Caran d'Ache Supracolor Metal Box Set Of 30

As a long-time fan of quality art supplies, I can confidently say that the Caran d’Ache Supracolor Watercolor Pencils are an absolute dream. These pencils strike a perfect balance between versatility, rich pigment, and ease of use, making them an essential tool for both professional artists and hobbyists alike. The color payoff is exceptional—vivid, smooth, and easily blendable. Whether dry or activated with water, the pigments maintain their brilliance without fading or becoming chalky. The pencils glide effortlessly on the paper, providing great control over fine details, but they also blend beautifully when washed with water to create soft gradients or bold, striking washes. One of the standout features is their excellent lightfastness. I feel confident that my work will remain vibrant over time, which is crucial for any serious artist. Additionally, the pencil leads are soft yet durable, meaning I’ve rarely encountered breakage even with heavy pressure. Whether I’m sketching quick ideas or creating detailed watercolor effects, the Supracolor pencils are incredibly responsive to whatever technique I’m using. They layer well and work harmoniously with traditional watercolors for mixed media work, making them a joy for experimentation. In terms of packaging, Caran d’Ache never disappoints. The sleek, elegant tins offer both practicality and a touch of luxury. It feels like you’re working with a premium product from the moment you open the set. Overall, these pencils are worth every penny and they are perfect for traveling. Highly recommended!

I would highly recommend this product to anyone who already owns Caran D'ache products, as their color system matches across product lines. If you don't own Caran D'ache or color matching is not a requirement for your work, for the best performance at the best price, I would recommend Albrecht Durer. Durer is extremely similar in quality but are a better price. If you have Albrecht Durer, and are thinking about getting these, you wont be disappointed by adding them to your collect, for sanity you may want to consider buying single colors that are missing from the Durer line. TLDR; While I really like Supra, I liked Albrecht Durer because of price and the colors have less granulation, which is a supper picky opinion since Supra's granulation is minuscule. ============== I tested these pencils against some of the popular and well respected lines, Caran D'ache Museum, Albrecht Durer, Burynzeel Aquarel, Prismacolor watercolor premier, Derwent watercolor pencils. The criteria: least ghost marks 'wash ability' or how well they activate with a water brush Granulation Staining Transparency Vibrancy Ghosting & wash-ability: I found zero ghost marks or marking of the paper after washing over the colors. I was able to use a stiff scrubber, watercolor brush, even a soft synthetic squirrel quill brush to activate the color. I was able to move every single color in this set. The colors are very consistent, no one color was more difficult then the others which is impressive. Granulation: Supra has slight granulation, it is very difficult to detect, you have to get up really close to see it. In back washes the granulation is more pronounced, like how you would expect ultramarine to granulate. Every color granulates, but I found every brand responds the same to back washes. This could be a con or a pro as a lot of watercolorists love to add texture with granulating colors. If that is your style I would suggest to practice back washes, if it isn't be careful to avoid them. Staining: Supra has some colors that are more staining then others, which I found was common for most brands. Getting back to the white paper is not worth the brush abuse for some colors, so its best to make color swatches and find the ones that stain. They are more permanent when completely dry and for me that is a pro because I like to do glazes. Once a wash is dry you can smooth the color out a bit more but I suspect the brush is just picking up pigment which wasn't dissolved in the first wash. Transparency: The colors dissolve extremely well, creating wonderful, predictable transparent washes. The color sticks to the paper and is less likely to get sucked up into your brush. Vibrancy: What you see in the dry form is what you get in a wash, there was no loss of vibrancy from the dry color to the wet color, they just got transparent. They won't beat out the best tube colors for vibrancy but they will preform better then student colors. I didn't compare Supra to traditional wax colored pencils, but they have nice handling qualities similar to a high quality pencil. Supra's have minimal dust and are not grainy, bits don't bust off littering your paper, waiting for your hand to brush over them and drag color where you don't want it. They don't seam to have much of a bloom, even when you abuse them by mashing them them into the tooth of the paper, you can still go over with a new color. They are soft and smooth. If you need them to hold a point you will find yourself shaping them with sand paper or sharpening them often. They don't blend very well when dry, I tried using the white pencil as a blender which only served to tint colors and feather edges. ======= Final notes ===== The only pencil that is debatably better then Ablrecht Durer or Supra would be Caran D'ache Museum pencil. Its debatable because due to the higher pigment content, Museums granulate even more then Supra and leave a slight ghosting on the page. Museum boasts a larger line of light fast colors and more pigment, but even at $4 a pencil (or 2.97 on sale D:) they wont outperform the best tube watercolors. Honorable mention, or if you prefer, fun yet budget friendlier, Derwent and Prisma were a coin toss. I found Prismas were more vibrant but sadly had more granulation and were difficult to wash, leaving light pencil marks. I prefer Derwent, they have almost zero ghosting, and a wider color range, but the trade off is less vibrant color.

I bought the set of 40 Supracolor watercolor pencils; I love the color range. The proof is in the pudding: I have been using these for one week, and I am in love with the vibrant colors in the results. I am interested in the more expensive Museum Aquerrelles; will have to save my pennies for those. I thought I would try these more affordable Supracolors first, to see what Caran d’Ache brings to the watercolor pencil game. I am very impressed. I prefer the Supracolor very much, over the Faber Castell Albrecht Durer pencils that I have been using. The Supracolor palette is right where I want it to be. The Supracolor palette is more “fruity” and the Albrecht Durer colors are more “earth tone.” Choose the palette that is right for you. Supracolor is wonderful for the illustration work I do. And now I am even more interested in trying the Museum Aquerrelle, when I win the lottery.

Je les aimes vraiment. Belle pigmentation, doux et lisse, d’aquarelles sans traces dans les livres. J’adore

Muito bons. Boa pigmentação, quando ativado permanece com qualidade, espalha bem no papel. Chegou no prazo e sem avarias.

War ein Geschenk für meine Frau, ist super angekommen

Ich habe diese Stifte für meine Freundin gekauft. Sie hat Mahlen als Hobby für sich entdeckt, um so Ruhe in ihren streßigen Alltag zu bekommen. Dank dieser Stifte kann sie nun optisch sehr ansprechende bilder mahlen und dank der weichen Wasservermahlbaren Mine optische Effekte erreichen die mit anderen Stiften nicht möglich wäre. Wir werden sie wieder kaufen.

I already have a 60 set of these but love them so much I decided to buy a few more in this smaller set. It has all the colours that I'm getting low on so this will suit me well. These Caran d'Ache Supracolour pencils are wonderfully smooth to apply & blend well with a colourless blender or a white pencil. They're also good for using as watercolours, which is a bonus. Very happy with this purchase & with their price.