I was invited by PRANG to review their products (along with every other art blogger:), so of course I asked if I could get more free samples for a reader.
Kathy was randomly chosen by Stella (my 2 year old pulled a name from a bucket:) and here is her review.
THANK YOU KATHY!!!!I spent some time trying out my supplies and I found pretty much what I expected.
Pencils and paint are far better than the competitors. I already use Prang watercolors and I was not surprised to find the Rose Art paints thinner and more translucent. They simply just don't cut it. There doesn't seem to be enough pigment in them to show on the paper. Ticonderoga pencils are the best. Sometimes I wonder if they are worth the extra money, so I tested them hard. I sharpened a whole pencil down stopping every once in a while to see if the lead was broken inside the wood casement. Out of the 3 I sharpened only one had a broken lead. This is a huge pet peeve I have. If I sharpen a pencil I don't want to find the lead broken and have to resharpen again because the lead fell out. Generally most pencils do and I have always thought it was because in shipping them the crates and boxes are treated roughly and get dumped. So the leads are broken. But my pencils were shipped and seemed to hold up well. The wood did seem to take more power to sharpen them or maybe I just was really tired, but it did a great job. I also like the fact they come pre-sharpened, saves time. Now the competitor (can't remember the exact name they are at school) made in Viet Nam were pretty good too. I could tell the wood around the lead was different, almost softer but it was easy to sharpen and only one of the leads were broken when I tested them. Just like the Ticonderoga pencils. Surprise! So is the price worth it? Yes, the deciding factor was the eraser. I always seem to get those pencil erasers on cheap pencils that can't do anything. This eraser wasn't horrible, softer than I expected but just didn't work quite as well. Hard old erasers just smug but these did a fair job.
I had the most trouble deciding on the color pencils and markers. I have always purchased Crayola brand but I am really torn now on which I like better. Here are a few pictures to help explain what I did and my results.
I really liked the Prang marker tips. They seem more accurate and strong. I really liked the colors available in the set of 12 markers. The extra light green and light blue were a nice bonus. I also appreciate the lighter tint of pink also. I tested side by side violet (purple) & blue. Prang on the left side again, Crayola on the right. Here is noticed a big difference. I liked the Prang colors more because there is a clearer difference between the two. Also in the next picture, the back of the page you see Crayola leaked through the page a lot. Color pencils, well pretty much the size and color choice of the Prang were superior. When I used them they felt smoother and softer coloring on the page. You can tell I just used a notebook page and it was still obvious the Prang was better. I felt the size and shape of the larger pencil also protected it from the dropping on the floor/broken lead problem. They also blended much smoother. Especially you can see, in the blue and yellow blended to make green is what I would say is a truer green. I use a lot of color pencils and I think the Prang will be on my 2014 supply order! Loved them.
You all did such fabulous reviews there is not much to add. . . so I decided to do something different. I wanted to know how long could a PRANG marker be left naked, without a cap, before drying up? Read on to find out the results.
PRANG Versus the OTHER
Pan watercolors: Neither. I don't use them! I find all pan watercolors to have the same major draw back, muddy colors. Yuck! By the time one class is finished with them they are done. There has to be a better solution and there is. Liquid watercolors. Save your money on this one. I had my 2 year old paint with both. Prang was better, but both were brown by the end anyways:)
Pencils: Ticonderoga rock. Even though you can't pronounce the name, buy them. You will thank me. No more pencil grinding in the sharpener:)
PRANG TAKES THE LEAD!
Markers: To be honest I didn't have big hopes for PRANG markers. I was sent both Crayola and Prang. Everyone thinks of Crayola as superior quality. Some of the neighborhood kids came over and tested both markers and all agreed they loved the PRANG colors better! I honestly thought the differences were minimal. But here's where it gets interesting! They left the cap off the Prang marker. I found it the next day and it still worked great. I decided to leave it on my counter like that for a few days. The PRANG marker still wrote like a champ after a few days. So I left it a week, then another week with no cap, the marker is still writing!!! I am in love with PRANG markers now! I did the same with Crayola markers and they dried up in a few days.
PRANG MARKERS= LASTS LONGER WITH CAP OFF, who cares about the color differences?
Colored Pencils: Prang had nice soft quality. Not a colored pencil fan, but they were good.
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