Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils
Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils
The Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils are quite a unique set of pencils. Although there is only a small amount of them available, I think they are the nicest coloured pencils I've ever seen, but I will explain my view further into the review.
The pencil itself is by far the chunkiest pencil I have ever used and certainly the thickest core, weighing it at a whopping 5mm core, crammed with the richest earthy pigments you have ever seen. The core is protected with an 8mm Cedar wood barrel, which is lacquered with a rich Russet colour, quite fitting given the range of colours in the set.
Pencil Specs
Along the side of the pencil is labeled where the pencils are produced, for any Derwent pencil that is "England", this is then followed by the name of the company, "Derwent" and finally the brand of pencil is printed, "Drawing". Toward the end tip of the pencil, the name of the colour is written, along with a reference number making replacing individual pencils easy. As with all Derwent pencils, the end tip of the pencil sports a flash of colour representing the pigment colour of that particular pencil, this obviously makes selection at a glance easy, but it is still important for pencil manufactures to maintain printing the colour name on the pencil barrel as this is a huge help to partially sighted artists or coloured blind artists.
As with all my written reviews here on Coloured Pencil Reviews, you can see my YouTube video review of this pencil by selecting the link or you can select the YouTube tab above in the navigation bar.
The colours present in the Derwent Drawing coloured pencils 24 set are simply gorgeous, they appear good enough to eat, almost like a box of luxury chocolates, even the names given to some of the colours are mouth watering; Chocolate, Mars Violet and Wheat etc. The Derwent Drawing colours are perfect for landscapes or animal portraits, the colours are rich and earthy and such a shame that Derwent have only produced 24.
The core pigment is a soft wax and laying down the colour is incredibly smooth and creamy, allowing for all an effortlessly consistent coverage. As with all wax based pencils, layering is a pleasurable experience, but is limited to four or five layers before wax bloom begins taking hold, but nothing a blending solvent can't remedy, permitting the addition of more layers. Dry blending with the Derwent Blending pencil is effortless but above all produces smooth results.
Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils Pricing
In recent months, perhaps guided by the Covid lockdown and popularity in the pencils, prices have increased slightly, but it is worth mentioning that every penny you spend on the Derwent Drawing Colored Pencils is absolutely accounted for.
Obviously Derwent is based here in the UK but I don’t really think this reflects in the pricing structure, which is a good thing when you think that Derwent structure their pricing based on the product and not the selling location within reason.
Here in the UK if you wanted to purchase the Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils you can expect to pay the following prices. For the set of 12 Derwent Drawing Pencils you will pay approx £21.94, for the largest 24 set you can expect to pay £49.20 and there is also a 72 drum of Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils £90.14, you still only get 24 pigments, but essentially you get three of each color, this is obviously more aimed toward those colored pencil artists constantly using the Derwent Drawing in their work and the drum cuts down open stock purchasing a bit.
In the US if you wanted to purchase the Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils you can expect to pay the following prices. For the set of 12 Derwent Drawing Pencils you will pay approx $23.39, for the largest 24 set you can expect to pay $55.94 and of course the 72 drum of Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils,
In the EU if you wanted to purchase the Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils you can expect to pay the following prices. For the set of 12 Derwent Drawing Pencils you will pay approx €20.69, for the largest 24 set you can expect to pay €59.97 and the 72 drum of Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils.
With regards to lightfastness, of the 24 Derwent Drawing Coloured pencil colours, 23 are rated 8 and only one, Ink Blue is rated 7 in the lightfast rating, which is incredible. 8 of course is the highest rating and anything below 6 is considered to not be lightfast.
As perviously mentioned, Derwent only produce a 12 and 24 set of these magnificent colours and of course they are available in open stock. I'm not sure if this only adds to their uniqueness or whether or not my greed for more of these wonderful colours is more important. Regardless, I personally love these pencils and I think every coloured pencil artist should have this set of Derwent Drawing Coloured pencils in their arsenal.
