ALSO, if you own Prismacolors Color Pencils and they keep breaking off no matter how much you sharpen them, they are cracked from the INSIDE.
This can be fixed by putting them in the microwave for no longer than 3 seconds! A little thing my art teacher taught me and has come in handy like heck!
OOOOOOOOOH~!!!
re-blogging to save a life
I never heard of this! Will test next chance i get
Prismacolor pencils are such crap that I’ve started pre-emptively microwaving them but an important note: LET THEM COOL OFF FOR AT LEAST A MINUTE BEFORE USING OR SHARPENING AFTER MICROWAVING. The wax that acts as a binder needs a surprisingly long time to set back up again, and you will have slightly melty pencil all over your sharpener/work.*
Another thing you can do to help prevent breakage is to paint a “cap” on the butt of your pencils with nail polish or super-glue. This helps cushion your pencils if you drop them, and helps the wood and lead stick together. Most nice art pencils have caps on them already, but not prismacolor. it takes about 20 seconds to do and will extend the life of your pencils by years.
*If you wanted metly pencil, for some effects, microwave that bad boy for 9 seconds and use immediately, being careful to not get hot wax on your hands.
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