Prismacolor Premier Lightfast Colored Pencils

Following on the post on Monday, it would be really great to see a colour chart (preferably as a colour wheel) for the full set of 48 colours in the new Prismacolor Premier Lightfast Pencils - named below with their lightfast prefix of LF and color number. They also come in sets of 24 and 12 and you can see which colours are in which sets here.

Key features of the lightfast range are that they all conform to the highest ASTM approved lightfast ratings (I or II) of the ASTM standard (D 6901) for lightfastness. This means that they should all have an excellent resistance to the fading effects of prolonged exposure to light. It goes without saying that they are also artists' quality colored pencils with quality pigments for rich color saturation and enable a smooth color laydown for superior blending and shading.

Sanford maintain that their pencils have thick cores which resist breakage, however experience to date is that their pencils still have cores which break much more often than those made by other manufacturers.

Here's a really ace independent review of the first 24 shades (only) in the new lightfast range by Bet Borgeson who is a very long standing coloured pencil user as well as being a well known artist and author in the coloured pencil world. She concludes

"I'm enormously pleased to have all these new lightfast colors, and that they behave like the Prismacolors I've always used and liked." Bet Borgeson October 2005

In addition, Bet Borgeson also sets out her own method for testing lightfastness which anybody can easily try for themselves .

A further set of 24 lightfast colours were introduced by Prismacolor in 2006 and the full set of 48 colours as of 2006 now comprise:

Canary Yellow LF116
Gamboge LF203
Eggshell LF140
Ivory Oxide LF114
Beige LF197
Light Peach LF139
Orange Ochre LF142
Cadmium Orange Hue LF118
Rose Peach LF127
Carmine Red LF126
Cadmium Red LF124
Permanent Red LF122
Madder Lake LF129
English Red Light LF145
Thio Violet LF195
Light Oxide Red LF285
Manganese Violet LF209
Cold Grey 2 LF2060
Blue Silver LF287
Pale Blue LF224
Cobalt Blue Hue LF133
Dioxazine Purple Hue LF132
Indanthrone Blue LF208
Prussian Blue LF101
Iron Blue LF222
Cerulean Blue LF103
Cobalt Turquoise LF105
Phthalo Green LF108
Titanate Green Hue LF110
Grey Green Light LF289
Phthalo Yellow Green Hue LF112
Sap Green Light LF120
Prussian Green LF109
Cinnabar Yellow LF189
Lemon Yellow LF115
Burnt Ochre LF143
Terra Rose LF137
Brown Ochre LF141
Raw Umber LF146
Van Dyke Brown LF147
Sepia Oxide LF148
Neutral Grey 2 LF2051
Neutral Grey 5 LF2054
Cool Grey 50% LF2063
Gold Metal LF150
Silver Metal LF149
White LF138
Black LF135

I've not yet seen these on sale in the UK and I guess we're not likely to either. However USA online art suppliers do ship to the UK. Just remember to check the mailing costs and the total cost before placing an order.

Links:

• Sanford Prismacolor
• Bet Borgeson Studio
  

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