DerwentArtists Colored Pencils, 4mm Core, Wooden Box, 120 Count (32098)

big appreciation for amazon offering a set of these with a damaged container/tin for a discount. i wouldn’t have purchased these otherwise – i already own a few sets of artists grade pencils. upon seeing the discount, i figured these would be great as a travel set, since the leads are more durable than prismacolor and i don’t want to carry around a set as expensive as my faber-castell polychromos. the price was right, so here i am. i stuck them in a more easily transportable case.now, every colored pencil type has its own characteristics. these are WAXY. depending on who you are and how you draw/color, this can either be a good or a bad thing. while the leads are hard, they’re still velvety smooth. the pigmentation is great. i can layer and layer with subtle layers, or i can go in hard for intense opaque coverage without concern over the leads breaking. i like that versatility. i feel like these pencils would pair well with dry pastel for mixed media work. good for detail work, with how well they sharpen to and maintain a point.as always, having the lightfastness information available through derwent is very helpful. this is one of the factors that sets these pencils apart from the cheaper stuff.i would not recommend these for beginners. novices, go for a set of prismacolor. they have an easier learning curve. professionals and students, however, will find aspects of these pencils to appreciate. they’re not bad at all – just not for everyone, with their texture.

For shade and drawing it super good I’m in love it calms me down when I’m pissed!!!!!

My new pencil set arrived yesterday and I am so delighted. The colors are fabulous and vibrant. I had a set of 72 4mm core from back in the 80's and the colors match these perfectly. I love the 48 new colors and think they are a perfect addition to the set. I do lots of portraits of people and animals and was so happy for the new addition of browns. I wish that Derwent still made their line of Studio Blocks colour sticks (they are like Prismacolors Art Stix), I bought 2 sets back years ago and still have all of the 2nd set, but I would love to have the 48 new colors in Colour Studio Blocks also. Anyway, I am so delighted with my new set and I am looking forward to bringing many animals and people to life in my drawings. And now that I am retired I made need to buy more sets in the future due to the fact that I will have many more hours to indulge in my favorite pass time. I also love that the colors are now written on each pencil. Thank you Derwent.

It is really a shame all the bad reviews these pencils are getting are probably from coloring enthusiasts. I tried using these in my coloring books and they are terrible at fine details, especially the lighter colors. The smooth paper just doesn't compliment these pencils. They work great on larger areas and shading. I am by no means an artist, but I own a mixed media sketch book that has thick coarse paper and like to doodle when the urge strikes. These pencils really are amazing on that paper!! The light colors that were just blah on the coloring book paper really took definition when applied to the coarser paper. The reason for only 4 stars is they are a bit dusty and find myself blowing the dust away as I am drawing or coloring. Also worth noting, these are a thicker barrelled pencil, like the inktense and coloursoft lines this company produces. They are also a very hard lead pencil.

Well for a start it, the wood packaging quality and the quality of the pencil is very good and recognized worldwide. My reservations apply to most parts of the existing color pencil sets: There are many shades of brown and green in the boxes including this one, which alone account for nearly 60% of the content of crayons. I know that earth tones are easier to obtain and widely used by the designers and painters of nature, but why so many? In only one remaining third are: yellows, oranges, reds, pinks and purples (which incidentally leave a little to be desired in this set - the collection of Coloursoft, the same brand, with 72 colors, has better set of these tones). It's just one caveat, but for those who like variety of colors and have exotic shades of purples, reds and roses, maybe this is not the cheapest option. Thank you.

I saw the reviews that the lead in these pencils was hard, but this is ridiculous. While most will work ok with moderate pressure, there were a few in the set that required pressing so hard that the paper was getting grooved. Sharpening to get past the hard section helped in some cases, but not always. Blending is nigh impossible, with muddy colors resulting when possible at all. There is little build up on the surface to facilitate blending.The finish of the pencils is poor. The wood used must be very open grained or wild grained. There were rough bumps on the surface of many pencils, making them unpleasant to hold over time. Splintering was common when sharpening.On the plus side, the color selections are classic and useful, though tending toward earth tones that led to the mentioned muddiness. Pencils are both numbered and named, making organization and remembering what was used easy. I wanted to like these, rather than resorting to a Chinese product, but... nope.

Somehow, despite my insane forest of pencils, the Derwent grove had a bare spot between the Coloursoft and Procolour, and the Watercolour and Inktense. It's a little weird to me that I've ignored the classic Derwent Artists for about 50 years. In my blind spot, I guess. Perhaps it's imagination, but pencils seem to feel like their nationality to me, like Polychromos, Lyra, and Ergosoft all have a German feel. Anyway, the Artists feel British, and I would say they are to Coloursoft as Verithin is to Prisma Premium, relatively speaking, and fit right into my forest. But I'm worried they may be counterfeit. Every other Derwent tin I have arrived dented, so I thought it was a coded trademark- "we r dent"

I really enjoyed working with these pencils. Hard core, it does produce some dust if you're heavy handed with your pencils. Also I wasn't thrilled with the pallet of reds in the 120 count set. Having said that the pencils were a joy to work with.

These pencils are so beautifully presented in the wood box. They have snug slots to hold each pencil individually so they don't get banged around. I'm not an artist but I like to have good quality colored pencils for adult coloring and these are lovely. They are not as soft and waxy as Prismacolor pencils, nor are they as pigmented and opaque as Polychromos, but they are still worthy of owning and very good quality. They have some great colors that are not available in other sets and for that reason alone, I will always keep a set.

Service was great but I don't like the pencils. I find them scratchy and hard and some have broken leads inside the wood casing. Although I loved the colours I would not recommend them.

Great coloured pencils. They complement my Faber Castell Polychromos perfectly.The only problem is finding a source for single pencils.

Beautiful pencils and the case is so perfect