Caran Dache Museum Aquarelle - Watercolour in pencil form

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Article written: April 2020

MUSEUM AQUARELLE is not only a water-soluble pencil; it is a watercolour in a pencil form. MUSEUM AQUARELLE colour pencils are developed and produced in our Geneva workshop, in close collaboration with master watercolour artists. Their extra-fine quality makes them perfect both for watercolour painting and for artistic drawing.

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CHARACTERISTICS

BASE: ​Water soluble

HARD OR SOFT LEAD:  Soft

LIGHTFAST RATING: Blue Wool scale

COSTS (AVE): RRP £2.80

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​Colours Available: 76

Sets Available:
Open stock (Individually) Pack of 6 (starter colours), Box of 12, 20, 40 & 76
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There is also a full set available in a wooden box (see illustration)
This has 80 pencils which includes the following:
76 Watercolour pencils
3 Technalo water soluble graphite pencils (HB, B, 3B)
1 Grafwood graphite pencil (2B)

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ADVANTAGES
* Ultra high pigment concentration
​* Highly lightfast for a water based pencil range
​* Some colours match the Luminance range
* Hexagonal barrel stops the pencil rolling off surfaces
* Made of premium FSC certified cedar wood

DISADVANTAGES
* Only 76 colours
* Some colours are not very lightfast (see colour chart below)
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Lightfastness:

The pigments in these pencils are highly lightfast, with a few exceptions. Lightfastness can be affected if the pigment is diluted too much. This range is rated using the Blue Wool scale with the worst colours being the usual suspects; pinks & purples.  If you wish to find out more about the Blue Wool Scale, there is  information below this colour chart. 

How is the 'Blue wool' rating achieved?

The Blue Wool Scale measures and calibrates the permanence of colouring dyes. Traditionally this test was developed for the textiles industry but it has now been adopted by the printing industry as measure of lightfastness of ink colourants. Normally two identical dye samples are created. One is placed in the dark as the control and the other is placed in the equivalent of sunlight for a three-month period. A standard bluewool textile fading test card is also placed in the same light conditions as the sample under test. The amount of fading of the sample is then assessed by comparison to the original colour. A rating between 0 and 8 is awarded by identifying which one of the eight strips on the bluewool standard card has faded to the same extent as the sample under test. Zero denotes extremely poor colour fastness whilst a rating of eight is deemed not to have altered from the original and thus credited as being lightfast and permanent.
Taken from the Wikipedia website

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Other related articles that may be of interest

Tonal layering tutorial for those new to coloured pencils

Pastelmat paper - suitable paper for many different mediums

New to Coloured pencils? A comprehensive article perfect for you!

Comparing the Museum Aquarelle pencils against other brands

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Using the Aquarelle as a base for coloured pencil portraits

These pencils are ideal when working on larger portraits because they cover the paper much faster than using dry pencils. There are 48 colours found in the Aquarelle range that are found in the Luminance pencil range too. There are an additional 28 colours that complement the Luminance range. These pencils can be used with other brands and are one of the most lightfast, waterbased pencils on the market. ​

I created this Leopard portrait for a 2019 coloured pencil art workshop of mine. It was never completed and made an ideal portrait to use in this article.  I initially used the WH Smith pencils as I use these in all my workshops, but for this tutorial I used the Aquarelles and mixed with water. I applied the water using a paintbrush which smooths out the base so I can overlay the  fine details later in the process.

The tonal underlayers on the body are created much darker than colours seen in the reference photo. This allows the lighter tones to appear brighter when applied over the top. The same application will used on the face. I will use the Luminance pencils to create the fine details only, reducing wastefulness. ​

To emphasise the highlights in the fur, I use the Derwent Drawing Chinese white pencil. I have found that it is one of the brightest whites available. See examples of how other whites compare on the coloured pencil comparison page.  The dark base helps to illuminate the white fur, adding to the impact of the finished product.
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