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.
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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.
| Manufacturer | Cell Distributors |
|---|---|
| Brand | Caran d'Ache |
| Item Weight | 9.6 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 5 x 1 x 1 inches |
| Item model number | 3888.318 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color | Assorted Colours |
| Grip Type | Hexagonal |
| Material Type | Wax Cedar Wood |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Size | 18 Count (Pack of 1) |
| Point Type | Medium |
| Line Size | 1 Inches |
| Ink Color | Multicolor |
| Tip Type | Colored Pencils |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 3888.318 |
