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Blendability Test - Artists Coloured Pencils

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Blendability Test - Artists Coloured Pencils


A little test of blendability for some popular CP brands (artist grade).

This is not an exhaustive list.
I have only tested the CP brands that I own and use. 

Derwent Coloursoft (English brand)   Flag Of England 
Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor (German brand)  Flag of Germany 
Faber Castell Polychromos (German brand)  Flag of Germany 
Bruynzeel Design (Dutch brand)   Flag of Netherlands 
Derwent Artists Blocks  Flag Of England  

for the colour swatches I have used a yellow and a red, and blended them.
As a result, not surprisingly, it is an orange.

All these brands are excellent brands.
All these CP have the qualities that you can expect from an artist grade CP.
- Lightfastness
- Vibrant and high quality pigments
- Good range of colours
- No breakage
- No flaking
- the CP has an excellent finition (very strict quality controls)
- the lead is well centered in the wooden casing of the CP
- the wooden casing of the CP is made of the best quality cedar wood
- and of course the 
wooden casing of the CP is solid, and will never warp, split, bend or break!   
- Colours are labelled on pencils

 
So, my test was only about softness and blendability.
results (in my opinion):

1- Derwent Coloursoft 
2- Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor
3- Faber Castell Polychromos
4- Bruynzeel Design

In the test I have also enclosed The Derwent Artists Blocks.
They are "woodless", and they have a rectangular shape.
They blend very well.
Due to their particular shape, they are not suited for very detailed work.
They will be perfect for bold and vivid artworks,
or for backgrounds which are always a pain in CP artworks.
 

Amongst the colour pencils that I have and regularly use, my favourites ones are the Derwent Coloursoft, by far.
I prefer the Coloursoft because they are much softer, and they offer more blending capabilities.
And you can also layer more layers of colours.


----

Lately I was curious and wanted to give a try to the Caran d'Ache too.
So, now I am the happy owner of one Caran d'Ache Pablo, and one Caran d'Ache Luminance.  LOL
(they are expensive, esp. the Luminance which is really pricey).

Having only one of each is not enough to test them and give a fair opinion;
however, my first impression is that:
- the Pablo seems excellent, almost as good as the Derwent Coloursoft.
- the Luminance seems awesome, even better than the Derwent Coloursoft. 

For the test, I blended both of them with a Derwent Coloursoft (the best brand that I currently have)

The Luminance blended so well, it is a sheer delight!

The Pablo has very good blending capabilities.

I wish I had a box of Luminance to be able to test them better!  ha ha! 


------


Well, that was just my fair and honest opinion about a selection of Artists grade CP.

Different people, different strokes!

Different people will have different uses, different skills, different ages, and different budgets too.

And this is the reason why the CP offer on the market is so wide....
 

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tarpalsfan's avatar
Thank you for sharing this.  It is useful. :clap:  I don't know if you tried Inktense Pencils are not.  But while I love the colors and them being water soluble, the casing crack very easily.