In 2020, the Caran d’Ache Luminance coloured pencils range expanded from 76 to 100. The full range of 100 pencils is now available in a full set. This post provides a closer look at the earlier set of 76 pencils.
Do you want to know more about the colours included in the 76 Caran d’Ache Luminance coloured pencil set?
You have limited time and energy, yet you want to thoroughly know your coloured pencils. You know it will take time to make colour charts.
This post will help you save your time and your energy. It will show you what colour family colours and neutral colours are included in the Caran d’Ache Luminance set of 76 coloured pencils.
Keep reading and find out what colour sub-relationships you can use with each Luminance colour family.
Deeper analysis
An earlier blog post explored the question which are the better coloured pencils and looked at four artist coloured pencil sets. Two were wax-based and two were oil-based. However, the analysis was limited to looking at four pencils in each colour wheel colour family.
We have since looked at all the colours in the ranges, plus more, and you can access the colour pencil type and lightfastness comparison of 7 sets of pencil analysis. Join our email list and you can access this comparison chart. Click the image below to get started. The chart will help you to follow when we look closer at the individual coloured pencil sets.
The other ranges we have looked at are the wax-based Prismacolor Premier 150; and Derwent Drawing pencils; oil-based Faber-Castel Polychromos 120, Caran d’Ache Pablo 120, Derwent Lightfast 100, and Derwent Procolour. We have also analysed other media, such as Caran d’Ache Neopastel oil pastels, Caran d’Ache Neocolor I, and Neocolor II art crayons, and Derwent Inktense blocks. As well, we have analysed water soluble coloured pencils. These being Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle, and Caran d’Ache Supracolor. We have also looked at the updated 100 Caran d’Ache Luminance range.
You can read this disclaimer about the analysis.
Let’s start….
This post looks at the Caran d’Ache Luminance coloured pencil set of 76. This set represents part of the whole range of 100 Luminance coloured pencils.
A complete lightfast set of pencils
Caran d’Ache Luminance is a range of lightfast wax-based coloured pencils. Caran d’Ache advises that all the colours in the range are certified ASTM D-6901 lightfast with a rating of I or II.
76 Caran d’Ache Luminance Coloured Pencil set
When looking at the set as a whole, all colours (including in the colour wheel family colours and neutrals) are shown in the pie chart below.
The bar chart below shows the comparative numbers of each colour family and neutral colours available in the set.
The charts above show the Luminance set has a total of 76 pencils, of which 15 are neutral colours, and 61 are colours that belong to colour wheel families.
Now to get a closer look, let’s separate these colours into two groups – the colour wheel colours, and the neutral colours.
The colour wheel colours
The 12 colour wheel family colours available in the set are shown clockwise below:
The Colour Wheel Clock
The Caran d’Ache Luminance complementary colour wheel used in the comparison post shows the colour families. The colour wheel moves clock-wise around the wheel. The table below shows the colour family positions on the clock.
Of the colour wheel colours, the make up of each colour family is outlined below. 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 set of 76 includes 3 red colour family pencils.
Red-Orange – 1.oo o’clock
The next colour family group is red-orange at 1.00 o’clock. This shows that the coloured pencil set of 76 includes 5 red-orange colour family pencils. It includes red-orange earth colours of sienna and ochre.
Orange – 2.00 o’clock
Next colour is orange at 2.00 o’clock. The coloured pencil set of 76 includes 3 orange colour family pencils.
Orange-Yellow – 3.00 o’clock
Orange-Yellow sits at the 3.00 o’clock position. The image below shows that the coloured pencil set of 76 includes 7 orange-yellow colour family pencils.
Yellow – 4.00 o’clock
At 4.00 o’clock sits Yellow. The coloured pencil set of 76 includes 7 yellow colour family pencils.
Yellow-Green – 5.00 o’clock
Yellow-Green sits at 5.00 o’clock. The image below shows that the coloured pencil set of 76 includes 8 yellow-green colour family pencils.
Green – 6.00 o’clock
The colour family of green sits at 6.00 o’clock. The coloured pencil set of 76 includes 3 green colour family pencils.
Green-blue – 7.00 o’clock
Green-blue is at 7.00 o’clock. The image below shows that the coloured pencil set of 76 includes 6 green-blue colour family pencils.
Blue – 8.00 o’clock
Blue is at the 8.00 o’clock position. The coloured pencil set of 76 includes 5 blue colour family pencils.
Blue-Violet – 9.00 o’clock
Blue-Violet sits at the 9.00 o’clock position. The image below shows that the coloured pencil set of 76 includes 2 blue-violet colour family pencils.
Violet – 10.00 o’clock
Violet sits at the 10.00 o’clock position. The image below shows that the coloured pencil set of 76 includes 7 violet colour family pencils.
Violet-Red – 11.00 o’clock
Violet-Red sits at the 11.00 o’clock position. The coloured pencil set of 76 includes 5 violet-red colour family pencils.
Colour wheel colour family – Summary
As you can see from the above images, the Caran d’Ache Luminance coloured pencil range has pencils in all the colour family colours. However, the red, orange, blue-violet and green colour families have less than 4 pencils in each colour family. (see line chart below).
Don’t be limited by the colours
It is not necessary to have four colours in each colour wheel family to successfully complete art work, or be considered to have a full palette of colours.
Also, knowing the colours in the pencil set allows you to decide what types of pictures to draw. You may make many additional colours by layering pencils, and layering colour over the neutral coloured pencils.
Let’s now look at the neutral colours included in the Caran d’Ache Luminance coloured pencil range.
Neutral Colours
Of the neutral colours in the set – black, white and greys are available. No metallic colours are included in the range.
Of the set of 76 colours pencils – 15 are neutral. These are shown clockwise in the image below.
The breakdown of these pencils are as follows.
Neutral-Black
First there is the one neutral-black pencil.
Neutral-Cool Grey
Next is cool-grey. This is the largest group with 6 pencils.
Neutral-Warm Beige
Warm-beige follows with 5 pencils.
Neutral-Warm Grey
Warm-grey has 2 pencils.
Neutral-White
White is the final neutral colour of one pencil.
The bar chart below shows the breakdown of the set’s neutral colours.
As you can see, the 76 Caran d’Ache Luminance coloured pencil set is made up of a variety of colours and neutrals.
As noted above, the selection of colour is subjective and the reviewer has chosen colour by looking at the actual coloured pencil swatches. Nevertheless, you may find that particular colours belong in different groups or families.
Make your own colour chart
For your knowledge, it’s advisable to draw up your own colour chart so you can get to know the actual colours of your coloured 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.
If you’ve made 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 can use a slim interactive colour chart we have created. You can search and sort the 100 Luminance pencils by name, number, and lightfast rating. See hand drawn colour swatches as well.
Do you like this post? Save it to your “Luminance coloured pencils” board on Pinterest.
This post was originally published on this website in 2019. It was updated on 18 November 2019, 1 September 2021, and 14 September 2021. It was republished on 5 January 2022, and updated on 6 May 2022, and 5 January 2023.