Derwent Chromaflow Pencils, Set of 72 in Tin, 3.5mm Round Core, Premium Core Strength, Blendable with Smooth Texture, Ideal for Drawing, Colouring & Layering, Professional Quality, 2306014

Product Information

Derwent seem to be standardising on sets of 72 colours which will enable them to market pencils in standard sized tins and boxes. For the serious artist, this may reduce the colour choice if the older lines are totally withdrawn, as the main competitors are selling sets up to 120 colours in the range. Accessories to consider

Derwent Chromaflow Pencil Tins | Ken Bromley Art Supplies

Blend, layer and shade easier with Derwent Chromaflow Pencils. They have been formulated with rich pigments to deliver a bold, vibrant laydown As the Chromaflow is a new product and still not available in certain countries, with regards the lightfast information I went straight to the amazing individual I talk to from Derwent about products, I say amazing due to the fact anything I ask for regarding details of products, accurate information is always supplied which is such a refreshing thing for a reviewer.The pencils in both these and the Studio's (below) were designed many years ago and there are a larger than average number with low lightfastness(LF). They are good pencils, though, and a lot of professional artists still rely on them. You do need to use a fair bit of pressure to get the pigment onto the paper.

Derwent Chromaflow Pencils, Set of 72 in Tin, 3.5mm Round

The relative softness of the core enables strong laydown of colour but there is a need to be careful as over sharpening the point will cause it to easily crumble which is wasteful. They are a good option if you work with bright or strong colours. A number of professional artists like them for underpainting the paper before adding dry colour. It speeds up the painting process a great deal. There is quite a major step up in colour strength when wet, and you need to know what the effect of water is going to be before you set out on a picture. The colour range in the 72 Procolour pencils is slightly different from Coloursoft so a combination of the two lines will give over a hundred unique colours.I love to use these in my animal portraits to help speed up the initial laydown of pigment, especially when working on a textured support. They are opaque but soft and my other ranges then glide beautifully over them when used as a base. You can also use them on their own but it is slightly more difficult to get fine details because of the width of the core. That is when I will turn to one of the other ranges. Derwent Lightfast Derwent Chromaflow pencils provide artists with an affordable professional quality product which is easy to layer and blend thanks to the richly pigmented smooth texture, providing a velvety laydown. These are water soluble pencils which erase as a dry medium, but once water is applied they are permanent on the paper. Next I completed a series of tests, layering, the use of odourless mineral spirits and blending. First, with the layering test. I complete this test all the time, holding the pencil at the very end of the barrel and allowing the weight of the pencil to layer, this test helps to shoe pigment strength and the pencils ability to layer. Derwent Chromaflow Colored Pencils Tin, Set of 72, Great for Holiday Gifts, 4mm Wide Core, Multicolor, Smooth Texture, Art Supplies for Drawing, Blending, Sketching, Professional Quality (2306014)

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The photo above is of the broken tip of the pencil after using a normal-moderate amount of pressure to colour out this swatch. This was my first pencil-to-paper experience and the tip promptly broke. My later usage of the product for my demo drawing was better but I did have sizable chunks of leads break 3 more times including on this same pencil. The alternative, if you have a full set of Coloursoft, is to remove the few low lightfast colours from the Coloursoft set and amalgamate all the good lightfast colours (118 at my count) to make one excellent set. A long standing range in the company's collection, with some good colours for portraits and animal studies. I find them ideal for animal whiskers over the top of a drawing done in other coloured pencils. An artist who took the watercolour pencils to Tunisia, with temperatures of 30 degrees, found that they were inclined to soften and break easily. This could be a problem with many of the softer brands. Therefore, you might like to consider keeping the pencils in a coolbag in hot weather to reduce this issue. Grab a bargain!

For a new pencil line promoted for professional artists, I think that it is a shame that the opportunity was not taken to follow the example of other manufacturers and go for higher lightfast levels. I suggest that anyone using these seriously would be advised to mark the lower LF numbers on the pencils with clear labeling as I have done in the photo above. The Earth colours are totally light stable but there are a few in the light shades (e.g. Pink), where you will need to be cautious over the risk of fading. Where I think this product would benefit someone new to coloured pencil is as a practice pencil. I also think that given the nature of the breakage I experienced I would caution anyone who wanted to use these for a larger drawing as you won’t be able to replace used-up pencils without purchasing a whole new set. I suggest you do your own chart showing the colours both in their dry state and also after wetting. The darker colours come up very strong and only show differences when well diluted. I strongly advise that the first time you use them, you test the pencils and paper out first, and keep your pigment strength low on the paper until you are used to them. They probably have the highest colour strength of any aquarelle pencils. The Procolour pencils will take a very fine point in a power sharpener and there is little or no sign of crumbling from the needle sharp tip when used.