Derwent Drawing Pencils, Set of 12 in Tin, 5mm Round Core, Premium Core Strength, Creamy Texture, Ideal For Fine Art Drawing & Colouring, Professional Quality, 700671

Fantastic artist-grade pencils. These are some of my favourite coloured pencils. They aren't cheap, but they lay down so nicely and are a joy to use. They feel like drawing with pieces of clay - very tactile and satisfying. The pigments are great; you don't need to press down too hard to get a good amount of colour on the page. As I say, they're not cheap, so if you're unsure about them, it might be best to go for a smaller set or buy a couple of individual pencils to get a feel for them first. A couple of mine were slightly cracked. Not sure whether this is a manufacturing defect or if it happened in transportation. This is a minor gripe however. These pencils perform beautifully and I would buy them again. As this set features muted, earthy tones, you might want to supplement the set with the Derwent Lightfast pencil range which contains more colours and feels very similar to use in my experience. These don't feel too dissimilar to the Caran D'Ache Luminance pencils either. Definitely a high quality product.

I simply love these drawing pencils from DERWENT and I sincerely wish I could share some of the amazing wildlife sketches, which have been created by those far more artistic than I, but the designs are copyright. Here we have an attractive, quality tin of 12 SOFT DRAWING PENCILS with an inner tray and removable (unhinged) lid. The inside of the tin is cellophane-wrapped to keep the pencils from moving around in transit. Measuring in around 17.5 cm in length when new, each pencil comes already sharpened and ready to go. The rounded barrel is orangey-brown in colour with a metallic gold flash before the dipped end, which is the same colour as the core, to aid easy selection. Embossed on each, in WHITE coloured lettering is: ~ ENGLAND ~ DERWENT DRAWING ~ 4-digit Code No./The Colour Name The colours I received in my tin are: ✩ 3615/SOLWAY BLUE ✩ 3720/INK BLUE ✩ 4135/GREEN SHADOW ✩ 5160/OLIVE EARTH ✩ 5700/BROWN OCHRE ✩ 5720/YELLOW OCHRE ✩ 6110/SEPIA (RED) ✩ 6220/SANGUINE ✩ 6510/RUBY EARTH ✩ 6600/CHOCOLATE ✩ 6700/IVORY BLACK ✩ 7200/CHINESE WHITE although the right to substitute a colour is reserved, as is usual for a product of this kind. They are lovely to use, laying down a thick layer of colour when required. From the tin: ‘Made in the UK. This versatile pencil has a unique, creamy texture which produces a soft, velvety finish. Available in 24 natural and sepia tones Derwent Drawing is perfect for wildlife and nature studies as wells as rich landscapes and classic portraits. Techniques: 1. The creamy, extra wide 5 mm core encourages soft expressive tonal drawings 2. The texture and colour range is perfect for animal and bird studies. A reasonable 'point' can easily be achieved with a decent sharpener , in my experience. My only regret is that I didn’t buy the tin of 24 , but the current price for these 12 colours is a great starter point if experimenting.

Great pencils, professional grade, Lightfast.

I liked the natural colours and the pencils are very soft (so more for colouring in than drawing as you can’t get detail with them being so soft). Was enjoying them until I tried to sharpen one (with a high quality sharpener) and the wood split. Maybe as the core is so thick the wood surrounding is thin meaning it breaks easily. Shame. Sent them back.

I must now have five or six sets of Derwent pencils, but these, the latest are my favourites. They are a selection of browns, muted greens and blues, off whites and other naturalistic colours. For drawing and sketching naturalistic scenes I think they are a clever selection. You can always add others from the range for bright colours, but these bring a sense of understated beauty to your drawings. The pencils themselves are round with thick leads. they are quite soft - similar to Derwent's coloursoft range and do not hold a fine point for very long. I suggest that (1) you keep a good quality pencil sharpener close by and that (2) Derwent consider making a hexagonal finer leaded version for people who want to do detailed drawings. The colours, like most of Derwent's insoluble coloured pencils blend well if you don't put down too much at once. If you really scrub hard you'll end up with a slightly waxy bloom and it's difficult to put more colour on the top and blend the colours. Almost it acts like a wax resist when you try to pencil over, and definitely like a wax resist if you try to water colour over. If I have a problem with these (and for that matter, most coloured pencils) it's the white. It's pretty translucent. Which may be what it should be and maybe what you want. But I would like a white that was really opaque and you could use for highlights. In summary, if you're into naturalistic drawing these are a good selection and deliver; there's a smaller set for the cautious but I'm glad I got the whole 24.

I have a good collection of professional quality pencils and these rank one of the best. Shame only 24 colours. Absolutely thrilled with the pigments, and lay down so smoothly. I would highly recommend to those who like to use subtle shades.

I bought these for my daughter who already has the Inktense, Coloursoft and other pencils from Derwent. She is currently doing a project on mythical creatures and has been absolutely delighted with the results she has got from these pencils. The colours are fantastic for drawing animals and enabled her to produce some of her best work so far. They layer beautifully and blend well, producing a fantastic finish. I do not hesitate to recommend these pencils to anyone who enjoys producing lifelike quality animal drawings. Please note that these pencils do not include any bright colours - if you need any brighter colours the Derwent Studio would complement these.

Bought these on the recommendation of a drawing teacher and not disappointed. Gorgeous muted, elegant colours, lovely soft texture, goes down easily on drawing paper, tonal and newsprint. Very pleased with them.