In 2014, I got hooked into making graphite portraits. I was only more of a hobbyist and relied heavily on YouTube tutorials. One day I came across the videos of Heather Rooney on YouTube. I was stunned by her ability to create photorealistic pencil portraits. At that time she was still using Prismacolor Premiere soft core pencils. As I wanted to do the same thing, I bought a set of 36 colors worth more than Php 2,000.00. Prismacolor pencils were more expensive and uncommon at that time and the quality, especially the wood, was much better. It was my biggest purchase of art materials that it made me break out in cold sweat. I knew that quality came with a price, but I did not exactly know how it applied to art materials. All I knew was that as long as I was using the same colors or brand, it should be fine.
I was still learning how Rooney did it when she suddenly switched to Caran d’Ache, a brand I never heard about before. I did not even know how to pronounce it. She had positive reviews of the brand; hence I wanted to get my hands on it, too. However, it was unavailable locally, so I had to stick with Prismacolor pencils for the meantime.
In 2016 I joined 2Q Artists Philippines and thus visited Shangri-la Plaza regularly every Saturday for our sketching sessions. I often dropped by the National Book Store branch on the ground floor to buy art materials. I could not remember when exactly I first saw it, but the NBS branch there suddenly had a separate section for Caran d’Ache! (as per Ms. Jessica of NBS, it was around October or November) Finally, the brand was available! Curious, I immediately looked at the prices. I saw a box of the Caran d’Ache Luminance pencils, the one Rooney was using. Dang, it was expensive! So much for trying to learn Rooney’s techniques. I also saw that they also made other media like oil pastels, graphite, and the Neocolor series that looked like the typical crayons to me, and learned that they were all expensive yet many known artists use them. Usually I would visit that section, just to look at the stocks in frustration, and often said I would never spend that much money on art materials while shaking my head. Sometimes my fellow artists from 2Q would come with me, and we would hang out and create sample artworks with the testers and gave them away afterwards.
In late 2018, two years after NBS had its own Caran d’Ache section, I dropped by again to window shop in frustration. Rooney said it was good and some local artists are using it, but it was worth serious money. The truth was I could afford it, especially if I saved up; I was unsure, however, if it was worth the investment. They had new items on display and to my surprise, they were now selling open stocks of the Luminance pencils, Neopastels, and other media! A single Luminance pencil cost Php 150.00 while their Neopastel cost Php 99.00 per piece. It was finally within my reach. I did not have much money at that time and I was not sure what to buy first, so I bought some skintone Luminance pencils, blender sticks, and some of their Neopastels to complement the materials I already had. When I got home, I made a few swatches and compared them with the brands I was using. I was blown away by the quality. I already had a few artist grade pencils at that time, and they were also good; but the Luminance pencils really lived up to its name and reputation. The same went with the Neopastels, they were creamy and the colors were intense! At that time I was collecting art materials of different brands, too. I had just learned about the concept of lightfastness (thanks to negative reviews pertaining to the lightfastness of Prismacolor Nupastels and Premiere pencils which I bought a few days earlier and sold just a week or so after), and Caran d’Ache had high ratings on the Blue Wool Scale.
Since that day, I saved up my cash so I could buy more Luminance pencils and Neopastels every week or payday. On December of that same year, NBS had a big sale, hence I was able to buy more, such as the pastel pencils and cubes and some small boxed sets of Luminance and Neopastels (the boxes were more like a collector’s item for me). Yup, that’s where I spent all my bonuses and even part of my savings for that year.
The ladies who handled the brand, Ms. Jessica, Ms. Judy, and Ms. Mia, were very nice and they always accommodated my inquiries and requests. They were really kind. The endless questions about their products and offers and the indecisiveness I always seemed to have before making a purchase would annoy many, but they were really patient, even honest and genuine. They did not just help me learn about the brand, they helped me grow, too, as an artist. Dropping by the Caran d’Ache section eventually became a habit. It felt like another home (much like Deovir; that would be another story and article).
I spent a great deal of money on Caran d’Ache. Some thought and said that it was too much, but I always thought of my purchases as an investment (I will make a separate article on using professional grade materials). Honestly, I was initially hesitant to use them due to the price: I only used them for commissions and serious projects, except for some unique hues that I brought to our regular sessions. Sometimes I took my stocks out for a spin. The high costs somewhat made me feel uncertain about the sustainability of using the brand. This fear became greater during the pandemic, as many shops had to close and the production and shipment of some art materials slowed down or even halted. I would always tell myself that quality came with a price and I need to take risks.
Two years after my first Caran d’Ache purchase, I shifted more into pastels and I did not use the Luminance pencils that much; at least I would not have to worry in case a project involving colored pencils came up. During the lockdown period I purchased a number of their Supracolor 2 and Museum Aquarelle pencils and their Gouache tube set too (thanks to James Gurney’s YouTube tutorials and my impulsive nature).
Just recently (late 2020), Sir Norbing villez, the leader of Let’s Paint group, made a series of artworks in which he used Neopastels as his main medium. He used color shapers to push the colors around the paper and palette knives to lay down colors, creating amazing effects and the finished work looked much like oil paintings. His technique got me hooked that I tried it immediately. His technique did not work well with the other oil pastels that I had, hence I had to use out my Neopastels too. And voila! It changed the way I would make oil pastel paintings forever. All of the Neopastel landscapes I made recently (Cool Waters 10, 11, and 12) had been sold, too! I also used Neopastels for my entry to the Philippine Pastel Artists, Inc. National Pastel Competition for this year.
Earlier this week and after two years of saving up and building up the guts needed, I finally bought the 96-color / full set of Neopastels. It really cost me a fortune, the cold sweat was there as always, but I knew that it was a wise buy. I always wanted to be at my best each time I would make an artwork, not just in terms of technique but also in terms of materials.
As per my experiences, the Caran d’Ache artist grade materials would definitely be a worthy addition to an artist’s arsenal (no, this is NOT a paid ad). It’s worth the money and it could indeed unlock greater creative possibilities. I would most likely continue using their materials (with other artist grade brands), not just because the people I look up to are using it, but because my technique and the quality of my works also rely upon it.
Sining ni Sing 