The results of comparing the degree of fading caused by light on over 50 types of colored pencils to determine which 'colored pencils can make your work last longer'
Art created with analog art materials will fade or be sunburned over time, causing it to lose its appearance. Artist Sarah Renae Clark, who designs coloring books mainly with colored pencils, has tested over 50 colored pencil brands to find 'colored pencils that can make your work last longer' in order to find art materials that have 'lightfastness' that makes art less likely to deteriorate.
Lightfast Testing: 50+ Colored Pencil Brands
Some paints 'fade' when they are exposed to light, especially the ultraviolet rays of the sun, and break down. Cheap art supplies are fine for practice or designs for print, but if you are exhibiting or selling art in person, you need to choose art supplies that are 'lightfast' to light and ultraviolet rays.
There are three main methods for testing lightfastness. The first is internal testing conducted by manufacturers, but the accuracy and validity of the tests vary. The second is a laboratory-based test called 'ASTM D6901' developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifically for colored pencils, which simulates irradiating samples with controlled fragrances. The third is a method called the 'blue wool scale' that uses strips of wool dyed blue.
Because not every pencil is subjected to the same lightfastness tests, Clark uses the industry-standard method of testing various pencils for lightfastness using the Blue Wool Scale.
Clark painted up to 12 colors from each pencil brand onto paper as swatches, then left the swatches in sunlight for six months. He then recorded the fading of each swatch according to the Blue Wool Scale procedure. In the end, he said, he was able to accurately assign each color a Blue Wool Score, giving him a clear picture of 'how different colors from each brand of pencil perform over time,' in line with industry standards.
Clark also explains the lightfastness test of colored pencils on his YouTube channel.
As a result of the test, it was found that Caran d'Ache 's ' Luminance ' colored pencils have particularly high lightfastness. Luminance is a colored pencil designed to achieve excellent lightfastness and is tested in accordance with global standards. In fact, Clark's test results showed that other colored pencils often had an average fading rate of around 50%, and colors that are prone to fading sometimes recorded 70% to 90%, while Luminance successfully reduced fading in all colors, with an average fading rate of 4%, as shown in the table below.
Another colored pencil from the UK's
A 40-color set of Luminance is priced at 23,000 yen on Amazon, while a 100-color set of Lightfast is priced at around 30,000 yen, making them both expensive colored pencils for professionals. Among the relatively inexpensive colored pencils, Clark cited the ' Gold Edition ' from the brand SJ STAR-JOY as having good lightfastness. On Amazon, it is an inexpensive product at around 8,000 yen for 120 colors, but with an average fading rate of 24%, it is not as good as top-class products, but it still has high lightfastness.
In addition, pink was found to fade more easily than any other color. The average fade rate for all colored pencils was 79%, with some colors fading completely in just a few weeks. Conversely, black pencils showed almost no fading.
'Lightfastness is something you might not think about when buying art supplies, but it's more important than you might think if you want your artwork to last,' said Clark. 'Our testing has shown that not all products claim to be 'lightfast,' and that certain colors are much less lightfast than others. We hope this guide will demystify lightfastness and give you a better understanding of how your tools perform over time.'
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