The ratings also apply to Art Stix of the same colour.
Here's the Color Chart (download as a pdf file from the Prismacolor blog)! See Introducing 18 New Colors; revived and refreshed for 2011!
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| Prismacolor Premier Lighfast Color Chart |
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| Prismacolor Pencils - Lightfast Legend |
The colours have all been tested according to the processes laid down by the ASTM D6901-06 and the lightfastness ratings have been established. This provides a level playing field for comparing colours and their lightfastness across different brands.
For more about lightfastness see my "resources for artists" website Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists - and, in particular, the section about COLOURED PENCILS - COLOURS AND LIGHTFASTNESS
My own feeling is that Prismacolor now have far more colours in Groups 4 and 5 compared to other manufacturers. I'm really not sure why they want to produce quite so many pinks, violets, purple and blues - colours which are effectively fugitive. Certainly both Talens and Caran d'Ache, which have also had their pencils tested to ASTM standard, have many fewer pencils but virtually all their pencils are Group I and II.
I'd certainly prefer a complete set which had as a minimum a very good standard of lightfastness - even if it meant less pencils. But maybe I'm a voice on my own on that one?
The general consensus is that artists producing artwork which is intended to be archival should only be using Class I and II (Excellent and Very Good) colours.
Below I list the new colours and also which group all the rest of the colours fall into.
Group I - Excellent Lightfastness rating
- Artichoke
- Lemon Yellow
- Yellow Ochre
- Spanish Orange
- Goldenrod
- Mineral Orange
- Crimson Lake
- Light Peach
- Beige
- Nectar
- Light Peach
- Powder Blue
- Parrot Green
- Yellow Chartreuse
- Green Ochre
- Kelly Green
- Dark Green
- Sandbar Brown
- Sepia
- Jade Green
- Peacock Green
- Light Umber
- Chocolate
- Burnt Ochre
- Sienna Brown
- Terra Cotta
- Henna
- Expresso
- Dark Umber
- Dark Brown
- Warm Grey 10%
- Warm Grey 20%
- Warm Grey 30%
- Warm Grey 50%
- Warm Grey 70%
- Warm Grey 90%
- Cool Grey 10%
- Cool Grey 20%
- Cool Grey 30%
- Cool Grey 50%
- Cool Grey 70%
- Cool Grey 90%
- Black
- French Grey 10%
- French Grey 20%
- French Grey 30%
- French Grey 50%
- French Grey 70%
- French Grey 90%
- White
- Metallic Silver
- Bronze
- Cream
- Ginger Root
- Jasmine
- Sand
- Pumpkin Orange
- Carmine Red
- Scarlet lake
- Crimson Red
- Peach
- Beige Sienna
- Chestnut
- Black Raspberry
- Black Cherry
- Black Grape
- Mediterranean Blue
- Indigo Blue
- Chartreuse
- True Green
- Grass Green
- Olive Green
- Kelp Green
- Slate Grey
- Metallic Gold
- Canary Yellow
- Pale Vermillion
- Peach Beige
- Seashell Pink
- Rosy Beige
- Raspberry
- Greyed Lavender
- Violet
- Copenhagen Blue
- Electric Blue
- Denim Blue
- True Blue
- Sky Blue Light
- Peacock Blue
- Cloud Blue
- Non-Photo Blue
- Light Acqua
- Aquamarine
- Light Green
- Spring Green
- Marine Green
- Celadon Green
- Muted Turquoise
- Putty Beige
- Sunburst yellow
- Magenta
- Pink
- Pink Rose
- Clay Rose
- Pink Rose
- Mahogany Red
- Dark Purple
- China Blue
- Blue Slate
- Moss Green
- Tuscan red
- Yellowed Orange
- Orange
- Poppy Red
- Process Red
- Mulberry
- Hot Pink
- Salmon Pink
- Blush Pink
- Lavender
- Lilac
- Dahlia Purple
- Parma Violet
- Imperial Violet
- Blue Violet Lake
- Violet Blue
- Ultramarine
- Light Cerulean Blue
- Caribbean Sea
- Periwinkle
- Blue Lake
- Pale Sage
- Limepeel
- Apple Green
Prismacolor have also released 18 new pencils which are currently undergoing a formal assessment to determine their final lightfast rating. These revive some of the favourite colours from the past!
I'm assuming that they have tried to address the horrible lightfastness problems that some of these pencils had in the past.
The "new" colours are:
- Deco Yellow,
- Deco Peach
- Deco Pink
- Permanent Red
- Indathrone Blue
- Cadmium Orange Hue
- Prussian Green
- Sap Green Light
- Grey Green Light
- Cobalt Turquoise
- Cerulean Blue
- Cobalt Blue Hue
- Eggshell
- Pomegranate
- Dioaxazine Purple Hue
- Neon Yellow
- Neon Orange
- Neon Pink
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