I own both and I actually feel like they’re pretty different in terms of how they lay down color. The textures are just too distinct. FC feels like having a stick of butter that’s always solid, the control it offers me to layer is still unparalleled imo, while Pablo feels a little more crumbly, which I love for sketching and lying down shading and they mix beautifully it’s like magic. Overall, I enjoy both.
So glad to see this video our local art store ( lol which is 45 mints away has open stock fabrell castrell polychrome on sale...yeah I can afford to get a basic set of primary colors to try them)......🎨✍great review
After a couple of years using both of these pencils, I prefer the Pablos, mainly because they feel a tad softer and I prefer the lay-down. The Pablos tend to give me less hand strain, which is important for me.
I have both sets. I use the FC the most, but i enjoy both. I think that most people don’t use as much the pablos is because they are far more expensive. At least in Portugal they are. And also, the FC are easy to find open stock. Thank you for your work.
Thank you so much for sharing you thoughts on the video and I think you are right about the cost difference being a huge factor. I think when people look at both the sets, as far as they are concerned they both have 120 pencils in them, but one set is £100 more or sometimes more than the Polychromos, so there would have to be a huge difference between them both to spend that extra £100 on the Pablo and there really isn’t. They are both beautiful pencils and I am so fortunate to have both sets. Thank you so very much for your comment and stay safe and keep healthy.
So many art supplies are “The Best” because of an artist’s belief and often personal opinions and not actual facts! I know that you do your very best to show your viewers everything you can about the products you review. I am glad that you are still plugging away and offering your viewers a fair and balanced video. You are so appreciated, I thank you.
"The pablo isn't used much and I'm not sure why" - If I had to answer that bluntly, it's because a lot of artists are biased and/or blindly following what they hear from others and at classes. We've been told that Polychromos are the pretty much the best you can get, unless you're can afford the Luminance. That's a very biased statement, because there are other colored pencils like the Pablo that are very good too. If you tell something long enough then eventually everyone will start saying it. So what do people recomments, right Polychromos. I've seen plenty of artist bash other brands, without ever having tried them. When it comes to materials a lot of artists tend to be very narrow minded in my opinion. They will stubbornly stick to the recommended stuff and even if alternatives are simply better, they will ignore it. In my personal experience I've found that the Polychromos doesn't perform well on every paper, while the Pablo's have way less of an issue with that. Now both are great pencils, but the more I discover other brands, the less I use Faber-Castell and that doesn't count for the colored pencils only. I find myself buying less and less Faber-Castell art supplies, the more I discover alternatives that perform much better and aren't that picky on what paper you use them on,
Actually for hobbyists and colourists, there is a strong Prismacolor bias with SOME Polychromos. I see more Luminance and Holbein in those circles than Pablos which is insane because we are talking about hobbyists and people colouring in colouring books. But it comes down to exactly what you said. People will recommend them Prismacolor with maybe the alternative of Polychromos and that is what they will get. When Pablos are seen, you get some people so used to Prismacolor whine that they are "hard" or "difficult to blend", hence deterring others from getting them.
@@benjamina6915 Very true. I really feel like getting Prismacolor first can be detrimental because I constantly see people who cannot work with ANY other pencil because of the bad habits that are so ingrained. Because it still looks fairly good with Prismacolor so they see no reason to change, but when you give them another pencil it's game over. And of course you reach an impasse even with Prismacolor if you never learn decent technique.
Very nice comparison ❤ What do you think think about comparing derwent Artist with pablo colored pencils Both are hard and oil based professional grade pencils
Great comparison review Harry! I have both the Polys and the Pablos and they are both great pencils, yet they work both in different ways. In my experience the Polys are king in endless layering where the Pablos are king in blending colours on the paper once they get that "sticky"feeling. I think the reason as why the Pablos aren't that popular/well known, is because of its big brother the Luminance pencils, which is a shame because Pablos are such a lovely pencil to work with if you love layering, blending colours on paper without OMS and they work not only on paper, but also on wood!
There is more LF1 or 3 stars pencils in the Polychromos (102) set than the Pablos set (about 45) . The difference is huge ! How is the texture for the Pablos? Is it creamy and shiny or soft and mat ? I feel like Poly have more soft texture.. so I wonder if it is the same for the Pablo ?
What's in a name? At the subconscious level, a lot. "Pablo" doesn't really convey what you are buying, and what you are buying it for. It's really just a person's name. "Polychromos", "Luminance" (heck, even "PrismaColor") convey a tech-like name for what this particular item is (namely, a pencil that lays down color, and that there is a little something added to them). In addition, these 3 names sound "cool", something that just "Pablo" doesn't. So, the reason it may not be used/bought that much may be more a marketing faux-pas on the part of Caran d'Ache than anything else.
I have both and tend to use the Polychromos more than the Pablos but they have some exquisite colors that aren't in the Polys. Also, regarding Odorless Mineral Spirits. They're useful on the wax but worthless on oils.
That's an interesting observation. I always thought OMS would work best with oil based pencils as it's typically used with oil based media. I have yet to try it with wax based pencils so I'll have to give it a try.
that's a good video really! I also can't get it why Koh-I-Noor isn't that present. It is archivle and lightfast and performs very well. I'm just tryin the 36 set in vs to the Polychromos I've got as well. :D Thank you for your great reviews!!!
fab video again harry ! i couldnt pick between my polys and pablos and both have become a huge staple in my work ! i think you nailed the review/ comparison !
I know what you mean, I know I am very fortunate to have a lot of stuff sent to me, which is why I try to give back as often as I can with give always, but I couldn’t be with my Pablo Greens they are just amazing and then the reds in the Polys are sublime as well. I think I am just a colored penc-aholic I just love them and love using them. Thank you so much for your incredibly kind comment
I have the full set of Polychromos and a few Pablo. That's not really a very fair way to compare, but for me the Polychromos are better. But it's a bit like comparing high end cars: the loser is still fantastic. I think it is Pastelmat that has sunk it for me. I don't think any colour pencil can beat Polychromos on Pastelmat. But other opinions are valid.
Thank you for this. Very helpful. I have the full set of Polychromos, have you any advice on colours that I could purchase from the pablo range that are not in the Polychromos set? That may be a better way to compliment a collection... 🌸
I’ve been using polychrome for many years, and now I want to try the Pablo. My question is how about to use both at the same time? Are they going to mix well with each other?
I like how the Pablos have some beautiful light colours, that are missing in the polychromos range. The price difference is too big for me, personally, so i went with polychromos + pablo additions :)
Thank you so much for this video. I have the full set of Polys and was contemplating the Full Set of Pablos. Could you recommend 4-5 skin tones that I could get open stock and try them to see if they are for me? Thank you again for your videos.
I don't find the pablos as good as the polychromeos, because of my 27 coloured pencils there are a few that are very hard and rip my paper, when I draw them over the same spot a few times to get them dark. My polychromos don't do that. These are also a bit waxy and sometimes get stuck on the paper, and my ultramarine from the pablos always starts to stink when I draw several times over a place because of the friction heat. The ultramarine also looks on the paper like in the direction of wax crayons, with such dark spots and other areas where much less colour has landed on it. Of the extension colours that I have for my 12 sets, moss green and aubergine look very much like a cheap hard coloured pencil from a 1€ set, they also feel that way when applied.
The Neocolor 2 are just amazing, I absolutely love them, I am not sure if you know about this little tool or already have it, but it is amazing for Watercolor pencils and the Neocolor 2 bit.ly/2IGV8ut link to my RU-vid review of the tool amzn.to/2qjVhfG Amazon link. I couldn’t be without mine now.
The Art Gear Guide HELLO... thank you so much for this information on the Caran D’ache palette. I hadn’t seen it when I started accumulating way more sets of colored pencils than anyone should own especially since I was more of a colorist than an artist but using quality pencils adds greater joy to the experience. I’ve played some with my NeoColor 2’s but look forward to pulling them out again once my palette arrives from amazon (USA). Thanks so much for what you do. I’m a new subscriber and look forward to watching other videos you’ve created. Stay safe and have a great day! 🙂
Hi Harry thank you so incredibly much. I’ve watched this review so many times along with trying Pablo open stock- they are beautiful and different to poly in several ways and it’s wonderful in a different way if that make sense 😊. Wanted a set for years. May I ask, do you prefer the Pablo? Understand all pencils are useful etc, but I just thought perhaps you may have a preference ( have a feeling you like one more than the other actually!)? Really would love to know
For some reason I thought you weren’t an artist based on a. Livestream I saw of yours and I swear you said you weren’t an artist which didn’t make sense to me cause why review pencils then and why would your opinion matter then. But seeing that you did those tomatoes everything been cleared up and I must have misheard something you were saying. I’m glad you told me the two pencils are similar since I already have polychromos I’d rather invest in more luminance instead of wasting it on pablos since I already got all the polychromos.
That's interesting. I found the Pablos less good on Pastelmat than Polys, but it might be because I only have a few Pablo pencils and haven't tried all of them on that surface. I will do now though, thank you!
Sadly the link to your written review is not working. I'd be interested in reading it. I have the 60 set of polychromos and I am not that keen on them. I prefer the Luminance pencils from Caran D'ache & Lightfast by Derwent. However I do use my polychromos for details as they are good for that. I've been looking at the Pablos & wondering if I should buy them or just stick to my Luminance & Lightfast.
@@TheArtGearGuide Well Harry after watching your video & reading your reviews over on your website, I finally took the plunge and bought myself the full set of Caran D'ache Pablos & I absolutely LOVE them! I think they are a wonderful addition to the Lightfast & Luminance. I love their smooth application & the colours are to die for! Such a great number of greens, which is perfect for the nature/wildlife art I enjoy doing. Thank you Harry, your reviews are always so spot on.
For I see in this important video, and I want to thank you Harry for this magnificent comparison between the FC and Pablo's! I see more pigments in the FC Polychromos than the Pablo's... I have the FC Polychromos, and I love them, for add layers after layers, and glazing. I was thinking to buy the Pablo's...but, it's better for me to buy a 72 Derwent Lightfast set. Because I need soft, creamy and resistance breaks core pencils. and I have also the Prismacolor Premier.... And they mix well with the FC Polychromos... But, this pencils (Prisma) have a few issues of quality control, and the issue of the lightfastness, that is important to me. Thanks Harry as always for help us🙏🏼🥰
I know how to spell it, however, when you add the correct spelling to RU-vid titles, adding things like " ' , etc, effect how the videos are found. When people search for Caran d'Ache products on RU-vid, if the title of the video has the apostrophe, the video ends up further down the search terms. I think, I am not 100% sure of the reason, but it is to do with how HTML, Python, Pearl etc all code,
The reason why is the price, as of today, the FC are £33.01 for 24, (£1.38 pp), to get 40 at that price would be £55.20; the 36 tin of FC is 48.93 (£1.36 pp); for 40 Pablo's is £64.72.
Yeah but it all depends on where you look and what you want. 120 set of both pencils Faber Castell Polychromos £287 and 120 set of Pablo £245 The price of everything has blown up, I think we are not too far away from our digital devices recording the level of air we breath and being taxed on it or charged per day. At the end of the day I only mentioned Crafters because after 7 years of making RU-vid reviews, I have learnt that if you leave out a group when making a general point, it can upset a lot of people. It could be argued that Adult Coloring Book artists won’t use Pablo because of their price, but there are a lot of adult coloring book artists who can afford Pablo pencils and for no other reason that they love that brand or the feel of Pablo or whatever, they will use them. It takes all kinds to make the world and as I say, after a short time making videos on RU-vid, I have been educated in the ways of leaving out groups.
Id have to pick the CD only because its more like an ooh I have expensive pencils thing but for actual use its really sort of a mix. There are certain tones I like and dont like from both companies and itd definitely depend heavily on the project I have in mind. If I didnt have to pay for them id say id like both sets as both are high quality.
I complete hear you and understand, they are typical of the sets that you just have to have both of them. I worked on this project for almost two weeks, redoing a lot of work, looking at my tests, wondering if they were different enough to show in the videos etc. I have some comparison videos to do which I have complete notes and tests on and the differences are incredibly noticeable.
