Caran d'Ache Watercolor Pencils Comparison, Compare Caran d'Ache Water Soluble Products
Caran d'Ache Watercolor Pencils Comparison, Compare Caran d'Ache Water Soluble Products
I have wanted to complete this comparison review for quite some time now and I am so glad I have managed to squeeze it into my review schedule. It is important to note, that the products we will take quite an in-depth look at, are from the Caran d’Ache water soluble range.
In this comparison we are taking a look at all six watercolor pencils from Caran d’Ache and I have included one other product from their range, which I am not sure I should have done. Initially I wanted this comparison to be about the watercolor pencils Caran d’Ache manufacture; the Fancolor, Swisscolor, Prismalo, Supracolor II Soft and the Museum Aquarelle. However I have also included the Neocolor II.
Obviously the Neocolor is a completely different medium to the five watercolor pencils mentioned, the Neocolor whilst behaving like a wax crayon, it is also water soluble. I decided to include it in the comparison and leave it up to you guys if you want to compare the Neocolor against the watercolor pencils in the review. Obviously, if you think the Neocolor is too different from the watercolor pencils in the review, then you don’t have to consider the information included.
Caran d’Ache Water Soluble Products On Review
The products on review in this comparison are all of the Water Soluble products in the Caran d’Ache range, with the exception of their water soluble graphite grange. We are looking at the Caran d’Ache Fancolor Watercolor Pencils, Caran d’Ache Swisscolor Watercolor Pencils, Caran d’Ache Prismalo Watercolor Pencils, Caran d’Ache Supracolor II Soft, Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle and finally the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Pastels.
If you would like to know in-depth information about any of the products in this comparison, I have individually reviewed them all in the past and so, if you would like to know more about the Prismalo for example, just click on that word when you see it throughout the review and you will be automatically transferred to that review.
I am going to talk very briefly about each product in the comparison and then we will get into the comparing of pigment strength etc. All of the products listed below are listed according to quality, from the lowest to artist quality. It is important to note however, that products produced by Caran d’Ache are unlike most other art supplies on the market, the lowest quality product from Caran d’Ache, on most occasions can outperform some student grade supples.
Caran d’Ache Fancolor Watercolor Pencils
The Caran d’Ache Fancolor Watercolor Pencils are marketed toward young kids, many young children growing up in Switzerland will have fond memories of using Caran d’Ache Fancolor. The largest set in this range is 40 and that is the set I have used for the individual review. The Fancolor pencil sports a 3.0mm core and a hexagonal 6.9mm barrel, with the entire barrel lacquered the same color as the core pigment for quick and easy pigment selection.
Caran d’Ache Swisscolor Watercolor Pencils
The Caran d’Ache Swisscolor Watercolor Pencils are just above the Fancolor, marketed toward slightly older kids starting high school, or those wishing to dip their toes into the world of watercolor pencils. It is very important to note that Caran d’Ache also sell a set of Swisscolor which are not water-soluble and the tin is almost identical to the Water soluble set.
The largest set in the Swisscolor range is 40, with each pencil sporting a 3.0mm core and a hexagonal 6.9mm core. Each barrel is lacquered the same color as the core pigment, again for ease of pigment selection. Whilst I am indication the market Caran d’Ache aim these products at, I am not under any circumstances suggesting that other artist types can not use the Fancolor for example.
Caran d’Ache Prismalo Watercolor Pencils
The Caran d’Ache Prismalo Watercolor Pencils are a pencil I personally really love, Caran d’Ache have marketed the Prismalo at the lower end of the Student Grade artists, those looking for a bit more from a watercolor pencil. The Prismalo range largest set is a very generous 80 with a wonderful palette overall. The Prismalo sport a 3.2mm core and a slightly thinner barrel than the other pencils in the range, with a 6.7mm hexagonal barrel; again, the entire barrel is lacquered the same color as the core pigment for easy pigment selection.
Caran d’Ache Supracolor II Soft Watercolor Pencils
The Caran d’Ache Supracolor II Soft Watercolor Pencils are market as high end student grade, many people in the art world compare the Caran d’Ache Supracolor Soft to that of the Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer. As with the Albrecht Dürer, the Caran d’Ache Supracolor Soft’s largest set is a whopping 120 set, which when you consider the mixing and blending ability of watercolors, the palette is endless.
The Caran d’Ache Supracolor Soft watercolor pencils sport a generous 3.7mm core, protected within a hexagonal 6.9mm barrel. As with the other watercolor pencils in this range, the Supracolor Soft barrel is lacquered the same color as the core for ease of pigment selection.
Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils
The Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils are the crème de la crème of watercolor pencils, in my opinion, I have yet to test, demonstrate and review a watercolor pencil with such pigment strength and veracity as I have with the Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle.
The Museum Aquarelle sport an incredibly generous 4.1mm core, safely protected within the 7.6mm hexagonal barrel. The barrel of the Museum Aquarelle is covered in a gunmetal grey lacquer, with an inch long pigment identifier on the end of the barrel.
Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Water Soluble Pastels
I was completely undecided as to whether or not I should include the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II as they are a completely different medium. My original plan was to compare the Caran d’Ache watercolor pencils, but after consideration, I thought it wouldn’t be any harm adding the Neocolor and allowing, you guys, the viewers to decide whether or not to compare them against the other Watercolor Pencils in the review.
The Neocolor II are a water soluble wax pastel, the largest count used to be a set of 126, but that has been reduced to an 84 set, which in all honesty is more than enough given the nature of the medium. The Neocolor are a crayon format, for those of you who may not know, they are a round 8.5mm stick of bursting pigment.
Caran d’Ache Water Soluble Swatch Comparison
As you can see I selected four traditional colors from each set, Yellow, Red, Blue and Green, I done my best to select colors identical throughout, however this wasn’t always possible. I split a sheet of St Cuthberts Mill, Saunders Waterford, Rough watercolor paper into six separate sections and labeled each section with the pencil demonstrated.
As you can see from the images, I took photos of the pencils in their dry format and then once I activated the pigments with water, I took a photo of the final results. If you would like to watch in real time me activating each pencil with water, head over to The Art Gear Guide YouTube Channel to watch my video review of this comparison.
When I applied the pencils to the Saunders Waterford watercolor paper, I added them in order of quality, starting with the Caran d’Ache Fancolor all the way to the Museum Aquarelle. I added the Caran d’Ache Neocolor in-between the Prismalo and Supracolor Soft, simply due to how Caran d’Ache market the Neocolor; however, perhaps placing the Neocolor last might have been more beneficial.
I personally feel that throughout the comparison, you can see the subtle change in quality and in some occasions, the not so subtle change. As I mentioned at the beginning, it is worth noting that the lowest quality product from Caran d’Ache can often be equivalent to a lot of other companies student quality products.
Artwork Using All Caran d’Ache Water Soluble Products On Review
Finally to aid further in the comparison of the Caran d’Ache Water Soluble products, I drew a simple image and used each product to complete a painting. I conducted the test in a similar fashion to that of the swatch, I divided a sheet of St Cuthberts Mill, Saunders Waterford watercolor paper into six separate sections and in each section added a leaf drawing.
I drew a single leaf in the first section, traced the image and added it to each of the other sections, I wanted the comparison to be as close as I possibly could. I selected a range of colors from each set and as with the swatch, I tried to ensure all of the colors were the same. Obviously in the case of the Supracolor Soft and Museum Aquarelle, I had a much larger palette to select from, nevertheless, I want to keep the palettes from each set of pencils small and similar.
You will notice that when I swatched the Fancolor watercolor pencils, after being activated with water, some of the pencil strokes were visible under activated watercolor. When this type of thing happens it is due to slightly more binder than pigment, which is to be expected in the Fancolor given who it is marketed towards.
However, if you look at the artwork for the Caran d’Ache Fancolor, this was not the case, all of the pencil dissolved and turned to watercolor. It is important to note that with five Caran d’Ache Watercolor Pencils, when completing the artwork, I laid a covering of pigment using the pencil directly onto the paper and then activated with water and a selection of watercolor brushes.
Each subsequent layer I used the Caran d’Ache Palette Aquarelle, this is a product I have raved about since I purchased mine about six or seven years ago. If you would like to know more about the product simply follow the link and watch or read the review I have included. The Caran d’Ache Palette Aquarelle transforms any water soluble product you may own, from watercolor pencils, water soluble markers or any water soluble product for that matter.
Caran d’Ache Water Soluble Product Comparison Conclusion.
This is comparison I have wanted to complete for a while now and I sincerely hope that this review being added to the extensive library of written reviews and YouTube video reviews accumulated at The Art Gear Guide over the years, will be a useful and helpful review.
Originally I was just going to showcase the swatch, but I felt a simple piece of artwork, and I use the term artwork loosely for this review, would help to display differences slightly better. I personally love Caran d’Ache products, there is just something so satisfying about using any of their products and I know many of you feel the same. I will do a comparison of the Caran d’Ache Supracolor Soft and Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer as both pencils are closely linked.
This comparison test is not really to show which of the Caran d’Ache Water Soluble products are the best, that is clear from the outset given the lightfast ratings of the Museum Aquarelle etc, it is more to show you the differences between each product. Hopefully this will help you select the set that is right for you, if you have been thinking about a water soluble product from Caran d’Ache, there are quite a few to choose from and I hope this comparison will help you make the right selection for you.
If you would like to watch the real time application of dry to wet swatching as depicted in the written review, you can head over to The Art Gear Guide YouTube channel. You will also be able to see the artwork of the leaf come to life, including use of the Caran d’Ache Palette Aquarelle, simply click on the link.
