Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Pencils: A Professional Perspective
Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 coloured pencils are a premium offering from the Swiss art materials manufacturer, Caran d'Ache. First introduced in 2010 with a range of 76 colours, these pencils were developed over two years of dedicated research. In July 2020, the collection expanded to its current 100 colours, further enhancing its versatility. Positioned at the higher end of the professional art market, these pencils are primarily known for specific characteristics that distinguish them from many other brands, particularly their exceptional lightfastness.
The original 76-colour Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 set, showcasing the early metal tin packaging before design evolutions.
Core Characteristics and Performance
At the heart of the Luminance pencil's appeal is its wax-based, smooth, and creamy texture. This formulation allows for a buttery application, resulting in rich, dense colour payoff with minimal pressure. Artists often report a satisfying glide across various paper surfaces, facilitating the laying down of broad areas of colour efficiently. The high pigment concentration contributes to the vibrancy and opacity of the colours, allowing for strong coverage, even when layering lighter hues over darker ones.
A defining feature for many professional artists is the Luminance's exceptional lightfastness. Caran d'Ache has invested significantly in ensuring the longevity of artwork created with these pencils. The vast majority of the Luminance range carries the highest ASTM D-6901 rating (Lightfastness I), indicating that colours should remain stable for over 100 years under museum conditions. This commitment to lightfastness makes them a preferred choice for commission work, exhibition pieces, and any artwork intended for long-term display.
A defining feature for many professional artists is the Luminance's exceptional lightfastness. Caran d'Ache has invested significantly in ensuring the longevity of artwork created with these pencils. The vast majority of the Luminance range carries the highest ASTM D-6901 rating (Lightfastness I), indicating that colours should remain stable for over 100 years under museum conditions. This commitment to lightfastness makes them a preferred choice for commission work, exhibition pieces, and any artwork intended for long-term display.
Base: Wax based |
Colours: 100 |
Hard or soft lead: Medium |
Lightfast rating: ATSM - D6901 |
Costs: £ - £££ |
When it comes to layering and blending, Luminance pencils generally perform very well. Their soft, waxy core allows for the application of numerous layers without the pencil becoming resistant or "waxing up" excessively. This quality enables artists to build up intricate depths, complex colour mixes, and smooth tonal transitions. Blending colours on paper is often described as effortless, leading to seamless gradations. They also respond well to burnishing techniques, which can create a polished, almost photographic finish.
However, the very softness that enables excellent blending and layering can present some challenges. While the Luminance pencils are capable of achieving fine detail, their point retention is not as robust as harder, oil-based alternatives. You may find that you need to sharpen more frequently when executing intricate lines or delicate textures, which can consume more pencil lead over time. Additionally, like many wax-based pencils, there is a minor potential for "wax bloom" over extended periods, although this is generally less pronounced with Luminance due to their specific formulation.
Price and Value Proposition
Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils are positioned at a premium price point, reflecting their professional-grade quality, high lightfastness ratings, and meticulous manufacturing process. For artists whose work demands archival quality and longevity, the investment is often considered worthwhile due to the assurance of colour stability and the overall performance characteristics. However, for casual users or those new to coloured pencils, the cost can be a significant barrier to entry, prompting consideration of more budget-friendly alternatives.
Colour Palette and Range
The Luminance 6901 collection encompasses a palette that is often praised for its subtlety and comprehensive range of natural and muted tones alongside vibrant hues. This makes them particularly well-suited for subjects requiring a nuanced colour approach, such as portraiture, wildlife, and landscape art. The inclusion of multiple tints within a single colour family (e.g., various percentages of Sepia or Burnt Sienna) provides a built-in spectrum of tonal values, reducing the need for extensive mixing.
Lightfastness: The ASTM-6901 Standard
A defining feature for many professional artists is the Luminance's exceptional lightfastness. Caran d'Ache has invested significantly in ensuring the longevity of artwork created with these pencils. To qualify for the stringent ASTM D-6901 standard, Luminance pencils underwent rigorous testing: they were exposed for three months in the intense Arizona desert sun, and for 400 hours under powerful UV lights in an independent laboratory in Florida.
This remarkable level of lightfastness is achieved through the use of the finest pigments combined with a unique blend of four synthetic waxes (making up 30% of the core). These waxes are carefully added early in the pasteurisation process, ensuring they blend perfectly with the pigment mixture. This precise formulation also helps to inhibit waxy blooming in the final pencils, a common issue with many wax-based coloured pencils. The vast majority of the Luminance range carries the highest ASTM D-6901 rating (Lightfastness I), indicating that colours should remain stable for over 100 years under museum conditions.
This remarkable level of lightfastness is achieved through the use of the finest pigments combined with a unique blend of four synthetic waxes (making up 30% of the core). These waxes are carefully added early in the pasteurisation process, ensuring they blend perfectly with the pigment mixture. This precise formulation also helps to inhibit waxy blooming in the final pencils, a common issue with many wax-based coloured pencils. The vast majority of the Luminance range carries the highest ASTM D-6901 rating (Lightfastness I), indicating that colours should remain stable for over 100 years under museum conditions.
Evolution of Luminance Pencil Design
Like many established art material companies, Caran d'Ache has continually refined its Luminance 6901 pencils over the years, often in direct response to artist feedback. These design updates have focused on enhancing user convenience and readability.
The original Luminance pencils were marked with a small, circular colour indicator on the end, which, while indicating the hue, made it surprisingly difficult to quickly distinguish between similar shades. This design has since been updated to feature a colour-dipped cap, providing a larger and more easily identifiable swatch for quicker colour selection.
Furthermore, the initial design included a silver inscription on the barrel, displaying the pencil's name and colour number. While functional for reordering, this metallic print was often challenging to read, even under good lighting conditions. Recognising this user frustration, Caran d'Ache significantly improved legibility. When the company launched its set of 24 new colours in July 2020, they introduced a crisp white inscription for the name and colour number, a change that has since been applied across the entire range, making essential information much clearer and more convenient for artists.
The original Luminance pencils were marked with a small, circular colour indicator on the end, which, while indicating the hue, made it surprisingly difficult to quickly distinguish between similar shades. This design has since been updated to feature a colour-dipped cap, providing a larger and more easily identifiable swatch for quicker colour selection.
Furthermore, the initial design included a silver inscription on the barrel, displaying the pencil's name and colour number. While functional for reordering, this metallic print was often challenging to read, even under good lighting conditions. Recognising this user frustration, Caran d'Ache significantly improved legibility. When the company launched its set of 24 new colours in July 2020, they introduced a crisp white inscription for the name and colour number, a change that has since been applied across the entire range, making essential information much clearer and more convenient for artists.
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Having covered the technical and general characteristics of Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 pencils, this section shifts to a personal account. Here, the artist Karen M Berisford and founder of Step by Step Art, shares insights from extensive personal use, detailing how these pencils truly perform in a working artist's hands and why they've become such an indispensable part of her creative process.
As an avid user of these pencils in my own artwork, I've developed a deep understanding of their nuances, and what makes them so invaluable to my creative process. My journey with coloured pencils spans nearly 40 years, a path that led me through various brands over time. While it took some time to settle on a single preferred range, I finally discovered the Berol Karismacolor pencils. Sadly, their discontinuation in 2005 prompted me to explore other options, such as Derwent Coloursoft, before I ultimately settled on Luminance in 2010. Now, I'll share my personal insights into why these pencils have become such an indispensable part of my creative process.
A Comprehensive Palette
For me, the comprehensive quality and extensive range of Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils mean I don't need to extend my palette using colours from other brands for my core artwork. I find they deliver virtually every hue, tone, and performance characteristic I need to get my work done, from the softest glazes to the deepest, most opaque layers. While I occasionally incorporate Derwent Drawing pencils for their uniquely rich, specific earthy tones, and Derwent Coloursoft for certain bright, pops of colour that cut through other layers, Luminance remains my undisputed primary choice. It forms the backbone of almost every piece I create, giving me the confidence that I have the right tools for any challenge without constantly reaching for alternatives. The lightfastness of these pencils is a major benefit, for my professional practice as a commission artist and in my role as a tutor, the archival nature of my materials is absolutely essential.
Layering Without Limits
The ability of Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils to accept multiple, successive layers is genuinely their most indispensable quality. I've found that I can consistently build up incredible depth and richness, effortlessly applying layer after layer without the paper becoming oversaturated or resisting further pigment. This smooth, forgiving quality allows for a truly intuitive workflow, letting me concentrate on my art rather than battling my materials.
Of course, this exceptional layering capability is significantly enhanced by the foundation I work on. Using heavy-weight paper – typically 300gsm or more – plays a crucial role, as its robust surface can withstand repeated applications and firm pressure without breaking down or developing unsightly indentations. This harmonious combination of the Luminance pencils and a resilient paper surface allows me to create intricate textures, achieve vibrant colour saturation, and craft nuanced tonal transitions that would be incredibly challenging, if not impossible, with less forgiving pencils or lighter paper stocks. It truly elevates the potential for intricate detail and complex colour mixing in my work.
Of course, this exceptional layering capability is significantly enhanced by the foundation I work on. Using heavy-weight paper – typically 300gsm or more – plays a crucial role, as its robust surface can withstand repeated applications and firm pressure without breaking down or developing unsightly indentations. This harmonious combination of the Luminance pencils and a resilient paper surface allows me to create intricate textures, achieve vibrant colour saturation, and craft nuanced tonal transitions that would be incredibly challenging, if not impossible, with less forgiving pencils or lighter paper stocks. It truly elevates the potential for intricate detail and complex colour mixing in my work.
Tonal Transitions and Firmness for Fine Detail
They're wonderfully soft, allowing for beautifully smooth tonal transitions, but also possess a surprising firmness that enables precise, fine details. This unique characteristic proved invaluable in the Boxer dog portrait shown above.The softness allowed me to create the subtle gradations of colour in the dog's eyes, capturing their realistic depth and warmth, while the inherent firmness enabled me to render the individual strands of fur with incredible accuracy, bringing out the texture and sheen of his coat. I can effortlessly blend colours into one another, creating seamless gradations, but then switch to a lighter touch or a sharper point to execute delicate hairs, whiskers, or intricate patterns without the lead crumbling or losing its edge. This versatility means I rarely have to switch pencils for different stages of my artwork. With remarkable pigmentation and opacity, these pencils enable seamless layering of lighter shades over darker foundations. This quality proves invaluable, particularly when building up the rich textures of black fur.
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The Colour Palette: Essential Tones
As an artist specialising in wildlife and pet portraits, my pursuit of the ideal pencil has led me to acquire a broad collection through much experimentation. After years of trial and error, never quite finding a set that offered everything I needed, I've discovered Luminance pencils are the perfect fit. Their subtle greys, earthy browns, and nuanced beiges are precisely the shades I need when meticulously depicting fur textures or authentic skin tones.These are far more than mere muted hues; they possess an inherent richness and remarkable complexity that truly helps to breathe life into my subjects. This unparalleled palette allows me to effortlessly capture the delicate, often understated, variations in coats, skin tones, and eyes, adding a profound depth and realism that significantly enhances the finished piece. Achieving this level of authentic realism and warmth is paramount for my detailed portrait work, making the Luminance range indispensable.
What truly sets the Caran d'Ache Luminance range apart, beyond its generous colour spectrum, is the intelligent inclusion of pre-mixed tonal variations within each colour family. These percentage-based distinctions offer artists immediate access to lighter and darker values of a given hue, significantly enhancing blending and layering capabilities.This thoughtful approach to colour selection is incredibly valuable to my collection. It means I have an expansive array of perfectly balanced tones directly at my fingertips. This saves considerable time and effort, as I can quickly achieve a vast spectrum of tonal variations within a single hue, from the lightest whispers of colour to deep, rich shadows. It allows me to build form, light, and shadow with remarkable precision and consistency across my work, without the frustration of extensive manual mixing or layering just to get that 'perfect' shade.
Highly-Pigmented Colours
Beyond how they handle, I find the highly-pigmented nature of Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils is immediately evident from the very first stroke. The sheer concentration of pure, lightfast pigments means that colours lay down intensely and vibrantly, even with the lightest touch. This isn't just about achieving bold, impactful marks or deep, rich shadows; it also translates into excellent coverage and saturation right from that initial layer, which significantly reduces the amount of effort I need to build up colour. I find this intensity allows for remarkable versatility in my work. Whether I'm aiming for opaque blocks of colour, subtle, transparent glazes, or intricate layering without muddiness, the vibrancy remains consistent. This ensures that every hue will genuinely stand out on the paper, bringing a remarkable luminosity and depth to the finished artwork. It gives me great confidence that the colours I choose will perform exactly as I expect, making the creative process more efficient and satisfying.
Conclusions
Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 colored pencils stand out as a top-tier choice in the professional art supplies market, offering a compelling blend of features for serious artists. Their outstanding lightfastness is a crucial advantage, ensuring the longevity of artworks and making them an archival tool suitable for commission artists and tutors alike. The pencils' remarkable balance, combining a creamy, soft application for seamless tonal transitions with surprising firmness for precise, fine detail, makes them incredibly versatile. This is further enhanced by their intense pigmentation and opacity, allowing artists to effortlessly layer lighter shades over darker ones—a particularly invaluable quality when rendering the rich textures of deeper tones. While their premium price point and softer lead, which necessitates more frequent sharpening, are factors to consider, the thoughtful inclusion of pre-mixed tonal variations within colour families streamlines the artistic process. This comprehensive performance firmly establishes Luminance 6901 pencils as an exceptional investment for artists seeking unparalleled quality and reliable results in their coloured pencil work.
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Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 pencils are largely vegan, with only eight specific colours containing Bone Black (PBk9): 037 Brown Ochre, 129 Violet Brown, 171 Turquoise Blue, 181 Light Malachite Green, 161 Light Blue, 729 Dark English Green, 832 Brown Ochre 10% and 836 Brown Ochre 50%. Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils are encased in FSC™ certified cedar wood that guarantees the wood is sourced from responsibly managed forests |
ARTICLE UPDATED JUNE 2025
