Everything You Need to Know About Derwent Pastel Pencils
Introduction to Derwent Pastel Pencils
Derwent Pastel Pencils appeal to artists who want the look of soft pastels without the dust, smudging and unpredictability that come with loose sticks. They offer a familiar pencil format, which makes them far less intimidating for beginners and a practical option for anyone who prefers clean, controlled mark‑making. For more experienced artists, they provide a level of precision that traditional pastels simply can’t match.
This article answers the questions people most often ask when they’re deciding whether Derwent pastel pencils are right for them. It looks at how they behave, where they excel, where they have limitations, and how they compare with other popular pastel pencil ranges. The aim is to give you a balanced, realistic understanding of what these pencils offer you.
This article answers the questions people most often ask when they’re deciding whether Derwent pastel pencils are right for them. It looks at how they behave, where they excel, where they have limitations, and how they compare with other popular pastel pencil ranges. The aim is to give you a balanced, realistic understanding of what these pencils offer you.
Adding dark values to the fur of a Yorkshire Terrier on Clairfontaine Pastelmat surface - Art by John Graham
What Are Derwent Pastel Pencils?
Derwent Pastel Pencils contain a soft pastel core inside a wooden barrel. The core is made from finely milled pigment and a dry binder, which gives the pencils their velvety, matte finish. Unlike coloured pencils, which rely on wax or oil binders, pastel pencils release pigment freely with very little pressure. This makes them ideal for artists who want soft transitions, gentle shading and the ability to build colour gradually.
The wooden casing keeps your hands clean and allows for controlled, accurate marks. This is especially helpful for detailed subjects such as portraits, wildlife and botanical work, where pastel sticks can feel too bulky. The pencils behave like a bridge between coloured pencils and soft pastels, offering the blendability of one and the precision of the other.
The wooden casing keeps your hands clean and allows for controlled, accurate marks. This is especially helpful for detailed subjects such as portraits, wildlife and botanical work, where pastel sticks can feel too bulky. The pencils behave like a bridge between coloured pencils and soft pastels, offering the blendability of one and the precision of the other.
How Soft Are Derwent Pastel Pencils?
The texture of Derwent pastel pencils sits somewhere between a traditional coloured pencil and a soft pastel stick. They’re soft enough to blend smoothly, but firm enough to hold a point for a reasonable amount of time, which makes them practical for both detail and broader shading. This middle‑ground feel is one of the reasons they’re used across different subjects, from portraits to landscapes.
Their cores are slightly harder than some soft pastel brands, which means they don’t crumble as easily and can tolerate a bit more pressure. This gives you steadier control over layering and helps prevent the paper from filling too quickly. The trade‑off is that they don’t produce the same level of buttery softness or heavy pigment load you get from very soft pastels, so artists who prefer an ultra‑velvety finish may find them a little restrained. For most users, though, the balance between control, blendability and durability is what makes them a practical option.
Their cores are slightly harder than some soft pastel brands, which means they don’t crumble as easily and can tolerate a bit more pressure. This gives you steadier control over layering and helps prevent the paper from filling too quickly. The trade‑off is that they don’t produce the same level of buttery softness or heavy pigment load you get from very soft pastels, so artists who prefer an ultra‑velvety finish may find them a little restrained. For most users, though, the balance between control, blendability and durability is what makes them a practical option.
Can You Blend Derwent Pastel Pencils?
Yes, Derwent Pastel Pencils can be blended effectively, as their soft, powdery core allows for smooth color transitions, layering, and edge softening typical of pastel media. For these pastels, blending is a noted strength, though individual preferences vary based on technique and paper choice. Textured papers make the biggest difference. They hold the pigment in place, making it easier to build smooth gradients without disturbing what’s underneath.
What they do well
What they do well
- Gentle pressure gives soft transitions
- Layering colours on top of each other creates natural blends
- Work nicely with blending stumps, silicone shapers and soft brushes
- They won’t blend as effortlessly as very soft pastel pencils
- On smooth paper, the pigment has less grip, so blending can feel limited
- Heavy blending with fingers can lift earlier layers
Do Derwent Pastel Pencils Smudge?
Derwent pastel pencils do smudge, but not in the heavy, dusty way soft pastels do. The core is much firmer, so the pigment goes down in a more controlled layer and doesn’t release large amounts of loose dust. You can still disturb the surface if you brush against it, because the pigment is a dry pastel, but the marks stay put far more readily than traditional pastel. The higher binder content is simply what gives the core that firmer structure, making the pencils noticeably cleaner in use while still behaving like a pastel rather than a coloured pencil. How easily they smudge depends on the paper surface and how heavily the pigment has been applied.
Comparing Derwent With Popular Pastel Pencil Ranges
Derwent pastel pencils can be compared with two of the most widely used ranges: Stabilo CarbOthello and Faber‑Castell Pitt Pastels. CarbOthello pencils are softer and more powdery, with a stronger pigment laydown and quicker colour build‑up, though their cores wear down faster and can be more fragile. Pitt pencils are much harder, offering crisp detail and clean edges, but they produce lighter coverage and a noticeably drier feel on textured papers. Derwent falls in the middle in both softness and pigment strength, building colour more gradually than CarbOthello but offering a steadier point than Pitt. Whilst they are well‑known, they do not appear as often in top‑ranked or most‑searched pastel pencil lists, where CarbOthello, Pitt and Caran d’Ache typically dominate. Which brand suits an artist best depends entirely on their technique, pressure and preferred surface rather than any inherent hierarchy between the ranges.
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Colour Palette and Pigmentation
Derwent’s pastel pencil range consists of 72 colours, arranged to give a balanced spread of neutrals, earth tones, greys, portrait colours and stronger hues. The palette is designed to offer a practical working range and many of the colours lean towards naturalistic tones, which makes the range well suited to landscapes, wildlife and portrait work. The pigments are milled to give a soft, matte finish, and the colours sit comfortably within the traditional pastel family rather than mimicking the intensity of oil‑based or wax‑based pencils.
Are Derwent Pastel Pencils Lightfast?
Most colours in the range have strong lightfastness ratings, although a few are less stable. Lightfastness can also vary depending on how heavily the pigment is applied. Thicker layers tend to hold their colour better, while very light or dusty applications may shift sooner in bright conditions. If your artwork is intended for long‑term display, it is worth checking the official Derwent chart for individual ratings and choosing colours accordingly. This ensures your work remains vibrant and consistent over time.
What Papers Work Best with Derwent Pastel Pencils?
Pastel pencils need a surface with tooth so the pigment can grip. Smooth papers limit layering and cause the pigment to sit on the surface rather than bond with it. There are many papers sold specifically for pastel artists and textured pastel papers and sanded surfaces all work well, but each one offers a different experience.
Traditional textured papers like Canson Mi‑Teintes, Fabriano Tiziano and Hahnemühle Velour offer a softer feel and are often sold in pastel pads, which are handy for practice and smaller pieces. If you prefer a surface that holds more layers, sanded papers such as Clairefontaine Pastelmat, UART, Fisher 400 or Art Spectrum Colourfix give a stronger grip and change how the pencils release colour. Pastelmat is one of the most popular choices because it holds pigment firmly without producing much dust. It allows for multiple layers and blends smoothly without the need for heavy pressure.
Each surface behaves differently, so it’s worth testing a few, whether from a pastel pad or a sanded sheet, to see which one matches the way you like to build colour and detail. Choosing the right paper has a significant impact on how the pencils behave. A good surface allows you to build colour gradually, blend cleanly and achieve the level of detail you want without fighting the texture.
Traditional textured papers like Canson Mi‑Teintes, Fabriano Tiziano and Hahnemühle Velour offer a softer feel and are often sold in pastel pads, which are handy for practice and smaller pieces. If you prefer a surface that holds more layers, sanded papers such as Clairefontaine Pastelmat, UART, Fisher 400 or Art Spectrum Colourfix give a stronger grip and change how the pencils release colour. Pastelmat is one of the most popular choices because it holds pigment firmly without producing much dust. It allows for multiple layers and blends smoothly without the need for heavy pressure.
Each surface behaves differently, so it’s worth testing a few, whether from a pastel pad or a sanded sheet, to see which one matches the way you like to build colour and detail. Choosing the right paper has a significant impact on how the pencils behave. A good surface allows you to build colour gradually, blend cleanly and achieve the level of detail you want without fighting the texture.
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The History of the Derwent Pastel Pencil
Derwent released their first pastel pencils in 1994, launching a 90‑colour range that marked the company’s entry into dry pastel media. This was the first time Derwent had produced a pastel pencil, expanding beyond graphite and coloured pencils to meet growing demand for a cleaner, more controlled alternative to soft pastel. Pastel pencils offered the ability to create detailed work without the heavy dust associated with traditional pastels, making them an attractive addition to Derwent’s portfolio at a time when fine‑detail portrait and wildlife art was becoming increasingly popular.
The range was developed while Derwent was operating under The Cumberland Pencil Company, which had been acquired by the American firm ACCO in 1980. After ACCO merged with the British company Rexel in 1992, Derwent continued under the combined structure, and the early pastel pencils reflected the design conventions of that period. The first version featured a plain barrel with a coloured end cap. As the range evolved, the design was updated: the pink band at the end of the pencil was replaced with a silver one, and the numbering system was revised. To avoid confusion with the Coloursoft coloured pencil range, which has a similar coloured barrel, but darker, they were given a C prefix, whilst the pastel pencils were given a P before their number codes. These changes created a clearer visual identity and aligned the pastel pencils with Derwent’s updated branding while maintaining continuity with the original 1994 release.
The range was developed while Derwent was operating under The Cumberland Pencil Company, which had been acquired by the American firm ACCO in 1980. After ACCO merged with the British company Rexel in 1992, Derwent continued under the combined structure, and the early pastel pencils reflected the design conventions of that period. The first version featured a plain barrel with a coloured end cap. As the range evolved, the design was updated: the pink band at the end of the pencil was replaced with a silver one, and the numbering system was revised. To avoid confusion with the Coloursoft coloured pencil range, which has a similar coloured barrel, but darker, they were given a C prefix, whilst the pastel pencils were given a P before their number codes. These changes created a clearer visual identity and aligned the pastel pencils with Derwent’s updated branding while maintaining continuity with the original 1994 release.
How the Derwent Pastel Palette Was Restructured
Derwent overhauled the pastel pencil range in 2002, replacing the original 90‑colour palette with a new selection of 72 colours. The earlier range used the Cumberland Pencil Company’s permanence code, where each shade was labelled with a number followed by F, B or D to indicate its lightfastness category: F for fugitive, B for better stability and D for durable. When Derwent updated the pigments to improve permanence, a number of colours could not be reformulated to meet the newer standards. These shades were removed, along with colours that relied on pigments becoming difficult to source or maintain consistently. Some colours from the original range do appear in the new palette, but several may have been renamed or reformulated, so the exact overlap between the two sets is not entirely straightforward.
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The update also allowed Derwent to streamline the range by removing duplicates and merging hues that were too similar in value or temperature. The original 90‑colour selection contained several near‑identical shades and others that behaved unpredictably due to weaker pigments. The revised 72‑colour palette was rebuilt around more stable materials, clearer tonal steps and improved lightfastness, resulting in a smaller but more coherent and reliable range. The modern palette is not a minor adjustment; it is a substantial restructuring that replaced a large portion of the original colours with new, more dependable formulations. Both the old and new colour charts are included so the differences can be compared directly.
Conclusions
Derwent pastel pencils offer a steady, predictable way to work with pastel colour, and their firmer feel makes them easy to control whether you’re sketching, shaping or adding detail. They don’t behave like soft pastels and they’re not meant to, but they slot naturally into mixed pastel work and suit anyone who prefers a slower, more deliberate approach to building colour. Once you understand how their pressure, layering and blending respond, they become a reliable tool for both early practice and more refined pieces, fitting comfortably alongside whatever other pastel materials you already use.
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Derwent pastel pencils do not contain animal‑derived ingredients, and this applies to both the pigment core and the binder used to form the pastel. The formulation avoids materials such as animal fats, glues or waxes, which are sometimes present in other art supplies. This means the entire pastel component is produced without relying on animal‑based substances at any stage. The wooden barrel is made using FSC‑certified wood, confirming that the timber is sourced from responsibly managed forests rather than unregulated suppliers. |
Article written: January 2026
