Caran D'Ache Pablo artists quality colouring pencils tin set of 120 assorted water resistant colours

Product Information

The dry, 3.8 mm diameter leads, based on a formula ensuring exceptionally high covering power and creating no powder whatsoever, offer one of the widest existing color ranges with its 120 nuances. Artists, technical designers and professional teachers can rely on the exemplary lightfastness of the leads, as well as their perfect opacity. A well-built, strong, and attractive set of pencils, the Caran D’ache Pablo colored pencils are a great choice for those in the market for a new set of high-end pencils that are also water-resistant. The hard wax/oil-based core results in a smooth application and good blending with little wax bloom (thanks to the higher oil content), but at the minor cost of requiring more passes or pressure in certain scenarios. The pencils come in either a sturdy metal box or an attractive finished wooden box. Both are very well-built and do an excellent job of protecting your pencil investment. The pencils themselves have a color-matching barrel along with gold-stamped inclusions of the brand, type, and color. This is a solid presentation and very representative of Caran D’ache sets. Cost – 3/5 I have been reviewing art supplies now for just over a year, primarily colored pencil, and with the exception of a few companies, I have reviewed a product from every colored pencil manufacture on the market. I think at this stage of my reviewing life, I've reviewed enough wonderful products to permit me in saying that there really is no pencil quite like a Caran D'Ache Pencil. In every single pencil, regardless of the brand, Luminance, Pablo, Supracolor soft or Museum Aquarelle, the craftsmanship is immediately evident.

Besides lightfastness and the color range (Pablo is 120, Luminance is 72), what are the differences between Pablo and Luminance as far as opacity and “feel”? I know there’s a difference in oil/wax content and a little bit in handling, but is the difference in “feel” that discernible? How about the difference in opaqueness? A nice bonus is that while some consider these wax-based colored pencils, they don’t suffer from the wax bloom which is common in most traditional wax-colored pencil sets. This can be attributed to a much higher oil content than most wax pencils that you are used to seeing. Some people go so far as to consider the Pablo Colored Pencil to be more of a true “oil” colored pencil rather than a standard wax-based product.

Caran D'Ache Pablo 

There is a great color selection with this line, especially in the larger sets. Most of the colors are vivid enough, although in a few cases, you might have to make a few passes to get the depth you are looking for. This is likely due to the rather oily waxy core, which doesn’t push out as much of the colored core onto the paper for a given stroke when compared to some of the more conventional wax examples.

The vibrancy of the pigments is something you really need to see with your own eyes. I have provided an image of the swatch I completed, which does give you an indication of the pigment royalty, but as with most incredible spectacles in life, viewing the Grand Canyon in a glossy magazine is not quite the same as being stood on the edge of the canyon taking in the view with your own eyes. Pablo Sets & Pricing The lead in the Caran D’ache Pablo colored pencils is very strong and can be sharpened quite easily. Since not as much color is produced for a pass as expected, the result is that the pencils seem to last much longer than competitors which is nice considering that these are very expensive. The fine tip can be easily formed into a sharp tip. This, coupled with the hexagonal barrel, results in excellent control and precision. This is great for the detailed areas of your work where extra care is necessary.As with the Caran d’Ache Pablo range, Faber Castell use a three star system, however, they have attributed a slightly different time scale to their lightfast ranking. Three stars mean the pigment will last approximately 100 plus years, two stars equate to 25 plus years and one star is equal to approximately 5 years. That being said, in the 120 set of Faber Castell Polychromos, 103 pigments are equal to three stars, 15 pigments are equal to two stars and only two pencils are equal to one star. As a colored pencil artist, you will really find it difficult to use a better pencil than the Pablo. Of course the wonderful thing about art and the art world we surround ourselves in, is that everything is subjective, we all have our own styles and so you personally may have already found your best pencil. Even if that is the case, I would still very much implore you to at least try a set of these wonderful Pablo pencils and not to be put off with the phrase that seems to follow the Pablo about, pigeon holing it as a detailed only pencil. This is not the case, sure you can achieve amazing detail with the pencil, but you can achieve a lot more besides. Pablo permanent colored pencils from Caran d'Ache match the superior quality required for color drawings, while the precision of Pablo leads is ideally suited to realist drawing. I have to tell you that throughout all my comparison video I never tell you which is my personal favourite pencil because I don’t want my choice to influence yours in any way. I will show you the various tests that I have conducted of each pencil side by side and let you decide on the results. I also have to explain that these test are as scientific as I can get them, I can’t always maintain the exact same pressure on both pencils, but I try my best. Pablo And Polychromos Characteristics If they handle/look pretty much the same and only really differ in lightfastness, I’d much rather get the full set of Pablos in one shot than mix my collection with half Luminance/half Pablo.