my opinion.
Hello Harry, thank you so much for your answer. I like working with many layers but I can't do that with the coloursoft. I really don't like the chalkiness of them either. That's just me...I have the Koh I Noors and I agree with you totally, they are perfect for me. However, I love the round form of the derwent coloursoft and the fact that they have a large diameter, I mean the pencil itself, not the core. It just lays in your hand perfectly, I don't know how else to express it...The Progressos of Koh I Noor do that too, they are lovely thick and heavy. I tend to get painful fingers when I use hexagonal pencils, I have bumps on my fingers. I got one derwent artist and I think it is a lot better for me, but I can't get just one studio. Just the core is thinner right? I guess my next love will be the Derwent artists...just hope that the colours are vibrant enough. Do you know cretacolour? They are austrian pencils. I can get them here. I would love to send you a set as a sign of my appreciation for your good vibes you put into the world for you to keep for yourself. Can you send me an email to Le_Empie@hotmail.com so I can react and get your adress to send them to you? Thank you, blessings from Germany!
Mine keep breaking all the time. Does anyone know what better quality pencils there are for fine detail work?
Great review as always, Harry! :)
These are on my wishlist as well and I have seen other artists use them for drafting and sketching, or doing the line art underneath watercolours with them, so I hope to try that out myself some time also. Sure they are not too dear, so, ... soon. :)
Anja Rüsewald they will be fantastic for that type of thing Anja, really awesome.
I love your reviews ! Thank you for being detailed and sharing your thoughts. I prefer polychromos, but they don't really keep a strong point :/
Hello Harry, thanks for all the good work you do! I bought a set of these here in Germany and they were not cheap, and all I can do with them is throw them in the garbage. I bought a really expensive sharpener but that doesn't help either. All of them keep breaking, you don't get to use them at all. I tried tu put one on low in the microwave but no luck.Never again Prismacolor. It was not the packaging because it was packed very good, it is a quality issue. Which pencils from Derwent are comparable to the hardness of these? You say artist and studio in your review but which ones would you recommend first? I am looking for bright colours. Any other brand maybe? I appreciate your opinion very much! Best wishes from Germany!
Marvelenia Hi Marvelenia I am so sorry to hear about your experience, I must admit, I have experienced and heard many horror stories of the Prismacolor Premier breaking all the time, but not these particular pencils. I can only imagine that although they arrived to you packaged well, they may not have arrived to the German store you bought them from well. Regardless I can understand why you are frustrated and looking for something new.
I would say that the Derwent Studio are most compatible to this brand of pencil. The Derwent Studio are a hard core and really thin allowing for detail. However of all the Derwent pencils I have reviewed and used and I've used them all, I personally don't like the Studio because the pigment is quite weak. I do have a review on my channel of the Studio pencils if you'd like to take a look at that.
Are you looking for a particularly thin cored pencil? Is there a specific reason you have purchased these in the first place. The reason I ask is because the Koh-I-Noor Polycolor are a really nice pencil and relatively inexpensive. They have a slightly thicker core than the Verithin but the Polycolor lays down well. The Polycolor are oil based pencils so hard but not quite as hard as the Verithin.
I hope I've been able to help you on this matter but I will also take a look through my collection for a pencil comparable to the Verithin.
Hello Harry, I have a question about color pencils in general. Are they manufactured in each company's pencil factory? Or are they made in a large factory and branded with the color pencil company that has contracted them? Just wondering. Thankx and hope your cold gets better😎
Danette Trostle hi Danette thank you so much for the question. I know that the likes of Derwent, Faber Castell and Caran D'Ache all have on site plants making their pencils, in fact I've been to the factory that Derwent run, but not inside it. Now I know some companies do this in fact I watch a video review from a good friend of mine Marty from owingsart. I can't remember which pencil it was, but the company stated the pencils were from their country of origin, but as Marty pointed out, on the back of the package it said designed in that country but made in China. I'll have to find the video and link it here for you, but it does happen. Hope this helps
Hope you get better. Miss you not talking more.
They are also water soluble
Hey Harry! Since these are harder and keep their point better, are these oil based instead of wax based like the Premier? 🤔
+Esme Hi Esme, no they are just made of a harder Wax core. Also I think because they have less pigment than the Premier, this makes them harder, whereas the Premier are just loaded with pigment making them so soft, well at least partially the reason they are so soft.
I found a brand new 12 pack at a second hand store for $2!
So maybe put a rug under your mail slot.
The store that sent you that set should have packaged them better to go through the mail. Prismacolor are putting them in a box to display in a store, but if you buy online the place you bought them from should know to protect them better to go through the post!!! I know it was dropped from your mail slot in the door but you also don't know how it had been handled before then. Those poor pencils may have had quite the adventure!!
They're probably going into the same sharpener as your other pencils, meaning they're getting the same point. This makes Verithin a scam in my eyes; just work your sharpener.
SansAziza I’ve found it kept the point for longer than the regular Prismacolor colored pencils
bro talk about your postman for longer next time
That is hilarious 😂