The Luminance range of coloured pencils expanded to 100 in July 2020.
Caran d’Ache added 24 colours to their lightfast range of 76 coloured pencils. It is therefore a range of 100 lightfast coloured pencils.
This post will illustrate how the additional 24 pencils contribute to the colour families in the range. The previous 76 range is available in a set which is outlined here in a previous blog post.
Use this post together with our post on colour harmonies to help you choose the colours of your next artwork.
Wanting to see these pencils quickly? Use our slim Luminance interactive colour chart. Use this to sort and search by their numbers, names and lightfast ratings. You can see their colour swatches as well.
Join our email list and get access to an expanded colour chart in which you can search the Luminance pencils by colour family, name, number, and light fast rating. Also see hand drawn colour swatches. Click on the image below to get started.
Still a complete lightfast set of pencils
The 24 colours added to the range all have lightfast ratings of I or II, with the highest lightfast rating being I.
Of the additional pencils, 17 have the highest lightfast rating of I, and 7 have a rating of II. Therefore, of the total 100 pencil range, 78 pencils have a lightfast rating of I, and 22 pencils have a lightfast rating of II.
The 100 Luminance colours
When looking at the 100 range as a whole, all colours (including the colour wheel family colours and neutrals) are shown in the bar chart below.
The bar chart shows the comparative numbers of each colour family and neutral colours available in the range. The blue line represents the earlier 76 pencil range. The orange line represents the additional 24 colours, and where they fall in the colour families.
The chart above show the Luminance range has a total of 100 pencils, of which 18 are neutral colours, and 82 are colours that belong to colour wheel colour families. Compared to the previous range of 76, this is an increase of 3 neutral colours, and 21 colours that belong to the colour wheel colour families.
Now to get a look a closer look, let’s separate these into two groups – the colour wheel colours, and the neutral colours.
The Colour Wheel Clock
The colour wheel moves clock-wise around the wheel. The image below shows the colour wheel in clock position.
Of the colour wheel colours, the make up of each colour family is outlined below.
The selection of colour is subjective and the reviewer has chosen colour by looking at the physical coloured pencil swatches. Nevertheless, you may find that particular colours belong in different colour family groups. You can read about how the colour analysis was done in this disclaimer.
While the colours are of varying shades and tones, the predominant base colour belongs to the colour wheel family in which it has been placed.
Red – 12 o’clock
Starting with red at the 12.00 o’clock position, the image below shows that the coloured pencil range of 100 includes 4 red colour family pencils. The earlier 76 range included 3 red pencils. The expanded range adds one pencil to the red colour family.
Red-Orange – 1.00 o’clock
The next colour family group is red-orange at 1.00 o’clock. The image below shows the 9 red-orange colour family pencils. The previous range of 76 pencils included 5 red-orange pencils. The expanded range of pencils adds another 4 which belong to the red-orange colour family.
Orange – 2.00 o’clock
The next colour is orange at 2.00 o’clock. The expanded colour set of 100 includes 5 orange colour family pencils. The previous 76 range included 3 orange pencils. Therefore, another 2 orange colour family pencils have been added to the range.
Orange-Yellow – 3.00 o’clock
Orange-Yellow sits at the 3.00 o’clock position. The image below shows that the expanded coloured pencil set of 10 includes 7 orange-yellow colour family pencils. This is the same amount of orange-yellow pencils as was available in the 76 range. As such, no orange-yellow colours have been included in the additional 24 pencils.
Yellow – 4.00 o’clock
At 4.00 o’clock sits Yellow. The coloured pencil range of 100 includes 9 yellow colour family pencils. The expanded range adds 2 yellow coloured pencils.
Yellow-Green – 5.00 o’clock
Yellow-Green sits at the 5.00 o’clock position. The image below shows that the 100 set of pencils includes 10 yellow-green colour family colours. The additonal pencils add another 2 yellow-green colours to the range.
Green – 6.00 o’clock
The colour family of green sits at 6.00 o’clock. The 100 pencil range includes 4 green colour family pencils. The expanded range provides 1 extra green coloured pencil.
Green-Blue – 7.00 o’clock
Green-Blue is located at the 7.00 o’clock position on the colour wheel. The image below shows that the 100 coloured pencil range includes 6 green-blue colour family colour pencils. Therefore, the additional colours do not add any green-blue colours to the range.
Blue – 8.00 o’clock
Blue sits at the 8.00 o’clock position. The expanded set of 100 includes 6 blue colour family pencils. The smaller range of 76 included 5 blue colour family pencils. The expanded range adds an extra 1 blue colour to the range.
Blue-Violet – 9.00 o’clock
Blue-Violet sits at the 9.00 o’clock position. The image below shows that the expanded set of 100 pencils includes 5 blue-violet colour family pencils. The additional pencils add another 3 blue-violet colours to the range.
Violet – 10.00 o’clock
Violet sits at the 10.00 o’clock position. The image below shows that the expanded range of 100 coloured pencil set includes 9 violet coloured pencils. The extra pencils add 2 violet pencils to the range.
Violet-Red – 11.00 o’clock
Violet-Red sits at the 11.00 o’clock position. The expanded Luminance range of 100 includes 8 violet-red colour family pencils. The additional pencils add another 3 violet-red colour family colours to the range.
Colour wheel colour family – Summary
As you can see from the above images, the expanded Caran d’Ache Luminance coloured pencil range has pencils in all the colour family colours. An additional 21 colour wheel colours had been added to the range.
The expanded range previously had less than 4 pencils in the red, orange, green, and blue-violet colour families. These colours have expanded out to now have at least 4 pencils in each colour wheel colour family.
Now let’s look at the neutral colours.
Neutral Colours
Of the neutral colours in the range – black, white, greys and beiges are available. No metallic colours are included in the range.
Of the 100 pencil range, 18 are neutral. These are shows clockwise in the bar chart below.
The breakdown of these colours is as follows.
Let’s see the neutral colours in the expanded Luminance range
First is the 1 neutral-black pencil. The expanded range of 100 pencils does not add any neutral-black to the range.
Next is neutral – cool-grey. This is the neutral group has 6 pencils. Previously, this was the largest neutral group in the 76 pencil range. The expanded pencils do not add to neutral – cool-grey colour group.
Warm-beige follows with 8 pencils. The expanded set includes 3 new neutral-warm- beige colours. This is the largest neutral group in the expanded set.
Warm-grey has 2 pencils. No neutral-warm grey pencils have been added to the expanded range.
Neutral – White is the final neutral colour with 1 pencil. No new neutral-white pencil has been added to the range.
As you can see, the expanded Caran d’Ache Luminance range of coloured pencils is made up of a variety of colours and neutrals.
Only got a small set?
If you’d like to try this range of pencils, you can try a basic set of 12. We have analysed the small set, and provide colour swatches, and the colour recipes of 144 colours that you can make from the basic set. You can see the 144 Luminance colour recipes here.
Make your own colour chart
For your knowledge, it’s advisable to draw up your own colour chart so that you can get to know the actual colours of your pencils. You will then be able to see how your pencil performs on the papers that you use for your drawings.
However, it takes a long time to make your own chart, and it usually is something that we don’t get around to doing.
So, if you’ve make your own charts – that’s great. But – as is practical, you might also have your charts in one physical place while you draw in another. You need to have access to the colours where you are – hopefully, you’ll be there with internet access and your mobile, tablet or laptop.
Interactive Luminance colour chart
To help you with this, the pencil details of all the colours used in this post have been listed in a searchable and sortable format in an interactive colour chart. This should help you choose your Luminance pencils. It will also help you get a better understanding of what pencils are available in the Caran d’Ache Luminance coloured pencil range.
Join us. Our email subscribers can access the chart for free and learn how to use the chart by clicking the image below.
This post was originally published on 5 August 2020. It was updated and republished on 15 September 2021.