Home › Forums › Explore Media › Colored Pencil › Caran d’Ache Pablo
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August 10, 2017 at 6:24 pm #995245
I went to my local art store a couple days ago, and noticed they started selling Caran d’Ache Pablo colored pencils. I’ve never had an opportunity to try these pencils so I bought a few open stock to test them.
They are quite expensive (not Luminance expensive, but still expensive ) so I only bought 9 pencil to test them out. Trying to find a versatile palette with the least number of pencils is a bit challenging. To make it harder, I only allowed myself to choose from the colors that had the top lightfast rating (I love pencils that put the lightfast rating directly on the pencils). I probably stood at the pencil display for a half hour before I finally made my selection. I stood there so long, another customer thought I worked there and inquired where the glue was at lol. Here are the colors I finally ended up buying:
White 001
Ivory Black 496
Purplish Red 350
Cobalt Blue 160
Canary Yellow 250
Night Blue 149
Mahogany 067
Hazel 053
Olive Black 019I brought them to work with me and made this very quick sketch to test them out:
The whole sketch is only about 4 inches tall so I didn’t have much room for detail. Plus I was at work and just wanted to pass the time. They blend very well which is really nice, especially since I didn’t have a true green, orange, or purple to work with. I would like to play with them more, but one day I’d love to buy a full set
August 11, 2017 at 5:25 am #1271808Your frog is adorable, peeping out there! It’s a lovely sketch.
I absolutely love Caran D’Ache Pablos – they are really super quality.
I use them alongside/together with my Faber Castell Polychromos. They cover the white of the paper more fully than Polychromos, so they are great for a first layer. They have a wax pencil feel but actually the wax content is low, so they are not prone to wax bloom like Prismacolors.
They have some colours different to the Faber Castell range too. I particularly like some of the greens, which together with the Polychromos colours, make a great selection for botanical work.
August 11, 2017 at 1:28 pm #1271805Pablos do have wax, but the quality of the Caran d’Ache art waxes is very high. You’re right that they don’t give a wax bloom; one of the company reps said that with excellent wax, the bloom simply does not happen. It’s a matter of waxy chemistry!
These pencils are great for filling in every bit of tooth of the paper, if that effect is desired. Have fun with them!
KristyKristy Kutch
www.artshow.com/kutchAugust 12, 2017 at 1:17 am #1271809Pablos do have wax, but the quality of the Caran d’Ache art waxes is very high. You’re right that they don’t give a wax bloom; one of the company reps said that with excellent wax, the bloom simply does not happen. It’s a matter of waxy chemistry!
These pencils are great for filling in every bit of tooth of the paper, if that effect is desired. Have fun with them!
KristyYes, the quality of the wax and their unusual manufacturing process both contribute to the quality. Also, the wax content of Pablos is very low (>10% according to Caran D’Ache, compared with >30% for Luminance).
August 13, 2017 at 7:48 am #1271806Pablo’s are my favorite pencils. They seem to kind of lay down a lot of pigment. My only complaint is their fleshy pinks seem to be lacking. The lightest pink they have is granite rose and it has grayish tints. There seemed to be so much hype about the Luminance so I bought a white, which is fantastic for blending or adding highlights. Then I added other light colors like Primrose and Titanium Buff….then I just bought the whole set. The lead wears down fast and I had to hunt for a good sharpener just for the Luminance….I ended up using Prisma hand held sharpener. (If anyone knows a good sharpener for Luminance I would appreciate the info) I think Pablo’s are rich in pigment and can get into the tooth of the paper without damaging it so Pablo remains my favorite.
August 13, 2017 at 11:24 am #1271810Pablo’s are my favorite pencils. They seem to kind of lay down a lot of pigment. My only complaint is their fleshy pinks seem to be lacking. The lightest pink they have is granite rose and it has grayish tints. There seemed to be so much hype about the Luminance so I bought a white, which is fantastic for blending or adding highlights. Then I added other light colors like Primrose and Titanium Buff….then I just bought the whole set. The lead wears down fast and I had to hunt for a good sharpener just for the Luminance….I ended up using Prisma hand held sharpener. (If anyone knows a good sharpener for Luminance I would appreciate the info) I think Pablo’s are rich in pigment and can get into the tooth of the paper without damaging it so Pablo remains my favorite.
I totally agree with you – I prefer Pablos to Luminance too. They feel more comfortable in my hand, maintain a better point, are easier to sharpen, and have a greater range of colours.
The only aspect where Luminance outshines Pablo (and all other competitors of any brand) is lightfastness. And of course, that’s important, but it’s actually irrelevant unless you’re using only Luminance pencils, because your picture is only as lightfast as the least lightfast pencil you’ve used on it. As soon as one colour fades, the picture no longer looks right.
August 13, 2017 at 12:15 pm #1271807That’s interesting. I was wondering if you used a fugitive color for the first layer if it would affect the painting if the upper layers were lightfast. Now I know. Thanks for that info, always learning something.
August 15, 2017 at 3:05 pm #1271811That’s interesting. I was wondering if you used a fugitive color for the first layer if it would affect the painting if the upper layers were lightfast. Now I know. Thanks for that info, always learning something.
I was just thinking of different areas of surface colour in different brands rather than underlayers when I said that, but I think the situation is the same with layers.
I saw a blog post a while ago where someone had done tests on exactly this subject herself because she couldn’t find answers online. I’ve just tried to find it again but I can’t find it (I should have bookmarked it). Does anyone else know the blog post I mean?
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