Under Scrutiny, Review No1 - Prisma Premiers -v- Derwent Coloursofts & TOP TIP

Hi Guys,

I have decided to do reviews on products i use and sometimes i will put them up against one another, but i will always tell the truth and not mislead you into buying something you don't need, and because i don't sell anything,  i have nothing to lose, therefore i am totally loyal to my blog followers & visitors alike as you all know me, i say it like it is........

Today i thought i would try for the first time how to use my Prisma pencils. Back in January, i sent my long suffering hubby to get me some Derwent 'Coloursoft' which blend and work in the same way Prisma Premiers do, now i know its hard to get hold of Prismas, which is why i chose Derwent 'coloursofts' over them, and not every craft shop sells them, infact i could only find one and they are in sets, http://craftsulove.co.uk  However, i wanted to buy a pencil of my choice not what is in a set, anyway, i found http://www.1buy1pencils.co.uk where you can buy each pencil for £1 and make them all your choice, so in Feb, i bought 30 pencils, so now i have 54 blendable pencils and after using them just now as a tester, cause as you know this is my first time, i can honestly same the Prismas are a little softer and blend beautifully and much easier than the 'Coloursofts', thing is they are dearer than Prismas too, hubby paid £29.99 for 24 'Coloursofts' and i paid £30 for 30 Prismas, so Prismas are your best bet..........now for my top tip...... To utilise your pencils and blend with them, you will need some form of mineral spirits, some people use oils, which are all well and good but stay within your paper or card and can leave stains, where mineral spirits will evaporate as you are blending. As an artist i have oil paints that i use and i use an odourless thinners, which in effect is what i needed, so instead of using it in a big gallon bottle, i decanted some into an old 'cockles' jar, but i only filled it halfway, then i added an old sponge that i cut to the correct size to sit at the top of the jar within (use the jar upside down on your sponge as a template, before you fill it, then cut out sponge) then pour a little more of the spirits in to soak the sponge and voila!!! you only have to dab your paper stumps onto the wet sponge, that stays wet!! and you are never soaking your paper stumps which will shorten its useage i would have thought, anyway, here's some pics of what i mean, thanks Vick x