Derwent Pastel Pencils

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Wooden box with all 72 colours

​Colours Available: 72
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Sets Available:
Open stock (Individually)
​Blister pack of 6, Tin of 12, Tin of 12 skintones, 24, 36 & 72 
Wooden Box of 48 & 72

Costs: RRP £2.00 Each (Ave)

Features

• Rounded palette of 72 full strength colours and natural tints
• The vast range of colours available allow artists to layer colours on top of each other in order to create new tints and hues.
• Can be easily mixed and blended.
• Suitable for all types of pastel work.
• Ideal for creating crisp, fine lines and detailed pastel studies.

Derwent Pastels in art

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In his pastel work, Artist John Graham used them alongside other brands like Stabilo CarbOthello and PITT. The pigment strength varied in the older Derwent pencils, offering a broader palette of muted colours not found in other pastel pencil ranges. John still has an extensive collection of old colours, although he no longer has the time to create art. John used pastel blocks like Unison to create the base layers before using Derwent's pastel pencils to create fine details. He would use a Stanley knife to shape his pencils and get an excellent, straight-edge, handy-for-very-short-haired subject like the Bull Terrier below.

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The history of the Derwent pastel pencil

Derwent expanded their product line in 1994 by introducing pastel pencils in 90 different shades, each identified by a unique number followed by F, B, or D. The original design of the Derwent pencil, depicted below, was eventually obtained by American company ACCO after their acquisition of The Cumberland Pencil Company, which included Derwent, in 1980. Following ACCO's merger with British company Rexel in 1992, the latter became a brand in the product range. The pencil's design was later updated to include a pink band around the top.

In 2010, the pencils underwent a complete rebranding process which included a new colour palette and unique product numbers for each pencil. The coloured band on the pencil was changed from pink to silver. To avoid any confusion with the Coloursoft coloured pencil range, the pencils were given a 'P' before their number codes. The Coloursoft pencils can be distinguished by their darker barrel and are identified by a 'C' followed by their respective number.

Apparently the new pastel pencils are a bit smoother in application than the old range. From personal experience, the earlier pencils were quite scratchy in application, we also found that the pigments were quite neutral in comparison to the vibrancy of the PITT pastel or Stabilo CarbOthello pastel pencils. However many people liked the old palette and miss lots of the pigments rarely found in most other pastel pencils. 

Old colour chart

Tonal grades

Upon examining the previous color chart, it becomes evident that each color was accompanied by two complementary shades. The color name was then succeeded by an initial - either F, D, or B. Regrettably, we were unable to ascertain the exact significance of these letters. Nevertheless, we posit that D was indicative of the pure color, F signified a lighter variation of said pure color, and B denoted a darker counterpart.​

Some of those colour 'sets' can be seen below.

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A set of the original 72 colours in a wooden box set

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ADVANTAGES
* Highly pigmented
* Layers and blends well with minimal dusting
* Naturally water soluble - can be used with water to create light washes
* Erasable
* 87% Lightfast - colours remain the same for 100 years under museum conditions
​* Vegan friendly

DISADVANTAGES
* Lightfast ratings are quite poor for some of the colours

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Products available

The Colour Chart

Ratings of 6 and upwards are considered to be lightfast.

Protecting your pastel work

The 'Blue Wool' lightfast rating of these pencils varies depending on the colour. The pink and purple shades have the lowest rating, while the earthy tones boast the highest. If you choose to use the lower-rated pencils, it's crucial to safeguard your artwork by framing it with UV or museum-grade glass. Conversely, if you intend to make prints of your masterpiece, lightfastness is less of a concern. You can preserve your work by covering it with a sheet of glassine paper and storing it in an art-protecting wallet.

SAFETY WITH PASTELS

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Pastels create dust, which can be dangerous to health over a period of time. For protection, ensure you are in a well ventilated area when using Pastels. You may prefer to wear a face mask to avoid breathing in the dust and/or purchase an air purifier. If you have any breathing problems such as asthma, pastels may not be the medium for you, or you could opt to work with pastel pencils which creates far less dust.