Caran d'Ache Fancolor Review
Caran d'Ache Fancolor Review.
This is my final review on the Water Soluble pencils by Caran d’Ache, before this review I completed a review on the Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle, Caran d’Ache Supracolor Soft, Caran d’Ache Prismola, Caran d’Ache Swisscolor and now the Fancolor. Although they are all water-soluble pencils they are very much different grades, however, I will at a later date be comparing all of the above mentioned pencils.
It is all very well and good, telling people that X pencil is Artist quality, Y pencil is student and Z pencil is Kids grade, but unless you have been using art products for a while, we really need a visual representation of the differences, which I hope to achieve when I complete my comparison video.
Caran d’Ache Fancolor Characteristics
It is worth remembering before we get into the review that the Fancolor range by Caran d’Ache is very much aimed at children, however, having said that, this is Caran d’Ache we are talking about. Kids grade for Caran d’Ache is Student grade for some companies or even artist grade for other companies minus the lightfast abilities etc.
Fancolor is really a range within the Caran d’Ache brand, they have Gouache sets, water soluble Fibre Tipped Pens and of course the pencils that we will look at here. The packaging for the Fancolor is very cartoon like which makes it a visually appealing brand to young artists. The Fancolor packaging is also quite distinctive setting it apart from all the other Caran d’Ache ranges.
The barrel of the Fancolor is quite a slim barrel and holding it in the hand compared to a pencil like the Supracolor Soft, you can feel the different in quality, only slightly. The barrel is a slimline 7mm, sporting a very un-childlike 3.5mm core.
The actual barrel is hexagonal and lacquered the same color as the core pigment, this makes pigment selection really quick and easy, visually speaking. On the very end of the pencil there is no cap so the core of the pencil is exposed, this doesn’t make any difference to the performance of the pencil, however when the core to he pencil is protected at the end it is slightly more beneficial. You tend to find that cheaper pencils or slightly lower graded pencils will have exposed cores.
There is very little information printed along the barrel, which is quite uncharacteristic of Caran d’Ache. Along the barrel is the paint brush icon which of course indicates that the pencil is water soluble. Next to this is printed “Swiss Made by Caran d’Ache” and finally the FSC logo with a number.
Caran d’Ache Fancolor Sets Available
As I mentioned, the Fancolor range includes other products which I have included in the scroll bars, however for the purpose of this review I am only going to mention the Fancolor Pencil sets.
There is a 6 pack of Fancolor Metallic Colors as well as a small Six pack of traditional colors. After this there is a set of 12 Fancolor, a set of 18, a set of 30 and finally the largest set which is 40. As the Fancolor range is aimed toward the younger artists of the world, a set of 40 being the largest set is more than enough.
Caran d’Ache Fancolor Performance
Knowing that the Fancolor range is aimed toward the younger generation, one would be forgiven for not expecting much in the way of performance, but as I said at the beginning of the review, this is Caran d’Ache we are talking about.
There absolutely is a noticeable difference between the Supracolor Soft and the Fancolor, nevertheless, the Fancolor for a so called Kids colored pencil really does pack a punch in the pigment department. On my YouTube Video Review of the Caran d’Ache Fancolor I have added a speed drawing of my creating the swatch and there you can clearly see the strong pigments oozing from the Fancolor with the exception of two particular colors.
When laying down the Fancolor range dry, all of the colors were well pigmented and caused no issues with either core breakage, scratching from the core or anything like that. there was a little bit of crumbling but that is to be expected with water soluble pencils given the different binding agents they use.
Once the pigments were activated with water all but two of the colors completely activated, the two colors that did not react as well was the gold and silver. I have spoke about this a few times before in other reviews, the metallic colors added into sets are very hit and miss and I especially find this to be the case with water soluble pencils. After activating the metallic pigments you can clearly see the pencil strokes under and this should not really be the case, those pencil strokes should disappear once the water is added.
I did create some art work with the Caran d’Ache Fancolor and in an effort to help you better understand the Fancolor I have added a YouTube Speed drawing as well as a page on The Art Gear Guide with some still images from the art work at various stages of completion. It was my daughter Amelia who asked for this particular image to be created, I really don’t know why these two birds in particular, nevertheless the birds turned out okay but the branches not so much. Unfortunately due to unforeseen family issues the past week or so, I have been a bit rushed and not really concentrating of the final piece I created, to which I apologise.
Caran d’Ache Fancolor Prices.
The Caran d’Ache Fancolor range are pretty easy to source here in the UK, Europe and the US. I would love to add prices from other countries in my reviews, however the easiest way for me to do this is use Amazon as opposed to selecting local or franchised art stores. Amazon does not sell art supplies on their site in certain countries yet, however, as and when this changes I will include more.
Here in the UK to purchase the 12 set of Fancolor it will cost you £12.50, to purchase the 18 set it will cost you £16.99, for the larger 30 set of Fancolor you can expect to pay approximately £32.68 and for the largest 40 set you can expect to pay £39.99. You can also purchase the 6 Metallic set for £8.75, this is 6 colors dedicated to the metallic look, unfortunately I can not talk too much about these colors, however, if they are like the Gold and Silver in the 40 set, I would avoid them unless you are wanting to use them dry, in which case they look really nice.
In the US for the set of 12 Fancolor it will cost you $20.72, for the 18 set of Fancolor it will cost $18.50. For the 30 set of Fancolor it will cost approximately $33.95 and for the largest set of 40 Fancolor pencils you will pay approximately $45.44.
In the EU for the 12 set of Fancolor it will cost approximately €15.77 for the 18 set of Fancolor it will cost approximately €19.90 , for the 30 set of Fancolor it will cost €35.00 and for the largest 40 set of Fancolor you can expect to pay approximately €44.20
Caran d’Ache Fancolor Conclusion
I haven’t added a section on lightfast ratings as there is none, despite the excellent quality of the Fancolor they are aimed at children and so lightfast ratings is not essential.
I think the Fancolor is an excellent water soluble pencil for so many occasions, if you are fortunate enough to be out and about with a watercolor journal, having a small set of Fancolor in your pencil case will serve you well, light weight and well pigmented. those of you into adult colouring books would also get good use from the Fancolor. It is important to note that just because the pencils are water soluble doesn’t mean that you always have to use them in water soluble form.
The Caran d’Ache Palette is a tool I always recommend to watercolor pencil artists regardless what water soluble pencils you are using. The palette allows you to mix and create loads more colors without having a time limit on drying. A lot of watercolor pencil artists will mix the colors right on the paper or use a spare bit of paper, but once the pigments dries and absorbed into the paper there is not much more you can do with it. The palette however allows you to mix and blend and even when the paint dries, all you have to do is wet it and you are good to go again.
The Fancolor pencils are aimed at children but I think due to the quality of of them anyone can use them and get a lot of enjoyment out of them. Of course you are not going to be able to create a commission for anyone, but you will get a lot of enjoyment out of them for yourself. If you are feeling like a really amazing person you could purchase a set for your children or grandchildren, I am sure they would absolutely love them.
Don’t forget, to find out a bit more on the Caran d’Ache Fancolor you can also check out my YouTube Video review as well as my YouTube speed painting using the Fancolor. I have also added a page to the Art Gear Guide with some still images taken from the art work I created using the Fancolor. I find that all of these different review elements I add help to build up a bigger picture of the product and bring the next best thing to actually using the product yourself.
