Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils Review

Hey Artnerds! On Tuesday, we took a look at the Winsor and Newton Watercolor pencils. Today, we're giving Faber-Castell's Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils the same treatment! Shownotes are down below for those who enjoy reading as they listen.

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Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils

Openstock:
Set prices vary

24 Color set Swatched Today

Mentioned in this Video:

Faber-Castell Unbox and Swatch Livestream:
Winsor and Newton Watercolor Pencil Review:

Shownotes:

120- wood and Tin
60- Tin
48- Wooden Giftset
36- Giftset Box
36 Tin
24- Tin
16- Giftset
12- Tin
Also available openstock

120 color range
3.8mm core

Faber-Castell organizes its products into color families- so a Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor pencil number 151 will match a Pitt Pen number 151 and a Polychromos 151 and if available, an Albrecht Durer watercolor marker 151. This makes color matching and mixed media art easier. There's a lightfast rating as well- *** is the highest rating.

Pigment based watercolor pencils. Rachel Lee (a Faber-Castell rep) and myself believe these utilize india ink for color, hence the high lightfast ratings.

Pencils use California cedar with a SV (secure all) bond to prevent breakage in the leads.

The Packaging:
Hinged tin package with interior plastic tray. Tray is somewhat flimsy, but this is a single layer set, so it is not designed to be removed. Tin snaps shut fairly sturdily- when traveling, I secure it with an extra piece of washi tape.

Swatching:
All colors are somewhat opaque (probably the india ink) and seem like they would work well on black watercolor paper as well.

Colors are very pigmented, fairly buttery, good coverage not too much dust

Colors activate quickly and easily, dissolve well in water

After drying, colors remain vibrant

Colorwheel:

Colors selected:
Light Yellow Glaze
Cadmium Yellow
Pale Geranium Lake
Dark Red
Phthalo Blue
Ultramarine

Testing for:
Blendability
Color Mixing
Clean Mixing
Reactivation

Application:

Some dust on application
Colors are really pigmented. Blend cleanly, blend vibrantly.

Individual color blends:

Synthetic brush does pick up a lot of the pigment, so you may want to use a softer brush for this, unless you want to pick up and move your pigment.
Difficult to mix a good purple from the colors I selected
Secondary Color Swatches:
Dark Cadmium Orange
Emerald Green
Helioblue Reddish
Magenta

Tried Magenta with Ultramarine- a bit of a better mix

The Verdict:

These are rich watercolor pencils that really deliver a lot of color and pigment. Color Saturation and vibrancy are great. These watercolors are liftable, so utilize caution when laying and activating colors.

Music:

Kevin MacLeod- Clean Soul
Kevin MacLeod-Meditation Impromptu 02
Kevin MacLeod-Meditation Impromptu 03
Kevin MacLeod-Blue Feather

#watercolorpencils #FaberCastell #FaberCastellAlbrechtDurer

[jillwiswall]

It’s bizarre that Blick claims they’re permanent when dry! I haven’t ever seen that anywhere else, including in the FC packaging.

[MadebyDawn]

Hey Becca trust you are safe and your family is safe as well. I do too have the set as well so thank you for your video

[nanovega]

I have the same set, when it comes to performance they are great but unfortunately their lightfastness ratings are misleading and they are very fugitive . I did my lightfastness test and the first one that faded in few days in the sun was the ultramarine(120) and I tested it again in my room and it faded significantly in six months . So after (two) months in the sun six colors only are lightfast out of 24 whereas when I did that test for derwent inktense pencils for (four) months, twenty colors are lightfast out of a twenty four set and I should mention that the summer is so hot in my country with a temperature over 42 C .so derwent is more reliable and I recommend everyone to do his test for his art supplies.

[askialuna]

Strange sorting in your box, actually 12 colors are expanded and therefore walnut brown from the 12 set should be included and you don't have it, instead cobalt blue and pale geranium lake are actually only included in the box of 120 and fuchsia 123 is also missing :-/.

[dorkga]

Great video! I've been thinking about getting started with watercolor pencils and I love how vibrant and smooth these look, plus I've used FC Polychoromos so I know they'll be great quality. I just wasn't sure if I should hold off or not because these are too advanced/expensive. Would you suggest these or the Winsor Newtons you also reviewed this week?

[Adartse]

I'm not sure if you answered this already but what's the weight of the papet that you're using in the video?

[gen_]

Just bought my 36 set today, what sharpener is suitable for it? My manual hand crank sharpener cannot fit the Albrecht Durer..

[ChristinaTodd]

I can’t afford another Patreon, but I would still love to see you do an Albrecht Dürer vs. Inktense video. I have both from back in the day when I could afford things, basically before 2020. I rarely ever use the AD and never use the I. I just don’t see the point when I have lots of lovely watercolors. I would love to love them and love even more the desire to use them, but sadly I never want to ☹️.

[zerocalvin]

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