Prismacolor colorless blender.

[blueknightfox]

This might be a dumb question but.......
How do use this thing? I got one yesterday, got home and tried to use but nothing happened. Unless it blends colorless art I don't think it works or is there something you got to do first? I feel stupid asking this.

[Peter Coene]

Its for blending prisma ink that is already on the page, and usually works best when the ink hasn't had a chance to totally dry. Some types of paper absorb marker ink better and so blending is not as doable. others, like velum, will keep the ink more on the surface and thus be easier to blend on.

I've found that tombo markers are easier to blend. Also, blending gets really interesting when you start blending in opaque white hilight pens that react to the chemicals in the blender.

[idoru]

Prismacolor markers are really hard to blend, so you have to work REALLY quickly. I've never had any lucky with it.

[blueknightfox]

Its for blending prisma ink that is already on the page, and usually works best when the ink hasn't had a chance to totally dry. Some types of paper absorb marker ink better and so blending is not as doable. others, like velum, will keep the ink more on the surface and thus be easier to blend on.

I've found that tombo markers are easier to blend. Also, blending gets really interesting when you start blending in opaque white hilight pens that react to the chemicals in the blender.

Since it is a pencil I thought it was used to blend the color pencils.

[Liz Edwards]

Since it is a pencil I thought it was used to blend the color pencils.

Do you mean THIS?

That is for pencils. I remember using one a couple of years ago. I seem to remember the results being rather subtle, but I never got big into coloured pencils so maybe I wasn't using it right

[Jazz]

At first some of us thought you meant the Prismacolor marker's colourless blender. Thanks for clarifying.

That blending pencil kinda works--I know where I used to use a white coloured pencil to blend together different colours, the good thing about this one is that it's not really white, it's translucent so the colours get blended pretty decently without looking faded.

That being said, if you want a really gradual blend (especially over a bit of a distance) using that skinny thing, you're better off somehow using the two colours (and maybe an intermediate colour) to do that kind of blending. It's usually a failure for me when I try using that blender for say, gradients.

[Peter Coene]

Since it is a pencil I thought it was used to blend the color pencils.

lol, you should have specified that before. Prismacolor makes marker blenders too.

[Aphotic Phoenix]

I never really knew how to use color pencils right until I read a book on it. It's all about layering, and buffing the tones together. The colorless blender works well for darker colors that would be lightened by using a white pencil. If you want a really even under-painted layer...lay down a thin layer of color, and then blend with a q-tip soaked in a little turpentine.

[VulgarDragon]

It's for use with colored pencils. You rub it on top of the color and it will help get rid of the white specks and give a more even finish. It will also blend colors together (somewhat) if you used more than one color in the area.

[Demo]

Not that this is exactly directly related, I was under the impression that the Prisma color Marker Blender also worked on the color pencils in a slimier way by removing the wax or something like that on the page.

Little side note apparently what makes prisma stuff kind of expensive is that all the pigments and ingredient what nots are all mixed by hand. alos they give tours of the factory with Free samples sometimes

[CCThrom]

Aphotic Phoenix pretty much explained it... here are a few more tips.

In every colored pencil work, there is a point where you decide if you will blend or not blend. Because if you do, it will change the surface properties of the pencil. Blending essentially takes out the white of the paper... you build up a thicker layered work. In a lot of ways it is exactly like painting, so my old mentor used to call her works "prismacolor paintings".

If you're going to blend, work small because the size of the tool is small... like trying to fill a canvas using only your #000 brush. Once you start blending, it's advisable to blend the whole piece because the surface qualities are noticeably different, and your work could end up looking inconsistent or unfinished.

You can not blend over a wide area like you can with wet paint or digital.

A lot of pencil artists use the white pencil to blend, but can seriously change the other colors, especially the darks. Therefore, the colorless blender.