The smooth, creamy laydown of opaque colour is compatible with oil mediums and produces a paint-like effect when dissolved with solvent. Lightfast pencils have a strong point for ease of sharpening so are ideal for detailed drawings and defining negative space. An artist who took the watercolour pencils to Tunisia, with temperatures of 30 degrees, found that they were inclined to soften and break easily. This could be a problem with many of the softer brands. Therefore, you might like to consider keeping the pencils in a coolbag in hot weather to reduce this issue. Grab a bargain! There are many pencils available in the Derwent ranges but for this feature I want to focus on the three that I use most within my own work – Derwent’s Drawing, Lightfast & Chromaflow pencils. This doesn’t mean that I don’t also utilise some of the others not mentioned here in my work when I am looking for a specific application but these are more my ‘go to’ pencils. Starting with the range that has been around for the longest and those are the Drawing pencils. The Drawing range has a distinctive velvety finish and come in a limited but beautiful natural earthy colour range. These are ideal for wildlife drawings, nature studies and creative atmospheric, evocative landscapes. They are also used for portraiture.

Derwent Chromaflow Brand New 72 Set — The Art Gear Guide

Although suitable for all coloured pencil artists, they are aimed particularly at students and hobbyists, for whom price is a determining factor. Chromaflow pencils offer a good quality of creative experience without breaking the bank, and are a great option for beginners to experiment with and build on their skills. This doesn’t mean that professionals cannot use these pencils, it just means that you will need to factor in the lightfastness of some of the pencils ahead of using them. I for example would use them for creating a piece to make prints from and would keep the original if I had used any of the lower lightfast rating pencils in the mix. The Derwent Chromaflow are one such pencil that are aimed toward those of use who just love drawing, adult colouring book artists, crafters, people like myself who love to use colored pencils and then slip the work into a wallet never to see the light of day again. Derwent Chromaflow Price Where I think this product would benefit someone new to coloured pencil is as a practice pencil. I also think that given the nature of the breakage I experienced I would caution anyone who wanted to use these for a larger drawing as you won’t be able to replace used-up pencils without purchasing a whole new set. Derwent Chromaflow are 60% lightfast across 72 colours, LF – Lightfastness rating (6 – Good, 7 – Very Good, 8 – Excellent)The photo above is of the broken tip of the pencil after using a normal-moderate amount of pressure to colour out this swatch. This was my first pencil-to-paper experience and the tip promptly broke. My later usage of the product for my demo drawing was better but I did have sizable chunks of leads break 3 more times including on this same pencil.

Derwent Chromaflow 24 Tin Derwent Chromaflow 24 Tin

I love that the Drawing and the Lightfast have a crossover of colour names so you can utilise say the Mars Violet (another fave) in the Drawing range for the underpainting of a piece and then use the Lightfast one to add details. Derwent Chromaflow How do Chromaflow pencils compare to colour pencils in Derwent’s Professional Quality range; Coloursoft, Procolour, Lightfast? The photo above shows an amalgamated set of Derwent pencils. All these colours are rated LF Blue Wool Scale 4 or above. Derwent Lightfast Pencils

Derwent Watercolour pencils have been in production for many years and were last reformulated and replaced in 2009. Caran d’Ache brought out the Luminance range a few years ago and these were the best attempt so far at a pencil to meet the American ASTMS 6901 standard. Previous attempts by Prismacolor were dropped as unprofitable and the old Derwent Signature departed many years ago as they were too dry and scratchy (the combination of pigment and binder at that time was not at all good).

Derwent Colour charts | Derwent

You will note the very strong colours involved and the high pigmentation. Most colours show up much stronger after the addition of water. The first column of the chart shows the colours in their dry state. The second shows the addition of water, first in concentration and then as a sweep of a small amount of the wet colour off into a paler, less concentrated form. We use different woods in the manufacture of our pencils and sometimes the wood may change during the lifetime of a pencil range. Chromaflow is made using fine grade pine which is perfect for the slightly slimmer barrel of the Chromaflow pencils.I would strongly recommend doing tests on different paper swatches before you try a full piece with any new pencil. The combination of the type of paper you use with any coloured pencil product can greatly affect your success with it. Often it takes a bit of time to find the right combination of paper and pencil with the techniques you like using to get successful results. Derwent released a new line of coloured pencils called Chromaflow in the Spring of 2021. As a relatively big fan of Derwent products, I was curious to try these pencils for myself. There seemed to be a lot of anticipation amongst coloured pencil artists for them, but who are they really best for and do they live up to the hype? This type of card is invaluable to keep with all your derwent pencils. Watercolour pencils tend to become much stronger on the paper when wet with water, so this guide will help you spot areas and colours to take care with. I love to use these in my animal portraits to help speed up the initial laydown of pigment, especially when working on a textured support. They are opaque but soft and my other ranges then glide beautifully over them when used as a base. You can also use them on their own but it is slightly more difficult to get fine details because of the width of the core. That is when I will turn to one of the other ranges. Derwent Lightfast