I don’t use Prismacolor any more as their quality is awful since being made in Mexico but as you do why not just buy the loose stock of the black grape or any other colour that you want.

Hi, Darina–
Many folks are migrating to other brands than prismas… FaberCastell Polychromos are a popular choice. But most of the tutorials & books about cp’s use Prismas. Translating the prisma pencil to something comparable in another brand is hard. There’s hardly ever a direct correlation. If you are new to drawing &/or working in color, this is a level of complication that may be a tough hurdle to get over.

It’s true there have been lots of complaints about the quality of prismas. Here’s the thing: you can start with prismas, then add in pencils from other brands. It’s ok to mix and match within the same piece. You don’t have to stick to just one brand/type of pencil.

With that being said, if you purchase the prisma set, I strongly suggest getting black grape from open stock to go with it (and while you’re at it, grab a black cherry, a couple of extra whites, and a sepia). You’re going to want a source for open stock pencils anyway. You’ll use some pencils faster than others. And you won’t want to buy a set every time you need to replace one.

Through layering, you can mix pencils together to get to something very similar to black grape. But if you’re following a tutorial, that can be tough. Especially if you just need to use it in a light layer to darken a shadow…

And do you use blending pencil or use white to blend?

There are a kajillion ways to blend. White or a blending pencil are one way. A piece of paper towel or a cotton ball is another. Or a stiff bristle brush. Or one of the solvents… Or just pile on the layers!

Hope this helps!
Rosemary

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Just my two cents as a begginer with cp.
I bought Polychromos pencils because of the quality issues I had heard about regarding Primas. But doing an on line tutorial that uses Prismas was both frustrating and liberating.
Frustrating because I didnt have the colors specified. Liberating because, the point is to LEARN, not paint by formula. I am forced to look past color matching to matching value and truely consider the color warmth and intensity as related to by subject. Although my finished work is not a color match, Im gaining skill and color awareness.
Having said all of that, I too find it easier to follow the lesson with the materials given. I find it difficult to translate some lessons by eye alone. This is all about experience. For the short term buying specific colors from open stock will offer a measure of comfort and, if you can, repeat the exercise without the specified color.

I’d just pick a colour that looks similar to this Black Grape

the point is to LEARN, not paint by formula.

That’s exactly what I wanted to add We don’t have Prismacolor here in Germany, so following a tutorial by formula was never an option for me. Which was good. Now I have my own unique colouring and with each piece I learn more about how to do things better and which combinations work well for me. After all, I believe everyone wants to develop their own style eventually and not getting used to copying will speed this process up. I think