Caran d'Ache Pastel Pencils

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

I have only started using these pastels and they are very good indeed, I love the white pastel and use it with my Faber-Castell set. These can be pricey and only come in sets as many as 40, but can be bought individually with 84 colors available.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

These pastel pencils carry the most pigment of any of the pencils. Smooth laydown, never scratchy. Difficulty with breakage on a few of the pencils. Seems like if they are breaking easily the entire pencil will go that way--so maybe damaged prior to shipping? And, as with all pastel pencils, difficult to sharpen to fine point.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

Great medium to work with...great control, blend well, amazing colors. They may seem a bit pricey, but consider it an investment. I've built up my inventory over time, and it's much better to buy quality first rather than wasting money on the cheap stuff.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

Love these pastel pencils. There is a big difference between these and other pastel pencils. They definitely go down 'wet'. They lay down nicely and blend nicely. The colors are gorgeous. They are quite a bit more expensive than other pastel pencils. They are better quality but I can only get a couple at a time because of it. If you can afford them I highly recommend them.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

These pastel pencils are fabulous. I ordered a handful to try and I am sold, I plan to get the rest of the set. They are more "wet" than Faber Castell, Derwent and Carbothello, which I like a bit more for that reason. The pigments are very bright, and I love the colors I have picked up so far. They blend very well and I feel like more of the pastel sticks to the paper than with some of the other brands. Despite the difference in texture, I do like using these with the other brands I mentioned above, but the Caran d'Ache pencils are clearly the star. Expensive, yes, but worth it in my opinion.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

Yes--they may be a little more expensive, but they are worth it. I started with the 40 set and add to my collection when I can. The color is intense, blends beautifully. These pencils are my new fave medium to work with. Dick Blick is the only place I've found a list of all the color options so I can cross check my inventory.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

I have a set of pastel pencils in another brand and wanted to do some comparing so just bought a few of this brand. Really like them -- goes on substrate easily.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

Sampled a variety of pastel pencils recently, and tried them all side by side (Conte, Cretacolor, Caran d'ache, Faber Castell, Stabilo, Derwent), blending each together with charcoal and white pastel on the same brand/tooth of art paper for careful comparison. I expected a lot from Caran d'Ache for the price, which is considerably higher than other brands.

While the saturation and richness were top notch, I found Caran d'Ache to be the only brand I tried that would not satisfactorily blend with black and white charcoal. Whereas pastel pencils usually have a relatively charcoal-like quality and texture, the Caran d'Ache are much more like oil pastels encased in wood. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this, but it makes them very buttery and "wet," and for my particular usage, in which blending together with non-Caran d'Ache blacks, whites, and other colors/brands is paramount, this was actually the only brand that was flat-out unusable. I'm very glad I tried an individual pencil first.

I do find Caran d'Ache's quality to generally be above average in most cases, if excessively priced, but just be aware of the fact that their pastel pencils have a very different kind of consistency than competing brands, and they don't play well together.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

Just love the pastel pencils to do the fine detail I need. Covers well.

Comments about Caran d'Ache Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils and Pastel Cubes:

I wanted to try but I'm not enough of a artist to use this. Maybe some day