Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle watercolor pencil review & demo - Lachri 

I have one Caran D’Ache Museum Aquarelle pencil I got as a sample and I’m so proud of it, I display it, lol.

Ive tried every brand of artists' water soluble pencils and and reviewed most of them and these are by far the best. The Albretch Durer are a close second because they do have more colors and are easier to layer than these but this are in my estimation by far the best water soluble pencils on the market

This medium is the best of both worlds!I used to use only colored pencils until I discovered watercolor pencils. I love how Faber Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor pencils can layer. I've been wanting to try the museum aquarelle because I bought the Luminance pencils and these look just as amazing. Also it's nice not having to use solvents to blend. All you need is a little water to get rid of the grainy look, it's so satisfying.

Every time I thought it was perfect you added another layer and took it to a new dimension, lovely ethereal result

It is truly beyond me how you can be so skilled in so many different media. Wonderful work Lisa.

I really like your drawings and in one day I wish I will draw as realistic as you draw. When I see you drawing you wake up inspiration in me. THANK YOU! 🙏❤

I want to tell you that the new intro you have with your shoulder chicken is so adorable. I could look at chicken walking through pencils all day long.

Thank you for your generoisity! Watching your video always encourages me to keep trying. My watercolor pencil is Caran d'Ache Supracolor, which is less expensive than the Museum, but it is also somewhat opaque. Hope to learn more watercolor pencil techniques from you😍.

I absolutely loved watching you color/ paint this. You offered so many good tips💕

Absolutely gorgeous. Your work is so inspiring, wonderful, etc etc etc. You're the best!!!!

“I sold a toe to buy these.” Lol. But, yeah. Expensive but fabulous. Working with these pencils, to quote (or paraphrase) George Costanza, is like being draped in velvet. Love ‘em! Now if I could only afford them..

Hi Lisa!!! Thanks for de upload.. I have to thank you a lot for your videos and consistent uploads. I live in argentina and I sadly cannot join patreon, but I learned so much from your videos that you post here. Your content is so helpful and thanks to you, now Im making money from my art. A year ago, I decided I really wanted to make a living from what I love to do and now I cant find time to relax haha sometimes is so stressful with all the commisions but Im super happy to finally be able to live from what I love the most. Thank you, thank you THANK YOU

Amazing work, love it!! I love these pencil awl hell I love all Caran D'ache pencil. Thanks for the tips...

You inspire me soooo much! Awesome work by the way!

Lol Lisa...coffee, yes! It's beautiful as usual! thank you!

Sadly they do have wax in them so it does make them have a bit of a wax bloom giving them an opaque finish. They do have the best pigment and color payoff out of all the major brands so they do make a great dry pencil, the only other way to get them to work for loose coloring is if you use an aqua brush and apply a wet brush to the tip of the pencil then apply to watercolor paper. The Arches is not vegan FYI, they use gelatin from rabbits.

GD job May Lisa😍😍 I just Love your💜 videos 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼! I can’t stop seeing your videos! Thanks for sharing all of them 🙏🏼

Fantastic! Thank you.

Excellent job!

Great video Lisa! 😁 The clown fish came out beautifully.

It's so cool watercolor pencils! 🤩

Beautiful.

Beautiful painting.

Your videos are so helpful

I love that I can see you using these pencils. I would love to see you do a portrait in these. I found that they lend themselves to using many layers. I know it’s ungodly expensive, but you might want to try 300 weight paper. Arches is definitely the way to go. You might find that you get deeper, richer colors if you try the cold press. It’s not as appealing in a small drawing, but on a large drawing, cold press seems to allow the detail that hot press does, but the surface is much more durable. When I use them, I tend to make the last layer mostly in dry pencils. If you are worried about the paintings being fragile, you might want to spray them with fixative after they are thoroughly dry. I have heard that this helps with lightfastness, but I really don’t know if that’s accurate. I use Lascaux brand because it seems to work on any medium, and It doesn’t darken the painting or change the colors. It’s too expensive, but I don’t use much.

Great!👍❤️ . now any time I draw, I hear your voice yelling at me about getting my darks dark & my lights light lol....thanks Lisa xx

Awesome review . Thank you

Love the bird!

Hi Lachri! I JUST HAD to buy these dang things with the wooden box You are a great artist. Thanks for the tips!

Thanks Lisa, I’ve been wondering how they would be different from my much loved inktense! ☕️🍪

Every piece artwork from you looks amazing 👏👏👏👍😳 now i also will try the Museum Aquarell. 😅😊

It's so easy to use.

So glad and happy dance time, that you have joined the watercolor pencil club. Lol

Lots of good stuff, and great work. I would though like to se a final comparison, which I thought was kind of some of the purpose of the painting -(project)..? But definitively got me in the spirit of testing.

Beautiful painting I love clown fish I think they are so cute 🥰

I have tried both Arches cold press 140 and Lanaquarelle 140 cold press. I like Arches but I absolutely love Lanaquarelle and it has become my go to paper for Watercolors.

so beauitful i want to try these pencil

This is gorgeous. I AM going to see the Derwent to see which one I HAVE to buy 😂

If you like the Derwent water brushes, then you should really look into the Pentel Aquash brushes. I found that Derwent brushes would suck up pigment when mixing, which isn't as much an issue with the pencils, but something to consider. Pentel is very well regarded. I'm a bit surprised that you didn't mention the other, huge, advantage of watercolor pencils over traditional colored pencils: water is your solvent. That's really awesome for travel, especially, but also for those sensitive to OMS or similar. Also really handy for sketching in the wild, especially when you have water brushes. Finally, I'm looking forward to that postcard!

Gorgeous painting! Thank you for sharing. I learn a lot from your videos and love your super energetic style - it's contagious and it makes me take my paints out of the box and get painting :-) Have you thought about publishing a book with your paintings? I'm certainty gonna get a couple of prints to hang on the wall but would love to have a lot more of them (although not enough walls in the house to hang all the prints I would like !!!) lol

This is stunning, @Lachri Fine Art! (Ha, ha! Pun.) It's just amazing, Lisa! I am extremely excited to see you gaining interest in & utilizing more of your talent with water media! It's crazy fun, isn't it? We're alike in many ways. I had generally avoided water media, concentrating more on acrylic, oils, (adore!) water soluble graphite, graphite pencil, colored pencil, etc. I can see how you'd love these! I do as well,) & it makes me happy knowing this is likely. I can hear you smiling. 😁 I do recommend a more stiff synthetic for watercolor & especially gouache/acryla gouache. It's easier to move the paint around to gain control. (I use both synthetic & natural squirrel, but it honestly depends on the effects I'm going for!) As far as your surfaces go, try to avoid the wood pulp papers and use cotton!! This is one of the reasons Arches yields such beautiful results is the way the cotton dances with the pigments of the watercolor. Another surprisingly great cotton paper is the new Winsor & Newton, but I've become a paper snob, and I love my Arches! (I'm looking forward to trying the Kilimanjaro, Hannamuhle Botanical, & seeing as I am in love with their heavier drawing papers, trying the Stillman & Birn as well!) If it's not a cotton paper, the pigments might seem more dull, more flat, and rather than absorbing into the paper, may just sit on top of the surface & also take longer to dry. 😉 Personally speaking, I found that I simply wanted to loosen up, concerning my own artwork - also, Watercolor has been a medium I've purposely avoided throughout my academics & professional journeys. I even thought I strongly disliked it very early on just because I didn't know how to use it properly. *When I dislike a medium, I make sure to learn as much as possible about that medium. When I do this, I teach myself how to use it & end up truly enjoying it!* I'd the strong the desire to let my art flow more freely, kind of expand my art. I do such detailed, controlled, tight, precise & obsessive graphite, ink, and colored pencil works. In the case of my experimenting/teaching myself to use water media, specifically watercolor , gouache, & the acryla gouache, (YOU should TRY the Acryla Gouache, by the way! *I use Holbein.) I've 100% fallen entirely in love with it to the point where I'm studying the "science" of the specific pigments making up the products and even considering creating my own from scratch! This is a gorgeous piece. I admire the effect you've created here with the light, the composition, & of course, the colors! Great review video as always. I hope you continue to play with these types of materials and have as much fun as I have in doing so. Looking forward to more of your work! Blessings, Barbra 🖤🎨💀 P.S. Sincere apologies for the rambling! I drink copious amounts of caffeine! 😂 (It also helps the pain associated with my spinal conditions. I'm aware you've had to kind of teach yourself to get used to creating while using an easel too. I definitely empathize. You're an inspiration & often help to cheer me up when I'm down concerning my disabilities + making my artwork.

...great work great art thank u..

I enjoy both the albrechs and the Caren dache for the reasons you mentioned can mix both. As for water brushes, mont mart do a really good cheap version about $6au So works out cheaper for where I live. I also like the mont mart battery eraser as well its also a lot cheaper and is a bit sturdier then the derwent one which flew apart when I tried to change the batteries. I did go back together again ok though. :) Love your work Lisa and respect your honest input.

Doesn't matter what product you're reviewing, your art is always top!!! Take care :)

So... I’m f you were to do this again with the same supplies, would you recommend stretching your paper? Also, I can’t find your video comparing Derwent Inktense/Watercolor pencils to these.... Help! Your videos are sooo informative and clear! Thank YOU for all these years of education and information!!! YOU are the only one out there who can deliver a fantastic education including all the prof behind your recommendations, examples, and experience!!! 💕

I love this sooooo much! I'm a total beginner at drawing, but I would like a Disney fairy godmother/father who could turn my pumpkin into that wooden box set, or the Albrecht Durer one, or maybe Derwent watercolour or Inktense, or even Prismacolors - (anything that hurts my dodgy wrist & hand less than my sad affordable options. Art supplies are so darn expensive here in Australia that I have major art supply envy whenever I hear the bargain prices you guys pay - e.g.the Prismacolor 132 set that costs around $80 in the US, costs $200 here. I'm too scared to even look into how much that beautiful Caran D'Ache box set would cost here.

Arches watercolor paper is the best you I can get, top of the line. I get it when I can afford it. BTW, hobby lobby has the pads on sale this week at 50% off

Thank you Lisa!!!!!!!!!!!! Got the answer to my question I just sent you on another video!!! Love these! Love your painting! So happy you are now doing watercoloring with pencils, yay! I have both the regular Derwent and the Derwent Inktense, and a set of Caran D'ache Supracolor Aquarelles. Of the 3, the Supracolors I like best. Oh, you mentioned the price! Wait until you start buying full tubes of watercolor paint from companies like Daniel Smith or Schmincke! The price of the full set of Museum Aquarelle's will pale by comparison when you start adding up what it costs getting the same range of colors buying them in tubes, so honestly, it is a great way to get the highest quality watercolor pigments with that many colors, for people who are really serious about water coloring. I highly recommend Escoda watercolor brushes, their line of kolinsky sable brushes are the very best in the world. My favorite are their French quill brushes! (Can you tell I love brushes?!) You can buy them for a good price at the Art Supply Warehouse. My other favorite (speaking from experience after doing a lot of testing with various brands) is the DaVinci Maestro brushes (good for more controlled coloring, the Escoda for loose coloring).

Hello……I know this video is 3 years old…..but i just purchased the Luminance pencils….I LOVE them! Do the watercolor pencils have the same basic colors? it would be nice if i could use them interchangeably. Thank you so much……great video!

Hello Lachri, can you try koh-i-noor polycolor pencils? i think they are worth it to try

Just purchased these at Jerry's with a Holiday discount, hopefully with this set I can improve my artwork or at least get motivated, right? Thanks for sharing, your artwork is great!!

Oh noooo don't tempt me to buy more pencils hehe 🙈This drawing looks like it's glowing. So beautiful! I love your underwater pieces so much. Thanks for reviewing these pencils. Weirdly Caran d'Ache are a nightmare for finding out proper lightfastness ratings for some reason. I had a similar issue with Neocolor IIs when I was reviewing them, they don't list the lightfastness ratings of them anywhere! I had to email a representative who then had to email a spreadsheet of their ratings over to me!

Hi Lisa, Love the work & info, thank you! You mention pre-sizing the paper, and it caught my attention. Searched, but not found...do you explain it in any other of your videos or tutorials? Thank very much

Gracias! :)

Really beautiful, but doubt if I'll ever spend $300 for Museum Aquarelle. I have their Supracolor 2 and love them.

I've been watching a lot of your videos lately and I honestly don't know why I didn't start to watch sooner cos' I love watching you work :) Your story is also very inspirational. I sometimes get kind of depressed because I'm already 33 and work almost full-time so I feel like I won't get anywhere with my art. But I've come to realize that it's really just a matter of willpower and trying to keep myself inspired. Lately I've worked on my own stuff while listening to your videos in the background. I do have one question: Now that you've used both InkTense and actual watercolor pencils, which one do you prefer? I have the full 120 set of FC Albrecht Dürers and a few CA Museum Aquarelles to replace the fugitive colors of Dürers. I also have a big set of real, artist grade watercolors. However, I get very frustrated with them (all watercolor really) since I never seem to be able to go dark enough and the lower layers can lift. However, I've also grown accustomed to lifting the paint and softening areas. Because of this habit I rarely use masking fluid either. Combined with papers that enable easy lifting, I find that I can sometimes completely 'erase' overflown paint. So I'm kind of wondering if getting InkTense would actually help me. I do work with Polychromos on top no matter what so maybe I would just be jumping from a frying pan into the fire by adding yet another tool to my tool box. While the permanence of InkTense is appealing, it would also stress me out since lifting wouldn't be possible with them. I've used that technique so much.

i'm officially in love with watercolor pencils well any water soluble medium that works well... i've decided to buy the watercolor pencils if available from now on .... maybe i just bought 12 set of derwent lightfast and i am in love with them and polychromos too so i'm not writing off regular color pencils oh well enough cackling

I love these pencils but I personally think that the wooden box set is WAY too expensive! They are around $200 more then the cardboard box! But either way wonderful video! You are sooo talented!

Loving the water colour videos ^_^ Will you be testing faber castell albrecht durer in the future? :P

Any chance you’ll review the pablos?

Amazing work as always, Lisa! Have you tried the Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer brand of watercolor pencils?! They’re incredible - unbeatable only by Caran D’Ache! No residual pencil marks.

Have you used the Caran D’Ache palette? It’s great for watercolor pencils and Inktense.

How you went from that deep blood red orange to it looking so bright... uh-mayyyyy-zing!

Hi I’m looking for something I can layer on top of a watercolor sketch. I think I’m looking for opacity..would you suggest these or colored pencils? Thanks

I really like how you've identified what makes these pencils unique, it's very helpful for figuring out if they might be worth the purchase or not! I've also read that they're a bit softer and easier to draw with than some other pencils, which might be better for people with arm or hand pain. Did you find this at all?

Give the fabercastel a try

Just bought neo2 love them . I wanted to know if you could recommend a black waterproof fine liner marker I also have prisma what would you recommend?

I love this drawing! Where did you get your reference from?

Absolutely amazing! Thank you! May I ask, are you still using this set? I haven’t seen you do a watercolour pencil tutorial for some time( just the inktense). Would love another demo. They are still fine to use aren’t they? Watercolour pencils dont expire? I have some old ones.... nervous! Thank you so much!

I got the whole set of 76 for just under $200 from Blick over the holiday weekend.

Are these pencils good for drawing on top of gouache?

Wouldn't the lightfast issue be true with colored pencil and solvent? You're dissolving the dry pigment, and the lightfast tests for colored pencils are only tested for dry, correct?

Opacity is a big plus for me, I always like to know I can fix mistakes or change things, and in general I always end up going too dark too soon. I want these pencils so so much! :D

regarding lightfastness... I was of the understanding that lightfastness has to do with the pigment itself. Not the medium it is bound with. It should not make any difference whether that pigment is bound with oil, wax, chalk or any other binder. Adding water to a pigment does not change its lightfastness. It is the pigment itself that is measured to see if it is fugitive or not. For example in watercolour the Pigment in opera rose is very fugitive. It would not matter if that was an oil stick, watercolour, acrylic, pastel etc.

Thank you for this video! What pressure do you use in between the drying phases? I don’t want to ruin the tooth of the paper so I don’t press too hard but then if I don’t I’m not sure if I get a good vibrancy. Thanks again and I hope you can answer my question.

You said the white was very opaque with these. Does it stay that opaque when you activate it or only dry? All the white watercolor pencils I've ever used are absolutely useless. You should see how you like going over the watercolor under painting with your normal color pencils. I really love doing my art that way.

Any chance to buy some of the older postcards? I love this picture, but I just joined your patron in 3/2024.

gouache pencil then? haha congratz on your new collection.

Hello! Nice work! Have you ever made a video of Faber-Castell Albretch Durer watercolor pencils?

. Hello Hello Hello !!! I haven't watched the Derwent video (March 2018) yet, but I was just wondering if u prefer the Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle watercolor pencil or the Derwent Watercolor pencil ? Sorry, I don't even know if ur allowed 2 say.

How are the Caran d'ache Museum pencils compared with the Caran d'ache supracolor? Is it worth the extra price?

caran d'ache on sale right now at jerrys and blick

Hola, me gusta mucho tu arte es un trabajo muy hermoso. Quisiera hacerte una pregunta, que tipo de colores usas?

Amazing demo 🤩 never got great result with water color pencils... somehow I finde purely watercolor much easier. Maybe it just because I used CarandAche supracolor and they are not opaque enough...

I just heard a boom sound at 21:6/21:7 What was that sound?

Wood box on Amazon is $272 today.

Fantastic video! This gives both a detailed watercolour pencil/ realism tutorial and an in depth review of the pencils themselves! I’d love to see you invent a creature or do a more amalgam picture not a direct copy. The amount of study you have done can help you do a realistic made up animal. Make up a species of bird, fish or mammal! Or even an alien critter, dragon, etc. If you make up a species you can make it very realistic to a plausible addition to a current family of animals such as your own species of clownfish or robin. I would also like to see you do paleoart; realistically reconstructed extinct animals with current scientific knowledge plus your own creative freedom. Some creatures have skin impressions or feathers so check on that as well as looking at what paleoartists have done, as well and close relatives if the one you are trying to depict is only known from fragmentary remains. It would be more of a challenge for you but you may find it very rewarding! Regardless keep up the excellent work!

Way cheaper to order these and luminance from jacksons art supplies in the UK & have them shipped to US, even with shipping its so much cheaper than dick blick

Also colored pencil is too slow for me 😂

you made 1 huge mistake...you forgot dory!

I don't understand why you compare the Caran D'Ache pencils with Derwent Inktense? The clue is in the name: Derwent are ink pigments - CD' are watercolour pigment - so you're not comparing like with like? You wouldn't open a bottle of ink then compare with, say acrylic liquid, so why do this . . . confused?!