Caran Dache Luminance Review

Article written: February 2016

THE MOST LIGHTFAST PERMANENT COLOUR PENCIL EVER DESIGNED
​Luminance 6901 artist’s pencils, specifically designed by Caran d’Ache in its Geneva Manufacture with colour image professionals in mind, reafirm the high quality standards of the Maison.  Its delicate texture, along with the vibrancy of the many recently developed shades, open up exciting new vistas in the realms of overlaying, mixed techniques and gradation and the new leads are designed for works intended for exhibition, collection and museum purposes.
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Taken from the Caran Dache website - www.carandache.com

CHARACTERISTICS

Base: ​Wax Based

Hard or Soft lead:  MEDIUM

Lightfast rating: ATSM D-6901

Costs: RRP £3.25

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Wooden box set

​Colours Available: 100 + Blender

Sets Available:
Open stock (Individually) In a tin 16, 38 & 76 or bought in a box of 20, 40 and 76 colours (+ 2 Full Blender)
New! July 2020 Portrait box of 20 New colours
+ 4 New Open stock colours
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​Also available in a wooden box containing 80 pencils (76 shades + 4 repeat colours)

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ADVANTAGES
* One of the most lightfast pencil ranges on the market
* Allows for multiple layers
* Great blendibility
* Strong colour application
* Good choice of brown pastel tones
* Premium FSC certified cedar wood
​* No bloom

DISADVANTAGES
* Expensive
* Smaller choice of colours to some other pencil ranges
* Difficult to read the silver print on each pencil stating the colour & number

My Preferred choice of Coloured Pencil

I wonder how much research has gone into the selection of pencil colours as they offer a great range of pastel colours perfect for skin tones as well as a few strong & vibrant colours. There are very few pencil ranges that offer such subtle tones of browns and greys perfect for pets & portraiture work which is the basis for the majority of my pencil work. I also like the fact that these pencils are made with Cedar wood that is FSC certified making them a very eco-friendly pencil range.
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Sets available

A storage chest that holds up to 250 pencils

An archival paper ideal for Coloured pencils

The transfer spray that can save you money!

Guide to working with Coloured pencils on textured paper

Lightfastness:

These pencils are rated by LF1 & LF2 specifications with 85% rated as LF1 and 15% rated as LF2. The Caran Dache website states that its extreme lightfastness is confirmed by the most rigorous tests (explained below left), complying with the highest international standards for light resistance in coloured pencils and earning Luminance 6901 top results and international ASTM D-6901 certification to make it the most lightfast colour pencil ever designed. It has the same lightfastness as a high grade oil paint. 

Caran Dache official lightfast rating chart for Luminance pencils

How is the ASTM d-6901 rating achieved?

The 'Fine Art' Coloured Pencil

To qualify for ASTM D-6901, the Luminance pencils were tested for three months in the Arizona desert as well as 400 hours under intense UV lights in an independent lab in Florida. This level of lightfastness was achieved by using the finest pigments and four synthetic waxes (30%).These waxes are added early in the pasteurisation process to achieve perfect blending with the pigment mixture. This process inhibits waxy blooming in final pencils.

The Caran Dache website also states:
​"The Color Pencil Society of America (CPSA) and independent artists have been searching for and requesting manufacturers to produce higher grade colour pencils with excellent lightfastness that conform to a general international standard. Caran d’Ache has achieved this without sacrificing any of the other qualities that constitute a great color pencil. In fact, Luminance 6901 has many characteristics that distinguish it as a fine art color pencil"

20 New colours - Portrait set

Released July 2020

066 Natural Russet
​719 Dark Phthalocyanine Green

741 Dark Flesh 5%
​748 Dark Flesh

Read our blog post about the 24 new colours in the Luminance range

So, What can they achieve?

The majority of my work are Pets, Wildlife & Human portraiture and my findings are mainly based on these subjects.  I also use a mixture of Derwent Coloursoft & the Luminance for tonal and detailed backgrounds and find they work well together.​

I can apply between 5 to 15 mixed colour layers per portrait

Multiple Layering

​Having tried a few popular coloured pencil brands in the last couple of years, the Luminance pencils are the only brand that allows me to apply layer after layer, light over dark without becoming saturated too quickly.  I have on occasion applied upto 15 layers of pencil, which results in a highly detailed, 3D effect for animal fur as seen in this close up image of a Boxer dog eye. The white is a very important pencil in my work and being able to create further tones in the 76 colour range by applying lighter tones over darker tones gives this pencil range a huge advantage.

Building up the base layers of the skin tones

Great for skin tones

​The Luminance pencil range has some of the best skin tone colours I have come across - my 2 favourites are the 862 Burnt Sienna 10% (pink tone) & 872 Brown Ochre 10% (peach tone) and here I am using the 832 Burnt Ochre 10% to add a warm yellow hue to create a balance. Normally I would use the Derwent Coloursoft pencils as they are perfect for blending areas that require smooth, tonal transitions due to their softness but I am also able to use the Luminance pencils on top of these layers because they are strong in colour and have a great range of suitable colour tones.

Layering over Derwent Coloursoft pencils

Perfect for backgrounds

​I find that the Luminance pencils are also great for tonal backgrounds. The colours are strong and I am able to use them alongside the Derwent Coloursoft pencils to apply firmer layers and finer lines over the Coloursoft base layer.
I particularly like the Light Cobalt Blue (No:661) of which has the LF1 standard, very few light blues have a high quality colourfast rating and I am confident in the knowledge that a piece of Artwork created with the luminance pencils has a lifespan of at least 100 years! 

​Caran Dache Luminance pencils are
​Vegan and environmentally friendly​