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I’ve currently got a set of Derwent coloursoft pencils, and they are great. They seem to work really well laying down colour quickly and the pigmentation is lovely. The are really really soft though, and go blunt very quickly, especially now I’m trying out a medium grain paper (and that’s something else I’m not sure on yet, smooth, fine or medium? Going to try fine grain next!). I’m constantly sharpening and this also means that I’m missing detail as well.
So I’m thinking of combining these with a harder set, us the coloursoft to put in shape and colour, then switch to the hard ones to add detail.
For this I’m thinking of the Derwent Artists set.
Question, would this work? Would it be better to stick within Derwent or go elsewhere for this? Or do I just need to sharpen my current pencils more often!
Hi Honesty
Yes, Coloursoft are very soft, so they do get eaten up quickly by sharpening. I think you’ll definitely enjoy having an additional not-so-soft set to use for finer detail.
I would not recommend Derwent Artist’s though, and I don’t think many others on here would either. They are VERY hard (the hardest range on the market) and quite difficult to work with. There are much better options in the same price range.
It depends on your style and technique and your personal preference on ‘feel’ but a very safe bet for a good quality, medium-hard pencil (which will hold a point) is Faber Castell Polychromos. They have a nice balanced range of colours, are excellent quality, easy to use, and sharpen/hold a point very well. They are a very popular choice among coloured pencil users, for these reasons.
I have many different pencil ranges (including all the ones mentioned in this post), and if I had to keep just one set, it would be FC Polychromos.
Other top-brand similar options: Caran D’Ache Pablo (which are more opaque then Polychromos), or (if you really want to stick with Derwent) Derwent Procolour (also more opaque, slightly easier to use than Artist’s, but very similar). I really would recommend the Polychromos above either of these though. They work well with all the other pencil brands I’ve tried with them.
I’m sure others will have different opinions, but I hope this is helpful!
F-C Polychromos would be my first choice too but if you like bright colours and extra-warm browns Caran d’Ache Pablo would be a good choice.
HeikkiHonesty — I really like Derwent Artist watercolor though I mostly use them dry. And yes they are harder.
I’ve always mixed brands — because I wanted a certain color .
I am now slowly acquiring Pablos after buying the 18 pencil set. I like them very much.
Learn as if you were going to live forever. - GhandiDerwent actually has a “classic” trio with identical colours: non-soluble and fairly thick Artists, non-soluble and thin Studio and water-soluble Watercolour. The Watercolour range was renovated some years ago and in my opinion it’s now better than Artists and Studio – the lead is softer and the pencils can very well be used dry.
This colour chart is made by an actual user and it’s fairly accurate.
Heikki
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