Derwent Lightfast Pencils Review - all 100 of them! Swatching in Book & Drawing on Lightfast Paper.

[@grahamekellermeier8280]

Bought a set of 100 lightfast pencils last week nice pencil to use.

[@BeckyTregear]

I'm glad you're enjoying them! 😊

[@Bassbarbie]

They do 100 in a tin now 😊 Useful video, thank you!

[@BeckyTregear]

And don't I wish I had all of my pencils in a single tin! 😂

[@Hardrock1a]

I am sure you have probably already heard about a product for archival white highlights from the company Brush and Pencil, it’s a titanium white powder that is mixed with the touch up texture product and then painted on. Can put completely archival highlights in where you want when you’re close to being finished.

[@BeckyTregear]

Yes....I have the touch up stuff somewhere but I couldn't quite figure it out and so I tend to use oil based white paint pens these days for highlights, lol.

[@christinareaves5890]

Loved your comment on the flesh tone 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you 😄

[@izabellan9706]

Hi Becky, I love how your drawing has turned out. It is absolutely beautiful! Thank you for the review of Derwent Lightfast pencils. It helped me decide whether I should get them or not. 😄

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you so much, and I'm glad it helped! 😊❤️

[@eileenvalachovic9435]

Becky, WOW. Loved the picture. If I did colored pencil work, I would so get the color swatch book. Thank you for another enjoyable video.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you so much! I wish there was a watercolour swatch book for all the brands like this one! ❤️

[@eileenvalachovic9435]

Me, too.

[@eileenvalachovic9435]

Coloring Bliss has interesting swatch sheet/books available on their shop. They have options for paper type including watercolor. When I get a chance will look into this more for me. Still not as unique or fun as your book.

[@BeckyTregear]

@@eileenvalachovic9435 thanks, I'll check them out!

[@jilkat25]

Bet I know why you have 2 whites! So do I! It's because, I bought a single Derwent Lightfast white by itself after hearing it was one the most opaque white pencils available! That was long before I got the big set for Christmas. Love these! And I love Jesse Lane who did the eye artwork on the box! (And his wife did the artwork on the Derwent Chromaflow tins (the macaw and the lioness!) Love your videos!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you - it definitely is a useful white! The first Lightfast pencil I ever got was Violet because the local art shop was giving out free samples of them. 😂

[@pennypop408]

Lovely Becky. I also purchased some Derwent Lightfast pencils, I cherry picked the ones that I thought would compliment my other stash. I didn't know about the free pencil tins I dont like the eyeball on the Derwent tin. Its nice art but I just wouldn't like an eye looking at me when I open the tin lol. I would like a different Derwent tin though to house my pencils in instead of a cup. Thanks again great review.

[@BeckyTregear]

Haha I totally get how creepy the eyeball is! 🤣 I picked up an extra Coloursoft tin the last time I was there; that design is a lot less freaky, lol. I hope you enjoy your pencils 😊

[@CazkiwiNZ]

I just watched a cute video on how to put polymer clay on a tin.... might be a good way to dress up the creepy tins! kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqvFm6ClhpWai7s

[@justindwyerartistry]

Very nice work Becky! I admired this drawing greatly on Instagram the other day when I saw it. You have got a lot out of these pencils and they seem to perform well.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! They have definitely become some of my absolute favourite coloured pencils and they are most excellent to use. Worth their expensive price, lol.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

There's just something really satisfying about watching a colored pencil piece come together. Love it! I think that was a perfectly acceptable (and necessary!) thing to break your Frugal February for - sharpening by hand is zero fun. I LOVE these pencils. Well, I love watching other people use them, that is. I don't actually own any. Lol.

[@BeckyTregear]

It is definitely a commitment doing anything with coloured pencils, lol! But if you are looking to get a set, these would definitely be serious contenders. My wrist is much better now for using the new sharpener, lol!

[@spiritsjoy]

Miranda if you think you may want them, now is the time. The full 100 wood box set is $235 at the moment on Blick which is 2.35 instead of the 4.10 listed with a "free" wood box. Plus they are on backorder till May(my birthday month), so there is lot of time to change your mind but still lock in the price without the permanent charge.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

@@spiritsjoy I saw that. Unfortunately, I'm on a buying freeze at the moment. Darn it.

[@NinaQueena]

Dear Becky, i really love your art and your chanel ❤ How do you like the Lightfasts arfter you used them longer? Are they your favorits now, or maybe the absolute opposite?😅

[@BeckyTregear]

They're definitely up there with the best pencils I have; I think they share equal position with Caran d'Ache Luminance, and the two sets work really well together, making a mega 200 pencil set because the colours are all different to each other! 😆

[@NinaQueena]

@@BeckyTregear thank you so much for your honest answer! And have you ever had any experience with the second colored pencil brand from caran d'ache? The so called PABLOS? And if yes, play they in the same league like the Luminance? (Cause I discovered this Pablos have a very nice looking 120 set- but nobody I personally know has ever had any experience with them, so I dont know if they are Worth the money 🤷🏼‍♀️😩)

[@Finkeldinken]

Ha ha, you’re fine! That’s definitely the Nyhavn area of Copenhagen you’re painting so nicely! :D The pencils look lovely!

[@BeckyTregear]

Phew! Thank you for confirming that. 😂. And yes they are very lovely pencils, I love them a lot!

[@Judith-H7]

Amazing pictures. I really like the derwent lightfast pencils, but I can't afford them. The pictures you make looks stunning 😍

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! They are indeed very expensive....I got them for a "reasonable" price off cult pens, as a birthday present for myself, but I think if you can find them as singles, then maybe get a few at a time (also to try) and build up from there. It took me a while to get the final 28.

[@Judith-H7]

@@BeckyTregear in Germany is still everything closed. And without an art shop, I can only buy them online at Amazon for about 8 Euro incl. Shipping or pencil. Or I habe to pay shipping from an bigger art store in Germany. So I have to wait until they can open. At the moment I've got 5 of the pencils.

[@BeckyTregear]

@@Judith-H7 Oh that's no fun at all! We had three straight months last year with no shops open so I feel your pain! 😢

[@Judith-H7]

@@BeckyTregear in Germany we had that from March 2020 until July. And from December until now and still closed. 😥

[@BeckyTregear]

@@Judith-H7 😭😭😭

[@xargothunter5746]

How often I have been pissed on the bars of Nyhavn when I was at Uni.... :D It is a cool place in the center of Copenhagen. You might sober up quickly if you fall off the side of the habor. :D Your drawing does it honnor. If you ever get to come to Denmark Id be happy to meet you there. Theese days I would more go for the ice cream though.

[@BeckyTregear]

LOL! I would love to visit Denmark. I am putting this on my bucket list. ❤️

[@xargothunter5746]

@@BeckyTregear there are even a couple of art supply stores within walking distance. ;)

[@BeckyTregear]

@@xargothunter5746 oh well I am definitely going now! 🤣

[@AlexisCassandraArt]

Ahh I loved this video Becky!💙 I’m such a pencil nerd that I could watch these types of vids all day. I definitely think the pencils have a good color range, I especially like the neutrals like those reddish browns and dark browns as well as the lighter skin tones. Of course we always wish for a Payne’s grey😂😭 the artwork turned out beautiful, I find it difficult to create scenery with colored pencil but you nailed it and it almost reminds me a little bit of a picture you might use for a cover image or something! If I saw a book with this as the cover I’d buy it😂 when I tried out a few of these pencils I was surprised how much I like the formula. Definitely more than prismacolors and maybe even more than the luminance? I love my luminance but I noticed some of them produce little “speckles” instead of a smooth lay down and one or two of my pencils are scratchy ahhh! I’m very excited for the inktense video as well!!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I think lately the Luminance have had some dodgy pencils come out because a couple of my newer ones ended up being scratchy too...aaagghh! So far so good with the Lightfast ones. I hope they keep the formula and don't mess with it, lol. I have far too many pencils, but I just love them so much!

[@Coloryourheartout]

Does the mineral spirits have any affect on lightfastness? Beautiful picture I would not have the patience for all those windows 🪟.

[@BeckyTregear]

I am not sure...I think mineral spirits just break down the binder but perhaps it would have an effect on different pigments? Tests would need to be done I guess. And thank you ☺️

[@brusheswithbec]

I've found that the Derwent Drawing pencils are wider than 8mm as well. They don't fit into my 8mm pencil extenders, but the base of the barrel with the pigment sample is definitely a little wider than the top. It looks like such a great set of pencils. I'm trying to decide if I can warrant the whole 100 (probably not, lol) or if I should be buying individuals to fill in colours gaps. I notice there's often a pale blue but there's never a really pale light green. Your piece looks really great, definitely a lot of work in those windows. Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I would love the wooden box set of 100, but it's just a wee bit out of my price range right now, haha! Maybe one day I'll end up getting it. But now since I already have them all, it's easy enough to get singles to replace the ones I use. Pity there isn't a tin to fit all 100 of them though! I've found with many Derwent pencils that they are just that little bit too big to fit into standard sized sharpener holes. Sigh!

[@brusheswithbec]

@@BeckyTregear yes the wooden boxes always come at a premium, and especially if you're someone who stores pencils another way it's not worth it.

[@brusheswithbec]

@@BeckyTregear One more question, because you can't get the 100 set in a tin. Is there a way to buy the 72 and then a tin of the additional 28 colours? Or do you need to buy the 72 and then the additional 28 individually?

[@BeckyTregear]

@@brusheswithbec a 72 tin and the rest as individuals....super annoying, right? But quite a few places sell the 28 as a bundle and I am not sure if they come loose or in some sort of container. I just bought mine individually and took a spare empty tin that was going free.

[@brusheswithbec]

@@BeckyTregear That is really annoying, seems they certainly know the value of them, lol. Good to know, thank you :)

[@scoiataeli]

I have actually bumped into an information that this Lightfast pencils does perform well on specific types of paper only. Unlike the Luminance that have some wax in them which makes them more universal to use. Does anyone has experience with it? I wanted to buy the Lighfast pencils as a gift (they are much more affordable than Luminance at my location) but if they can’t be used on any standard surface than I think I will pass. Especially, as the person I want to gift them to does colouring books, so buying a “special” paper is not an option here.

[@BeckyTregear]

I've found the Lightfast pencils work almost identically to the Luminance, and they can be used on pretty much any paper that works well with coloured pencils. Even printer paper! I don't think you will have any issues with these. Granted, they do work spectacularly well on the Lightfast paper, but that is definitely not a requirement for these pencils. 😆

[@fuzzydragons]

I want a set if these so bad, but I have way too many other pencils to justify getting any more lol

[@BeckyTregear]

Haha I know that feeling! I have more art supplies than I can use at the moment. 😱

[@kmeldrom9362]

Hi! This was a really great video. I’m mostly a watercolor and acrylic, collage, mixed media artist/dreamer and was wondering about your opinion between the these and the Prismacolor Polychromos as the only set of pencils I would buy? Thanks so much! Make more videos!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you so much! I am a bit of a pencil addict so it is hard to pick one brand, lol. The Lightfast are beautiful but very expensive. Prismacolor pencils are softer again, come in a set of 150 and are cheaper. They're also really lovely to use, but their leads have a habit of breaking a lot which drives me nuts. Polychromos are a firmer pencil than the other two but come in 120 colours and are somewhere in between on price. The pencils are smooth and highly pigmented. I think the Polychromos would be the set to go for. I did a review a few videos back. Or you could buy a few singles from each brand and try them out to see which ones you like the best. 🙂

[@Llamanescent]

Apologies for chiming in, but I primarily do mixed media so I figured this might help. If you are using lightfast paints, I would stay clear of the prismacolors since so many of them are fugitive. Aside from that, it depends on what you want. Prismacolors are soft and pigmented, but tend to have wax bloom and breakage issues. Polychromos are the best for fine detail, but they are a much harder lead and a lot of people don't like that. Lightfast is between the two in hardness; they will not hold a point as well as polychromos, but do significantly better than the prismacolors. In general I feel like the lightfast works the best over paint, but it may be worth getting a few of each to see what works.

[@kmeldrom9362]

@@BeckyTregear thank you so much! Polychromos are coming my way ;-). To the next person who replied, thank you for your advice too and I’m going to get a few of each to compare. I really need soft cores ;-)

[@kmeldrom9362]

@@LlamanescentThank you for your advice and I’m going to get a few of each to compare. I really need soft cores ;-)

[@BeckyTregear]

@@kmeldrom9362 You might also want to try Caran d'Ache Luminance pencils. They are quite soft too, and are wax based but don't get the bloom that Prismas can.

[@ShhhArtOnline]

Thank you for reviewing this pencils. Are they a harder or softer lead?

[@Kyomiibrown]

They’re inbetween - not quite as hard as polys, but harder than Prismas. You can buy them open stock so I would suggest buying one or two to see if you like them.

[@BeckyTregear]

As Kyomii said, they're definitely mid-range between Polychromos and Prismacolor. They are softer than Derwent Procolour pencils if you have tried those.

[@leesanchez8432]

When dickblick.com had the Derwent lightfast pencils 50% off in Feb. 2021, I bought the set of 100. Lucky me, and others in the US who benefitted,from that sale. Among other special colors, the light aqua is really special. Thanks, Becky.

[@BeckyTregear]

Ohhh that would have been an awesome sale! 50% off? WOW! I think I got something like 10% off from Cult Pens, lol!

[@drawingpancakeartszaza6661]

I'm really hesitant about which paint to buy? I think Lıgtfast, intekse and watercolor, which one do you think is the best

[@BeckyTregear]

That's a difficult question, haha! I guess it depends on what you are looking for. Lightfast pencils are oil based and not soluble in water, so are more like a traditional coloured pencil. They are very beautiful and of the highest quality, plus all of them are lightfast. If you want water soluble pencils, then it's between the inktense and the watercolour. Inktense are much more saturated in colour, but the watercolour pencils have some very pretty colours too and I think they have more earthy tones overall. Inktense have an excellent range of purples. Both sets have lightfast and non-lightfast colours. One possibility is to purchase either small sets of twelve, or single pencils if you can find them, and try out a few of each to see which ones you like the best, and then build your collection from there. I hope that helps! If I were to rank them, it would be Lightfast as my favourite, then Inktense, then Watercolour. I haven't yet done a review on my watercolour set, so I must get onto that!

[@annprince5298]

I buy luminance caranndavhe open they are relatively reasonable in open stock Derwentbwill have to come down in price considerably before I purchase them.

[@colleenworth5074]

I have the full set of these pencils also although I haven’t used them much yet as I have been really into watercolor lately. I really want to try the paper now but I don’t think they are selling it in the US. I couldn’t find it anyway. Where did you get that lovely swatch book? I really enjoyed the video and your art was beautiful. I just recently subscribed to your channel so I will have to check out some of your other videos.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I go through phases with pencils and watercolours, and I'll probably do some more watercolour videos next month. Cult Pens UK does international shipping, and that's where I got the paper from this time. I totally forgot to link the Big Book of Color Charts! I have fixed that now and it is in the description. I think it's only on Amazon? If you go back to a video I did in January this year which was a book haul, I flipped through it in more detail there, and there is also a video by Colour with Claire where she went through it as well (which I linked in my book video).

[@colleenworth5074]

@@BeckyTregear Thank you, I will definitely check out those other videos.

[@lyndalseaton9777]

I just recieved a 36 in the pro colour to try out, I'm yet to do a colouring. Thanks again for an insight into a product, that we know in Australia is $$$. The only art store I've found in Perth do not carry these pencils at all, maybe my next order from jacksons UK, I'll try one or 2. Great reviews thoroughly enjoyed Hope your new lockdown has been ok. We had one week of lockdown, after 1 case of security guard at hotel quarantine. Two weeks of wearing masks and people here lost their minds..masks are off here now back to normal. I think we are spoilt.

[@BeckyTregear]

Oh nice! Have you tried The Art Shop? They post to anywhere in Australia and have all the pencils (with better prices than most other places in Aus). We came.out of lockdown on Thursday morning. Mostly back to normal but of course we still have masks. Those never went away so I don't really think about it any more, it just is. I think by comparison to everywhere else in Australia, Victoria is so much stricter. I take solace in art supplies. 😂 Hope you're well. Those bushfires looked really bad a few weeks ago!

[@lyndalseaton9777]

@@BeckyTregear I'll take a look at the artshop, of course postage to the west is what makes it add up especially if I get free or under $10 from UK. Yes the fires were pretty shocking. A work colleague from my husband's work lost his home, and a friend of mine got hot ash damage to her garden. We are some km away but you could see the smoke. I fully understand your solace is art supplies, I too have the same affliction. Yay for internet shopping. Take care

[@BeckyTregear]

@@lyndalseaton9777 Oh no, I'm so sorry about your colleague and friend! Fire is terrible 😫. Art Shop I think has $9.90 capped shipping so that is reasonable.

[@lyndalseaton9777]

@@BeckyTregear oh no, you have just started a shopping spree/ or a basket of things I'm dreaming of.Thanks for the tip.. my husband will be sad

[@BeckyTregear]

@@lyndalseaton9777 lol oops! 😂

[@leesanchez8432]

In the US, lightfast and luminance pencils are equally expensive, even Holbein are cheaper, and polychromos are half the price of the first two. Polychromos are the best in the world, in my opinion. Cheers.

[@BeckyTregear]

Holbein are pretty much impossible to get here, except for one set of 12 I found once! And yeah Lightfast and Luminance are pretty much equally expensive here too, lol. Gotta love Polychromos! Consistently awesome.

[@HarperSophia]

What sharpener do you use for these?

[@BeckyTregear]

Lately I've been using a Dahl 11.5mm hand crank sharpener. It's excellent and doesn't leave bite marks on the pencils, like other ones do. Saves a lot of wrist pain too.

[@HarperSophia]

⁠@@BeckyTregear omg thank you so much. I’ll check it out! I bought the tgall and it damaged the barrel of my pencil. I’ve been struggling to find an alternative pencil sharpener to my two hole/step Blackwing. It’s not giving my lightfasts a sharp point like I need. I was hoping to find something that gives a short sharp point and is handheld like the TGall, but alas it doesn’t exist yet.

[@HarperSophia]

@@BeckyTregearit was on sale! Just picked it up. Thanks again.

[@creategirl1]

I am from Copenhagen

[@BeckyTregear]

I hope my picture is accurate! 😂

[@creategirl1]

@@BeckyTregear It is

[@RamoArt]

I don't like the fact that they don't sell a set of 100. Derwent has done this in other pencil lines and it annoys me so much. Buying the colors I'm missing open stock is such a hassle because there's always some that aren't in stock, I end up with duplicates like you and then I don't know if I'm missing one. Not to mention the fact that buying sets is usually cheaper. Rant over.

[@BeckyTregear]

I hear that! It would be so great if they put the whole set in one big tin. The wooden box is so much more expensive! 😭

[@Judith-H7]

completely forgotten .... congratulations afterwards