Unboxing the Most Expensive Colored Pencils! - Caran d'Ache Luminance

[@1Letter23Numbers.]

I just bought the 100 set at Blick for $289 as of March 20, 2022. I have Prismacolor, Polychromos, Procolour, Graphitint, Derwent Drawing, Holbeine, Inktense, and watercolor pencils from a few different brands. When I laid down the color from the luminence and went over it with mineral spirits to blend the colors just POPPED. I knew if I bought one or two I would need the full set so when I saw the set of 100 was sold together I didn't hesitate to buy them and I am so glad I did. I am by no means a professional artist, but if I am going to spend hours on a piece for myself or as a gift I want it to look good and last as long as possible. Great video and beautiful artwork in your clips, on your wall, and that you made with the new pencils. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day.

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

YAY! Sounds like you are SET! Have a blast with those beautiful pencils!

[@g1984AF]

I'm itching to buy Luminance, cant decide wether 40, 76 or 100 set.

[@1Letter23Numbers.]

@@g1984AF If you have the budget I think the 100 set is a great value. I am enjoying that the full range gives me the opportunity to play with color combinations and make my own colors with blends. This way I can figout which are my go to colors at a friendlier price. The colors I thought I wouldn't like have turned into colors I absolutely love. I have most of the Polychromos that I've purchased open stock. I buy them in bundles through Blick so I get the lowest price. That might be another way to go so your wallet doesn't take a hit all at once.

[@marys2264]

Gorgeous! I would love to see colored pencil and more water color pencil tutorials, too! Thank you. 😊

[@marionwigzell7334]

You deserve them Emily. The Caran d'Ache are very expensive in Australia, close to twice the price. I look forward to seeing the work you create with them (-: Marion

[@GuReumArtStudio]

Beautiful! handsome horse with the new colored pencil. His eyes are so realistic. Thank you for sharing, Emily!

[@debbiefeltlikeit]

Hi Emily, I recently feel in love with colored pencils, I have the Prismas and the Fabre-Castel polychrome. I am very excited to try the luminous. Hope you do some tutorials with the pencils 🙏

[@Bonnie10au]

Luminance are great! I also recommend the new Derwent Lightfast. There are 100 colours which are all lightfast. They feel creamy but keep their point much longer than a prismacolor. There are some wonderful colours in the set which are not found in other sets. For example the purples. For details Faber Castell Polycromos are fantastic. Most of the 120 colours are lightfast and they are much cheaper than the pencils above.

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

Thank you so much for the recommendations! I’m excited to get back into colored pencils. :-)

[@jillian153]

Hello! I’m wondering if the writing on your pencils is silver or white? I purchased these on Amazon and I think I got fakes. My writing is white and they’re not creamy at all they feel like plain old colored pencils. My arteza pencils are very creamy and feel superior to the luminance I got. I am wondering where I can order from that’s legit because I think I got a bad batch :/

[@Bonnie10au]

@@jillian153 I have the Luminance for quite a few years and the writing on them is silver. Last year I bought the 24 new colours and the writing on them was white. I assume all recently produced pencils have a white writing but I am not 100% sure. Luminance may feel a bit 'dry' compared to some other brands. Maybe you need some time to get used to them. I don't have the Arteza brand so I can't compare but Luminance feel less creamy than Prismacolor or Derwent Lightfast pencils.

[@rudylorenzo9722]

That horse looks amazing, Emily! It is great that you are considering in expanding the tutorials to other mediums but watercolor are just the best!

[@danaparsonsliquidcosmosart2669]

I use these in combination with polychroms.. they add extra depth and colour and perfect blending on top of the polychroms. But I love them. That black it's so rich!!

[@eileenvalachovic9435]

Love the horse. Thank you for sharing înformation on these pencils. Understand there is also padding on the top of the box and on top of each layer.

[@Tazm1n]

Oooh, makes me wonder if you will be adding coloured pencil to your website tutorials now :)

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

Hah hah! We’ll see!

[@dawnreaume2837]

@@EmilyOlsonArt That would be Awesome! 😍 Using colored pencils and watercolor!🤗

[@Tazm1n]

@@dawnreaume2837 It would be awesome. Trying to find an artist who regularly posts both types of tutorials in a style you like is sooo hard.

[@NaomiCoutureArt]

I love my luminance pencils, they are so worth the purchase! I still use my prismacolor pencils but more in my sketchbooks and my other ones for pet portraits :)

[@shirinyamolky3520]

Awe it’s like Christmas in a box 🥰 I love it 🥰

[@suel4269]

I have that same green cart and a purple one. Love them!

[@RamoArt]

Your art is stunning, especially that portrait you put up in the beginning. For some reason that just stood out to me. :) I'm surprised you think they're better than Prismacolors. Usually people who have used Prismacolors for a long time don't like any other pencils because Prismas are unique in how they blend and smudge together, despite the obvious quality issues lol. I do agree though. These and the Derwent Lightfast are the most high quality pencils out there in my opinion!

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

Thank you so much 😀 I still love the prismacolors! I'm at a point now, though, where lightfastness really matters to me, so it was time for a change. :)

[@DocRikki]

I’m curious as to what you think about the Polychromos pencils, and if you were considering them at all when you got these. Thanks for all your great lessons/tips!

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

I haven't tried them but I hear only good things! Might be something to add in the future. :)

[@hberbac838]

Love this. I know photo realism is the goal of many and is not easy to achieve, but this looser style is my favorite. I wonder if these pencils have a waxy feel? As long as the picture does not end up looking shiny, I guess that doesn't matter. Thank you for posting this!

[@user-rm8np6dg6c]

Yes they have a waxy buttery feel to them similar to the prismacolors. They don’t have wax bloom tho. They’re the best colored pencils out on the market imo.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

These pencils look gorgeous. Do you have to have a special (bigger) sharpener for them? Love your horse!

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

No, I used just a standard sized sharpener. :-)

[@scmarinemom24]

It would be fun to see the same horse done with your Prismacolor pencils and see them side by side.

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

That would be fun! Prismacolor pencils are still really great! I think two big improvements with the Luminance pencils are that they 1) layer better and 2) are lightfast. But honestly I’m not sure the drawing would look much different with Prismacolor.

[@luckyduckyart291]

I love using vellum bristo

[@kathryngodsiff9470]

Thank you for this enthusiastic review! I have learned much from your tutorials and am grateful for your efforts, especially with horses ☺ Could you do a mixed media of a horse, showing how to detail with the pencils?

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

Great idea!

[@eduardojimenezrodriguez8762]

Awesome!

[@nettiemoss324]

I love any products by Caran D'ache and have used for years - but don't have these (yet!) If they are so much better than Prisma then they must be good as I have considered Prisma to be the best crayons around (altho some talk is that they are not as good now since manufacturers changed? (do you know about that?) I am fortunate to have some originals) Do you ever use watercolour pencils and, if so, which do you prefer? Thanks for your review - definitely a good buy for yourself as you will get the best use of them I'm sure!

[@TravisBrady-wn8fr]

Ive collected prismas for 35 yrs. Although there are more high end ones. They will never compare in my eyes to the prismas. I was young and what i learned on.

[@leesanchez8432]

Be sure to get the other 24 pencils now that Luminance has a total of 100. Prismacolors fail lightfastness, about 25% of them. Polychromos, by faber-Castell, is my absolute favorite set of colored pencils.

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

I still need to try Polychromos!

[@grahamekellermeier8280]

Carand'Ache are expensive Derwent lightfast pencils are more expensive in Australia have the 100 lightfast, bought a few Carand'Ache luminance both are great to use.

[@shreyanair5744]

wonderful :)

[@rhondagarrett3976]

Emily, does using colored pencils fatigue your hand more than watercolors? It seems that it would.

[@rhondagarrett3976]

Also I have watercolor pencils. And I have some FC pastel pencils. If I want to attempt a black and white portrait of a child, do I need this type of pencil? Note: I also have pan pastels (skin tones) but I haven’t used them yet so I’m sorta at a loss on where to begin and I thought I might try black and white first, working up to your portrait tutorial in your online school. Thank you.

[@EmilyOlsonArt]

Hi Rhonda! Colored pencils could potentially fatigue your hands faster because I find colored pencil takes a lot longer to complete a larger piece, but watercolor can also be fatiguing if you're using a tiny brush. That's so fun that you are going to try other media! I have used black pan pastel along with charcoal, but never the colors. I do love pastel pencils and soft pastels as well. Enjoy!

[@MunchiesMusicMadness]

It's a horse of corse of corse its a horse 😂 I'm a polychromos fan but the white is worthless so I use the luminance white never had a problem with it breaking like my colorsofts so I'm thinking of getting 6the set of 40 of luminance thanks for the video

[@anna94k]

Huh but I pay about ~4 dollars for a haircut 😃 it costs really cheap in my country, sad for hairdressers

[@Virajgoat-p4h]

The luminance are highly pigmented compared to the prismacolour

[@mickieriley2490]

Looks like an Arabian baby. Really nice.