Derwent Coloursoft 72 set (and 1st drawing) - WetCanvas: Online Living for Artists

This topic has 16 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 10 months ago by Davkin.

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April 28, 2016 at 7:13 am #994036
XpP
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I’ve been wanting to add a wax based colored pencil set in my toolkit for some time now. So I finally got a Derwent Coloursoft 72 set.
April 28, 2016 at 7:14 am #1250653
XpP
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First I’ve made a table of Color Swatches for the pencils. It shows how a pencil actually works under burnishing, normal use and gradation. It also contains information about Lightfastness, the color name and number the manufacturer gave them.

Next step was to put them to the test. Of course, it’s not the wisest thing in the world when you want to test a new art material to try it on a subject you haven’t drawn before. But that’s what I did :-). I’ve never drawn soft backgrounds with colored pencils before. As it turned out, I got two birds with one stone. I’ve learned how Coulorsoft pencils behave and I’ve learned how to do soft backgrounds in the process. Also the paper I used was quite grainy but that’s OK since it’s a test drawing.
April 28, 2016 at 7:14 am #1250652
XpP
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And here it is. My first drawing using only Derwent Coloursoft.
April 28, 2016 at 7:53 am #1250663
SNash676
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Wow!

Very nice. You seem to have mastered them very quickly. Nice darks there and good detail.

Susan Nash
April 28, 2016 at 7:59 am #1250658
Pingpongfan
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The bird looks very vibrant. It really stands out against the muted background. A successful first experiment with your new pencils. I’m looking forward to the next one.
Vena
April 28, 2016 at 10:41 pm #1250659
Ambergris
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I like using them with the Derwent Drawing to extend the muted colors. You must have a fine touch, to do so well with such soft pencils.
April 30, 2016 at 12:41 am #1250651
Jaxhil
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Wow, this looks really great!
April 30, 2016 at 2:34 am #1250654
XpP
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Thank you everyone!

[COLOR=Lime]I like using them with the Derwent Drawing to extend the muted colors[/COLOR]. [COLOR=Red]You must have a fine touch, to do so well with such soft pencils[/COLOR].

>They have some very vivid colors in their range. They must provide at least two tints and two shades of their strong colors. One on 60% and one on 30% of the saturation of the pure color would be nice to have (as long as they could be lightfast).[/COLOR]
>Being such soft pencils, they kinda force you to be light-handed.
April 30, 2016 at 3:05 am #1250660
Minerva C
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I like the look of them and have the set of 72, but find them difficult to use. They crumble when drawing and break when sharpening. Or it seems that thery are already broken. I do use a light hand.

C

"It is only when we are no longer fearful that we begin to create."
J.M.W. Turner
April 30, 2016 at 3:08 am #1250661
Minerva C
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Your bird is amazing!

C

"It is only when we are no longer fearful that we begin to create."
J.M.W. Turner
April 30, 2016 at 5:53 am #1250655
XpP
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I like the look of them and have the set of 72, but find them difficult to use. They crumble when drawing and break when sharpening. Or it seems that thery are already broken. I do use a light hand.

I am so sorry to hear that. I had no trouble sharpening them to a needle point tip. And I use a cheap metal handheld sharpener. Of course at this state I barely touch the paper or it will brake (just a little thought). I sharpen them to this extreme only when I have to fill a crevice that can not be filled with a blunter point. I haven’t seen any crumbling mainly because I used a very, very light hand. Their wood casings though seemed a little less dense than the Polycrhomos ones. Even though they are not bad (as in cheap), I would have liked them to be like the Polychromos wood.
May 1, 2016 at 12:29 pm #1250657
paulalee
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very nice. gorgeous colors. I think you and the derwents are going to have a wonderful relationship.

Paula
I'm not bad, I was just drawn that way.
May 2, 2016 at 3:36 pm #1250648
ladypainter
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This is lovely work. I love the Coloursoft . I also use Polychromos as well but cant spray varnish if work done on canvas as it will dissolve colors I have read anyway..

Elinor:wave:
"keep your own time tickin"
May 2, 2016 at 3:55 pm #1250662
AncientMelody
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Incredible work!
June 15, 2016 at 3:00 pm #1250649
HarvestMoon
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I have been thinking I need to give my Coloursofts another shot. I have had a heavy hand, trying to rectify that. I also had problems with them breaking and crumbling, and disappearing in the sharpener. I also wiped many layers off the paper once by brushing them with my hand. But you have done a really beautiful job with them. Your little bird has such charm and personality!

I love your color chart. I have made a lot of them, and last weekend came up with a new template, but I like the fact that you added a section for burnished. I usually do light, medium, dark with the pencil, and the same plus dry vs wet for watersoluble ones. I even added pigment info just in case I get that someday. So I will have to change my template! I need to redo my color charts.

Love the beautiful wooden box you put them in too! Derwent makes some very affordable wooden sets, and it finally dawned on me yesterday I could remove things like the sketch pencils and such, to house the ones I like the best, like the Derwent Drawing pencils.

Harvest Moon 🐐
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