Prismacolor Col-erase Pencils

One of the things I discovered whilst reviewing Prismacolor Premier pencils was their inability tobe erased, which can be frustrating when you jump outside the lines. Col-erase pencils are made with a special lead formula that erases effrotlessly with the handy attached rubber on the end. I wasn't expecting much from these pencils after hearing reports of bad colour laydown, low vibrancy and lack of blending capabilities, but I was genuinely surprised and find them to be a great addition to my pencil collection.

Colours in the 24 pack

Erasable capability

You can buy Col-erase in singles or packs of 12 and 24, but they are not presharpened so expect to spend some time pointing them up! As you can see from the above photos, which are not retouched, the colour vibrancy is very good- although somewhat more muted than the premiers. Whilst the lead is noticeably harder than Premiers, Col-erase pencils laydown smoothly without leaving lots of white spaces and don't have to be pressed hard to get decent colour. At half the price of Premiers, Col-erase are a definite contender for your budget pencils. But how well do they blend?

Really well actually! This is something I thought was going to be very difficult because of the hardness of the lead, but surprisingly the colours merged together easily and there is enough variety of colour tones in the 24 pack to be able to create good gradients. They might not be the pencils a fine artist would jump to but if you're wanting the Prismacolor name at a cheaper price, I would definitely recommend Col-erase. They exceeded my expectations by a mile and I'm happy to keep them with my regular use pencils. 

The pencils are very light in the hand with a hexagonal barrel to stop them rolling off the desk. They feel nice to colour with but a triangular shaft might have been better, especially on that middle finger callous point (you colourists know what I'm talking about). They sharpen really well, especially if you keep them short and sharp (try the T'GAAL adjustable sharpener on setting 2), and haven't broken or splintered yet. As I always say with new pens and pencils, take advantage of the fact that these are sold in singles and get yourself a few to try before you commit. The 24 pack is only around £20 so they're not too much of an expense if you want to dive in and buy the whole set.

These pencils were given to me in exchange for an honest review. You can find them on Chromacolour.co.uk