I don't find them grainy at all. I find they still have a creaminess to them. Not as soft as Prisma, but still soft in my opinion. And they do have a lovely vibrant color selection. They layer nicely as well.
I usually use watercolor paper for my colored pencil drawings. Reason for that is because I usually combine them with watercolor, brush pens, etc. I find the light texture allows plenty of layers as well. Hollyhocks and Honeybees was still done on watercolor paper. I usually use Canson cold-press watercolor paper. HH and H was done on Fluid cold-press watercolor paper. When I do sketchbook work, then it's Strathmore papers. All my favorite sketchbooks are Strathmore.
Prismas aren't worth it anymore in my personal opinion. I used to love them until some changes in the company. Then quality control seemed to go down. The colors are lovely, and they feel very creamy to use. But they're almost impossible to sharpen without breaking and wasting half the pencils. Which also makes it difficult to get finer details. They're almost TOO soft to sharpen right.
I actually have a few sets from them. My oldest set seems to be better quality than the newer two. It's unfortunate... they used to be a leader in the industry...
Another company that might be worth investigating is Derwent. They make lovely pencils. I use their tinted graphite, charcoal, Drawing line of colored pencils, Lightfast colored pencils, ink pencils, ink blocks, pens, etc. and love all of them. They make a wide range of colored pencils in different lead hardnesses and sizes depending on your preference: Lightfast, Colorsoft, Artist's, Drawing, Chromaflow, Procolor, Studio...
I looove the Drawing line. I haven't found a creamier pencil than those ones. Only downside is they only come as a nature palette. But if you like nature drawing, animals, etc. then they're perfect. They have a thicker barrel and lead too. Supposedly the newer Chromaflows are supposed to be a softer lead too, but I haven't tried them so can't confirm that. A rep told me they were intended to have a softer feel. Their price point is decent too. I'd actually like to try them some time.
I tried a few Procolors once, but found them a little too hard and scratchy for my liking. I imagine they'd work for fine detail though.
If it helps, Prisma, Faber and Derwent all sell pencils open stock. So you could grab a few of each and test them out first. Compare them and see what you like.
Ever try alcohol markers? If you like cartoon work, I've seen people do some great work with those that really pop off the page.
