Colored Pencils, Watercolour, Water Color Pencils, Drawing, Art, Metal Tin, 12 Count (32881)

There are any number of books available with titles like "Watercolor Made Simple" purporting to teach the aspiring painter how to master this art in a few simple lessons or a few short weeks. These claims often collide with reality as the aspiring student comes to realize that only through much practice can techniques like wet on wet, drop in, or double loading one's brush become something attractive and useful. The two problems with watercolor are, of course, the water and the brush. For the beginner, the water seems to have a mind of its own. It goes where it pleases, which is often not where the aspiring artist wishes. The brush does not help matters, sensitive as it is to the amount water, the ratio or water to pigment, and countless other factors. Watercolor pencils overcome many of these problems, and Derwent makes some of the best watercolor pencils around. Naturally, brushes and water are still involved in the process, but the are put off until later in the proceedings. Now, the user can have precise control over where and how much color is applied. Indeed, the user has the option of applying no water at all, using these as colored pencils for portions of the work. Or the user can use them directly with the brush, treating the pencil as a watercolor "pot." All of this flexibility makes this a marvelous medium to work with. For those coming over from colored pencil, these pencils do not have a rich, buttery feel one gets from Prismacolor. Instead, they are a bit on the chalky side and throw off considerably more dust than their non-watercolor cousins. Still, used dry, the color intensity is comparable to Derwent's Studio line, meaning they are perfectly functional as colored pencils. They shine with the application of water--producing intense, translucent color. They can be used to produce a pure watercolor effect or as part of layering process along with regular colored pencils to produce something more like an oil painting. Used this way, the watercolor pencils play the role of providing base layers, which are then hydrated up to the point where finishing layers and burnishing are applied using conventional colored pencils. Gary Greene, a prominent colored pencil author, is a fan of this technique. These pencils are also a great companion with conventional watercolors as well. One technique I use is to rely on the watercolors for washes over large areas where control is not an issue and the premium is on smooth layering or gradation. I then turn to the watercolor pencils for more detailed areas where precise control is at a premium. The result are watercolor works vastly better than anything I could produce with paints alone. By way of (unfair) comparison, I've also used Faber-Castell's scholar line of watercolor pencils. The Derwents produced much more saturated color and fewer visible particles of pigment in a wash. The comparison is unfair because this is Derwent's artist line. On the other hand, it is vastly cheaper than Faber's artist line for the same product.

Great watercolor pencils with an excellent color range that is unique to Derwent, which I really like. I had no problem sharpening them with my Kum or Alvin/Dux hand sharpener. The wood did not split or break. The colors are beautiful and there is little color shift from wet to dry. The pigment dissolves easily and works best on smooth or hot pressed paper. It does not require you to scrub the paper to activate the watercolor paint. You may see a little pigment dust when laying down color, its best to blow it off the paper into a dish or the trash than swipe with your hand and smear it. Most pencils do this and it isn't a bad thing, it just is part of the personality of your art tool. If used on cold pressed paper with more tooth/texture be careful not to press into the paper with the pencil or the lines will not completely dissolve, which is great if that is the look you going for but not if you want a smooth color flow. According to Derwent most of these pencils have great lightfast ratings, but this is not noted on the pencils or the tin. There is no literature provided with the set, you have to look it up on their web sight or read the one posted here in Amazon. This is probably a personal preference, but I love that the name of the color is clearly printed on the pencils and they are in numeric order, also printed on the pencils, from 1 through 72. For me it makes it easy to do a color chart and then keep them in order for quick color selection. The pencil color paint d on the tip is pretty accurate. Overall this is a great value choice in the category of artist quality watercolor pencils. The color range, quality, and price, make them a comfortable buy and fun to use because you don't have to feel wasteful if you want to doodle with them. While they are not budget or cheap pencils, the price currently being charged is in my opinion a fair price for an artist grade tool.

What a wonderful set of watercolor pencils! I have been looking at many different brands because I specifically need these for redoing Barbie doll faces which requires a nice, high quality watercolor pencil that will stay sharp and allows the color to go on smoothly. I knew that they were going to work as soon as I opened the package. They are packed in a nice sturdy tin that will keep them together and you can store them in an art carrier, in a drawer or store them on a shelf without having to worry about any of the pencils getting lost or broken. For the dolls, I use the pencils with the tips moistened with water. The color flows nicely and is bright. It can be seen almost immediately which eliminates the need to go over the same area of the doll's face multiple times. Especially the bright white. I've had trouble in the past with getting a nice, clean fill in with the white but with these pencils, it's extremely easy. Now I will finally be able to finish the dolls that I started! If you redo Barbie or any other doll, look no further because this set of watercolor pencils is exactly what you are looking for to give him/her that new face that you have in your imagination. Next I will try using them for drawing on paper but I really do not forsee any issues with these pencils. I absolutely LOVE them!

Much more control using these pencils with my watercolour brushes than using the paints, nice colours as well

Purched at 50% discount. Pakage was slightly damaged so are the pencils. But not much as they are water soluble even broken core can be used . Pencils are not best quality but lighfast. Plz use nice sharpener if you buy these. Layers well. Can be used as dry media. Nice colour range. Loved the tin. I repurposed the tin as my Watercolor palette though. Was happy with my purchase

We kennen het aangekochte product en zijn er tevreden over. Goede prijs.

Great range of colours, soft and plenty of pigment. Enjoying making art with these a lot!

Tolle Farbpalette und klasse zum malen