CREATIVE ART MATERIALS Caran D'ache Luminance Colored Pencil Set of 20 (6901.720)

Gorgeous colors, smooth like butter. Blend so well. The quality is worth the money!! I was so happy to get mine on sale!!!

Great color lay down, feel wonderful to work with. They are expensive. It just depends on what you want. I suggest you get a small set and try them first then if you really love them go for it rather than spend a lot and then realize that you prefer something else. Personally, I prefer my F/C Polychromos over the 16 brands of quality pencils I have tried. You just have to find out what is best for you. Good luck.

Thee Best!!!

Every pencil in the set of 20 is rated LF1, the highest ASTM lightfast rating. That is why the pencils are expensive; those pigments are costly. These colors go down smoothly, are creamy. They are also among the more transparent pigments; the lighter colors will not show as well on darker papers. I have also used Polychromos pencils and find the Luminance to be at least as soft and creamy as those. The red and pink pencils are warm and do not mix well with blues, but the manganese violet is a good, warm violet and will mix very well with the blue pencils for cooler violet hues.

I am a colorist. I gave into temptation and ordered a first set of 20, and knew quickly I wanted more. These are soft, richly pigmented, and lovely in the hand. Their top of the line reputation is well deserved. IMO, beginner colorists should start with less expensive, but soft pencils like Prismacolor, or Coloursoft, or even Black Widow. But if you have colored awhile, buy a small set of these and fall under their spell. And you will likely want more of these. If you know you’ll be coloring or drawing as a permanent part of your life, these will be worth their cost. Use these along with Derwent Lightfast pencils for a fuller color palette.

Just like with the Pablos I love the colors that Cara D'ache chose to include in this set. It is enough to give you a feel for the pencils and the types of colors in the range. The box that these pencils come in is a nice solid hard cardboard with padding to protect the pencils. Even though I won't use the box and have put the pencils in a case I prefer the box to the tin. The color in the end of the pencil, at least in the set of 20 matches the color that you get on paper perfectly. The pencils are very soft but still maintain a point and are easy to blend and the colors are rich and beautiful. My only complaints are that the pencil has a round barrel so it could roll off the desk and that the pencil looks very basic. Compared to the Pablo pencils which are a lower price but fully lacquered octagonal body with nice gold writing this is a plain wood barrel with silver lettering that actually makes it hard to see the pencil name etc. Still a great pencil.

These pencils live up to the positive reviews. They are smooth and apply a lot of pigment. They are comfortable to use and blend nicely. I’m going to end up finding a larger set than the 20 pencils. My only complaint is because of their thickness I can’t use the rechargeable pencil sharpener I just bought but ordered a manual sharpener with a larger sharpening hole.

When I first got these I was quite disappointed - the pencils were a bit scratchy they laid down less smoothly than my Polychromos and they were insanely expensive. However after using these for some time I realized that they are best pencils I have for blending. Unlike other pencils that just layer one color on another, these are able to create a new color when you blend. They are among the most pigmented and soft pencils I own (I own Luminance, Polychromos, Prismacolor, Lyra Rembrandt, Blick Studio and Crayola).I do not like the color range, the biggest set you can get is only 76 colors. I bought the 20 from Amazon and later purchased the 76 on Black Friday from Jerrys. I feel that pinks are really limited and wish there were more greens and blues as well. I also love that they use FSC wood meaning that it’s made from sustainable sources. From a value standpoint if you are using these in a coloring book like me they aren’t the best value. They Prismacolor and Polychromos have a much bigger range of colors, are cheaper and do a reasonable job of blending. However these are the best money can buy in terms of blending and lightfastness IMHO.If you are considering buying colored pencils for coloring check the type of paper used in the coloring books. I found that these pencils worked well on Menuet De Bonheur, Hanna Karlzons books, Twilight Garden which have a matt finish and not as well on Tenderful Enchantments which has a slick surface.