Prismacolor PremierBrush marker vs. Prang Brush pen

People say that the bigger you get, the bigger your toys are. That might be true for some people, but you can still please me with a bunch of new  markers as well as when I was 5 years old !

Well, fancy markers, but still markers!

So, from time to time I like to get myself couple of new toys and play around with them and I thought it will be a good idea to share the results from my experience with these two different marker sets.

I was looking for brush tip markers or pens and I came upon these two:  Prismacolor Premier Brush Tip Markers and Prang Brush Tip Pens.

1. Prismacolor Premier Brush Tip Markers

Description:

- 8 Colors

-Acid Free

-Permanent

-Lightfast

-Archival

- No bleed through

- Smear resistant then dry

- Non-toxic

- sold separately by color too

- Made in Japan 

2. Prang Brush Tip Pens

Description:

- 12 colors

- Acid Free

- Easy flow tip

- Made in Korea

My Notes:

- As you can see, there is very little information about the Prang markers, that's not only because there is virtually none on the package, though. All over the Prang set package is advertisement about their website, where I quite" you can get more details and information". That is not correct though! I visited the website and there was nothing more than a one sentence description. 

Test results from my experience with both sets 

1. Prismacolor Premier Brush Tip Markers

I tested the markers for a month and here are my thought on the subject:

- Brush tip is harder - depending on what you need them for, this can be very beneficial. My personal preference was for the harder brush tip, because it can serve double purpose- when you need it to be a marker, it's hard enough, when you need it to be a brush, it bends.

- Dry quicker - depending on what you need them for, this can be a plus or a minus. I personally prefer my markers to dry quicker, but if you plan on blending more colors together, probably one that dries slower will serve you better.

- More smooth color- the color is way more smoother than the Prang.  

- More durable- definitely good quality markers! I've been using them for 2 months and they are like new!

- More opaque colors - you can see from the little test I did, starting with the tip of the marker and gradually bending it to a brush.

Money value: 

There are 8 markers in the set, the price is  $17.99, you pay $2.24 per marker. The good news is that you can buy them as separate colors, the price is between $2.01 to $2.28 per single marker. 

You get less colors for your money but more quality and durability! 

2.Prang Brush Tip Pens

- Dry slower- As I mentioned above, this can be a plus or a minus, depending on the work you do, but for me, I prefer my markers to dry faster.

- More wet- Definitely a lot more liquid coming out of the brush tip than you would expect from a marker or a pen. It's true it gives a watercolor feeling to it but it has it's disadvantages too.

- Softer brush- this again, considering the purpose you are using them for can be a plus or a minus. One thing I got to say though is that these are by no means " markers" or " pens" in the traditional sense. I needed a lot more " getting used to them" than with the Prismacolors.

- Less durable- on the third using of the markers one of them started running out.

- More transparent color- remember what I mentioned about the watercolor feeling to them? Take a look at the little test I did with them:

Money value: 

In each set there are 12 markers, the price is $8.01, which makes $0.66 per marker. You get more colors for the money you pay, but considering the quality and durability, it will be more expensive in the long run since you'll need to replace them sooner. 

 

Bleeding and blending test 

 I used both sets ( pink color is Prang, purple color is Prismacolor) and I tested to see when they'll bleed through the regular printing paper. 

Since the printing paper is very thin, thinner than regular drawing paper, I decided to test the markers applying them gradually 10 times one coat on top of the other.  ( zoom in the picture to see better the effect)

Overall, the Prismacolor didn't show much change in color- it didn't become much more darker, comparing 1 coat with 10 coats.

The Prang became more darker with the applying of each coat but after the 4th coat the marker started to get the paper so wet that the surface began to grind.

You can probably see that better here: 

Now let's take a look at the back of that piece of paper to see if they bleed through: 

As you can see, the Prismacolor even at the 10th coat is barely showing, as the Prang starts showing at the 4-5-6- etc coating. 

If you want to see more from the testing, check it out here: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26588310@N04/sets/72157624818869850/with/4932321072/

I hope this information is helpful for you!

Annie