HONEST REVIEW Derwent Lightfast Pencils (100 Wood Box Set)

hey guys! todays video is on the Derwent lightfast colored pencils. a full and comprehensive review. and of course and honest review of the derwent lightfast colored pencils . we will take a look at the color selection as well as some swatches . i do deep dives on products and i want to pass along as much info as possible to you. we will take a look at lightfastness , how the blend , the texture as well as how the compare to other colored pecnils. enjoy . dont forget to check out my unboxing video for even more info and if your interested check out my FULL review of the polychromos pencils by faber castell
Faber Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil Review | Polychromos Colored Pencils
• Faber Castell Polychro...
Derwent LIGHTFAST Unboxing ! First Impressions ( 100 wood box set HAUL )
• Derwent LIGHTFAST Unbo...
REVIEW Brush & Pencil Colored Pencil Products
• REVIEW Brush & Pencil ...
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[@Cascada200]

I been using Luminance and Derwent LF for years. I use them together, but Luminance are my favorite when it comes to blending and burnishing. Derwent Lightfast can feel “sticky” when many layers are overlapped, but Luminance helps fix it for me. The color selection is limited though on Derwent, aside from a few favorites like Heather, Light Aqua and Nightshade. I have experienced Wax Bloom when I use Derwent alone, but never with Luminance. Using Luminance to burnish final layers of Derwent LF removes the chance of wax bloom or that fog from my experience. Overall, my top 2 brand of pencils I always use in my professional pieces. Clients have had 0 complaints. I know I can trust the Lightfast ratings without a doubt. Also, the paper I use is Derwent Lightfast Paper, Fabriano Artistico Hotpressed, and Strathmore 500 Velum.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Wonderful tips and helpful information! I am going to pin your comment so others can profit from the benefit of your experience! I will try burnishing in with my lumi over lightfast. Like you I prefer the luminance but there are a few rare colors in lightfast line I love. Have you any experience with the wax blenders that came in my set of luminance? I have been enjoying them so far but any information you might have to share would be appreciated. I can't find much about them online. Will they help with the wax bloom if I go over the lightfast pencils with them? Thanks in advance😊

[@Cascada200]

@@nicolemartinart5819 I haven't tested the Luminance blender over Derwent LF to see, if that would work, that is something yet to try. As it is, I don't use colorless blenders, But I seen some very good colored pencil artist have success with Luminance Blender. I hope you are able to get success, it took me some trial and error, but once I found a technique that worked, it has been working well for me.

[@tabbi888]

I just received mine and absolutely hated the feel of them, definitely what I'd call sticky, with streakiness and clumping in heavy applications. I will probably never use them I hate them so much they can look patchy and uneven, horrible.

[@argento1111]

I have the full set of DW Lightfast since around 10 days now and i know exactly what you mean with that “steakiness” with heavy layers… right now i have some mixed feelings agaist them, probably because I am so used to the polychromos and i have to take more time to make a final judgement..

[@Cascada200]

@@argento1111 definitely experiment with them more and you will learn to use them with others. I love them

[@melmarz4664]

Thanks for your honesty, personally the Lyra rembrandt polycolor are far superior in lay down over the derwent light fast, yes lyra isn't 100 lightfast but that's OK in my book.

[@AncientNovelist]

Nicole, while 'oxidization' (five syllables: Ok-si-diz-AY-shun) is a word, it's not preferred. I've been a professional chemist (pharmaceutical R&D) since 1976 but I didn't hear the word until I began dabbling in graphite and colored pencil. The preferred term is Oxidation (four syllables: Ok-si-DAY-shun). As for the wax bloom, most likely it's just that: a deposit or separation of wax from wax/pigment suspension or solution. I have done some work in color (I assisted in developing Stone-EZE at Ecolab in the mid- to late-1980s, for example, and also assisted in developing color standards--even for artists!), so I have some experience but am by no means an expert. It is my understanding that many pigments will not dissolve into wax or oil but must be suspended. That is, the wax or oil contains actual pigment particles, not individual molecules of pigment dissolved into the medium. Changes in temperature can force the pigment out of suspension, and that's most likely what you're seeing in the bloom. You could test this by purchasing two each of several pencils of the same color and product number you've experienced to undergo bloom, keep one in a temperature-controlled humidor and the other identical pencil at ambient conditions, perhaps even subjecting it to mild artificial changes in temperature. To prevent bloom while working, you'd want to decrease friction (thereby decreasing temperature increase) by taking *slow* strokes across the paper. Some mfrs are better than others at this. This is likely due to two factors: 1. incorporation of dispersion aids into the wax, which will prevent pigment particles from bunching up and more easily falling out of suspension and 2. better milling/working of pigment down to a preferred particle size. I don't know what this particle size is for pigments, but for many color and pharmaceutical applications the magic number is two microns (0.002 mm). Above two microns, many pharmaceutical suspensions lose performance, while below 2 um performance is optimal. Getting down to 2 um can be extremely difficult and expensive, so not every mfr. is going to do that. I find best performance in this regard with F-C Polychromos, which makes sense, since Faber Castell has some of the best mfr. equipment in the industry, and they've been doing this longer than anyone else.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

hey guys !! hope you appreciate the honesty in this video . i will say watching this back that when the screen goes to greyscale @5:54 you can see what i mean about many of the colors being around the same mid to dark value very clearly . not ALL , but many . id like to see more variety of values here . over all they are great pencils with room for improvement in color range and that " chocolate bloom " effect .

[@hazimmusa2448]

I kinda agreed with you, I just got mine recently to supplement Polychromos. I noticed the sets of 72 lacking something, and yeah the 'Mid tone' and no (obvious) pink variants. I do appreciate the off-white variants but a lot of them (flesh pink, oyster, Arctic, light aqua, wheat, champagne) almost similar. Btw, am I missing something or the cloud grey is actually metallic and mine is pretty scratchy? And many of yellows are pretty much the same banana= sun yellow = yellow, mustard = gold. Thanks for the honest review, keep up the amazing works!

[@nicolemartinart5819]

@@hazimmusa2448 thanks so much ! I really enjoy some of these for filling in other pencil sets like you said but I'd like to see some improvements .

[@BunNessa_Art]

Personally, I never get upset or mad when an artist gives their honest opinion because each person has their own preference and may like a certain brand more (even if it isn't popular) than others. Thank you for the review! The set reminds me of the derwent drawing pencils ( color wise), will definitely still be getting these and keeping in mind the bloom you mentioned!

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Thank you for the comment 🙂 I really like these pencils, and I recommend them but I also think Derwent could improve on them some and I hope they do in the future. You're absolutely right, a lot of what goes into a review is personal preference so I try to be as fair as possible and come at from as many angles as I can so everyone can make their own decisions.

[@BunNessa_Art]

@@nicolemartinart5819 you're very welcome! 🙂 let's hope they do improve on them!

[@nicolemartinart5819]

since the time of filming i have had a chance to try the luminance colored pencils and i want to add a few more notes i think will be helpful . i do plan to do a full comparison video in the future . so to start i want to say the texture of these are firmer than the caran dache luminance . they are somehwere in between the lumi and the polys by faber castell . this is a great texture because it lays down smooth bold color but maintains a sharp point better than the lumi . the lightfast have far less crumbs than the lumi . i think the two brands look very much alike on the paper and i found the blended beautifully together . as well as the color selection seems to complement each other very well . i do think the lightfast pencils by derwent blend a little better than the lumi just on their own with out the use of solvents or additional mediums . but both worked nicely with the colored pencil powder blender by brush and pencil . in the end i really do love the derwent pencils i just wished the colors had a bit more variety and less wax bloom . still i find i like them even more now since adding my luminance to my colored pencil collection . it made what i had so much more versatile and fun .

[@renmuffett]

I agree. The one thing I didn't like about Caran D Ache Luminance' was the crumbs left behind and a gritty feel using them.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

@@renmuffett yea , like I said in my unboxing video of the luminance , I feel like nobody ever talks about the crumbs lol. Or at least not enough to be honest. It really doesn't bother me but I made sure to mention it in my video because for some people that's a real deal breaker for a colored pencil to have as much crumbs as a pastel pencil almost . Not everyone can handle that and I'd hate for somebody to save all their money to purchase these and then be disappointed or have the wrong expectation. That being said I really do like lumi 🙂

[@ninner196]

To remove any “bloom” I just gently touch my paintings (which are a blend of pencils) with a bit of oms in a Caran’de ache waterbrush with a fibrous tipped end. It is just wax that has separated even in the Lightfast pencils. The waterbrush keeps the oms completely sealed and I don’t have to blend it but just touching where I work removes the wax which can separate even Luminance pencils. I have done lightfast testing that has gone far beyond how they are usually tested and they are spot on. Leaving them for a year in a full sunlit window does reveal their testing as true . Some are lightfast rated 1 or 2 and it really was spot on. Thanks I am just a fellow colored pencil artist 8 yrs, watercolorist 38yrs, pastelist(same) and charcoal artist. I do mostly nature but the occasional portrait and others as well. I was going to talk about the chemistry but I noticed that another one had mentioned what I was thinking. Truly any professional colored pencil is oil paint in a pencil with a binder that does have wax. I don’t like any shine in my work so that is why and how the oms helps. My substrate favorites are Clairfontaine Pastelmat (I purchase whole sheets, it is far more economical and archival), I use Grafix drafting film .005 matte double sided ( holds about 3 layers, I use Polys, Pablos, and Luminance and can use oms and ceramic knife) I have used just Arches hp with a bit of transparent Art Spectrum pastel and multimedia primer and found it to be equally as competitive as the more expensive Luxarchival and it is also archival. 😊

[@nicolemartinart5819]

thank you for your comment! it's good to know that you've done a lightfast test as well! and thank you for the tips!

[@karin7765]

The polychromos are brighter but there's a reason for it..I don't know the exact reason but I believe it's why with the various test thrown at them, are the reason why.. Derwent Lightfast and Caran D' ache may appear more muted, ( although I would call it 'more natural') but both brands give insight of the pigments they've used. I suspect FC uses dye to give these 'bright colors'..I loved your authentic voice and opinion in this review!!

[@murph8411]

Wax bloom doesn’t just happen when layering multiple layers of wax pencils. You get wax bloom on oil pastels, like neopastels if they have been sitting unused for a long while. It can also appear on artwork done with neopastels for example although it may require a fairly thick application. Just like some wax pencils can start to show bloom after sitting unused for a long time as well. Maybe Derwent haven’t used pyrrole red pr254 as they have had trouble getting it to be opaque enough in pencil form? I know some paints using it are fairly transparent and it may have something to do with how fine the pigment is. Maybe the particle size had to be too large to get a nice opaque pencil in Derwent tests and they just haven’t figured it out yet. Not that it matters too much to us as we can pick and choose and hopefully get a wider range.

[@mydogeatspuke]

Definitely looks like wax bloom to me, albeit not the kind we're used to seeing when referring to wax bloom in pencil work. It's more like wax bloom you see in something like a lipstick when it "sweats," or indeed as you said, a chocolate bar. It is a little concerning that the contents of the pencil binder are separating and leeching from them over time though, regardless of what one may refer to it as.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

I agree and couldn't have said it better. Thanks so much for watching

[@twingytwango6971]

I really appreciate your expert opinions on these pencils. I purchased them on Saturday and they are sitting here, unopened. Amazon has a good price on them now compared to the usual price. Now I feel a 72 set would better suit my want.....not need. So I'll sleep on the thoughts whether I keep or return them. Thanks for this video.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

You are so welcome. I'm glad I could help. If it's a really good price, you may wanna keep the big set. Never hurts to have near duplicate colors for the right price.

[@PaigeEscapes]

Thank you so incredibly much for your amazing and thorough review! The fogging is wax bloom , even though they are considered oil pencils ( I agree, they do feel quite/ kind of softish to me). I have never had that with my lumi on the swatches or pencils I don’t think ( have had a tiny bit on poly when didn’t use for a long time). The ones you mentioned are a bit scratchy - in lumi pencils, a yellow , a light purple and brownish colour ( cassel earth) are scratchy too! But become softer / smoother with more layers. How you highlighted which pencils was scratchy is so incredibly helpful!! Thank you!! May I ask, do you find them very sticky after a lot of layers? I really am so grateful for what you said! Oh I also thought one of my open stock pencils felt a bit blotchy? But I think that is also related to the heat ( it’s incredible hot here at the moment! Mid summer!). I really think you are right too- overhyped! Everyone just wants the ‘new thing’ in the art world and someone raves ab Again, thank you so incredibly much for this- I really am so incredibly grateful! Edit and yes- the colour palette is very heavy on darks and mid tones!

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Thank you for your lovely comment . I have not found any of my drawings with these sticky at all. I think these pencils definitely lean more toward wax , rather than the oil side but they work well with the brush and pencil products designed for oil based pencils. I also have been guilty of calling that fog wax Bloom but got yelled at and openly mocked by a commenter insisting I knew nothing because wax Bloom only happens on the paper during the burnishing stage after many layers of a wax based pencil has been applied. I've used prismas for years and didn't have this happen . Not like these . Whatever we can all agree to call this fog it's not pleasant and I really don't like it . I honestly want to get the luminance for my birthday and compare . I will repurchase *some of these lightfast colors but not all . I hope this helps and feel free to ask away of you have anymore questions. I'm happy to help 🙂

[@PaigeEscapes]

Thank you so incredibly much again!! It’s quite late at night where I am and I think I may ask more tomorrow 🙈 so incredibly sorry! As for some one getting annoyed with you for calling it wax bloom, that is so ridiculous of them ! Wax bloom can happen after a single layer and with any pencils I think. I do still kind of feel a bit conflicted about it I think … I hope I have the strength to make the right decision. It’s been plaguing me! Oh I just remembered it either the chocolate or natural brown Derwent lightfast colours I have that feel sticky or draggy when I used them ( had a few open stock)? Did they feel different to you? Incredibly sorry! Thank you so incredibly much again

[@nicolemartinart5819]

@@PaigeEscapes i just pulled both chocolate and natural brown out of my collection and swatched them since i am sitting in my studio right now and no i cant say they feel sticky or drag . in fact they perform really super well . if anything the chocolate is a touch scratchy but honestly im really happy with these colors . i think the derwent lightfast lay down a bit thicker than other pencils , sorta like the derwent drawing so maybe thats what you are experiencing ? but theres nothing wrong . p.s calm down , breathe , its only pencils . art supplies should bring you joy . i really tried to find any hint of sticky and i cant say they are at all . they are soft and lay down alot of product , if you like bold , opaque passages of color you will like these . running my fingers over the swatch it almost feels velvety . smooth . hope that helps .

[@PaigeEscapes]

@@nicolemartinart5819 Thank you so incredibly much!! i really am so grateful!!!

[@martinanelsonartandpsychol6478]

I remember having this ?bloom/fog? happening to soft crayons for my children when living in the Philippines. But they were no artist grade.

[@jaynereed4028]

Nice to hear your thoughts on these. I got an unbelievable deal on them a while ago (used but not very much) so I have enjoyed them even more for that, but I ran into some of the same issues myself concerning the whole DARK thing. How am I going to use such dark colors without mid-tones to go with? There are work arounds but it would be nice to not have to go to such lengths. And sameness of colors. I just put a bunch of them away in a drawer. So it's good to hear these things from an actual artist 🙂

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Thank you so much . I hope they expand the range in time to include more light and pastel tones. Hopefully they will release them as a set so those who already have the original 100 won't have to buy the new ones all open stock. We shall see but I really prefer the luminance over these anyhow . Thanks so much for watching !

[@ReverieOfThorns]

I haven't had any wax bloom issues with what few Lightfast pencils I have, but I use mine with my Lumis since I have more of those and find the range of values the Lumis to be a bit better than the Lightfast. Either set seems to compliment each other well. I have also used them with my Polychromos pencils too without any issue since Polys are a lot brighter than the Lightfast pencils. Wax bloom is a weird topic for me because it really bothers some people but I find it doesn't particularly bother me. It can always be removed with a layer of blender pencil or a wipe from a tissue. Perhaps this isn't such an issue to me because I've been more of a colorist than an artist the last few years. I think it's probably because of that, but even when I was an artist I don't remember it bothering me. Either way, nice review, I like that you were honest about everything you had issues with here because a lot of artists just like something and will just rave about it instead of properly listing the cons

[@TravisBrady-wn8fr]

Good information. I collect as well as draw. I don't have a derwent set in my arsenal. I don't think they are the ones for me.

[@ianjackson5834]

for me watercolour paper may not work that well with a wax based product as the external and internal sizing normally pulls the water soluble pigment into the paper which it would do with the pencil but a residue of wax may stay on the surface of the paper leading to the grey effect you see, that said it was a great review of a interesting set of pencils.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate it 😊

[@Senrysa]

I am so with you. I don’t mind spending a lot on a set of oil pencils but I want them to be oil pencils not wax with 1% oil in casing. Hence a room full of pencils.😂😂😂

[@buffalobumpushounds2806]

It is wax bloom. All colored pencils, including "oil based," contain wax. It's a matter of balance between oil and wax in the various brands. Sad these have that problem. Thanks for the heads up!

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Thanks so much for your comment! Yes I agree 💯 . No colored pencils is completely oil or it would come out like oil paint. But you know how some people can be online lol . Glad you found the video helpful

[@twingytwango6971]

Hi, speaking of lightfastness, does Prismacolor pencils have lightfastness and where can this info be found?

[@nicolemartinart5819]

No. Most Prismacolor pencils are NOT lightfast. Makes me feel like they should not be able to call them artist quality. Prismacolor website has a lightfast chart you can find but most are fugitive. About 30 of the 150 range are decent.

[@renmuffett]

Thanks for sharing! I agree they are not that vibrant and I do see that white film! I'm glad I didn't get the entire set of Derwent Lightfast pencils. Just some open stock. After reading a book called Color Pencil Painting Bible by Alyona Nickelsen, I chose Caran D Ache Pablo instead. In her book she showed brands that have the lightfast ratings and actually published pigment information. Pablo has the pigment information on every pencil in a brochure you have to ask for. It doesn't come with the set. Me being a watercolor artist & pigment nerd, I'm familiar with the pigments listed for the Pablo pencils. I 1st got the small sample set and loved them and them bought the entire set. I bought a lot of Polychromos open stock but have not found pigment information on every pencil yet. Only the lightfast ratings.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Unfortunately you’ll never find the pigment information for the Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils because Faber Castell just simply doesn’t divulge that information. They consider it proprietary information which I think is kinda bs but they have no legal obligation to share. However I’m considering doing a lightfast test on the full range because I’ve heard some conflicting stories regarding other artist experiences and lightfast results and I just don’t know if I trust them anymore. However they still remain my favorite colored pencils but if it turns out they’re not as lightfast as they claim I won’t be able to use them anymore outside of a sketchbook.

[@EveOne1960]

​@@nicolemartinart5819I did my own lightfast testing with my Polychromos and Luminance. I left the swatches in a south facing window for a year. All of the Luminance held up well with no visible fading. The same cannot be said for the Polychromos and that really surprised me! Most of the yellows were faded considerably as well as an orange and some of the reds. I still do love Polychromos but my favourite pencils for how I work are Luminance. I recently purchased a few open stock Lightfast and so far have not experienced the wax bloom, but I've only used them for a few small sections of my current piece. Great video!

[@diannedupuis2960]

Thank you for a thorough review!

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Thank you for watching ☺️

[@greekveteran2715]

Does anybody know, whats the 2nd color on the right, next to the Mid Ultramarine? That blue that is like Cobalt, and has 2 darker blues on the right and on the left of it and it's darker than t he mid ultramarine. Just count 2 colors, after the mid ultramarine, on the right,the 2nd, what's that please?

[@nicolemartinart5819]

I believe you mean sapphire, but I'm not really sure which one you mean so I'm just going to read off the colors left to right on the fourth row. So four rows down starting left to right is; wild lavender, nightshade, violet, blue violet, mid ultramarine, deep blue, sapphire, denim, mid blue and midnight blue. I hope this helps 🙂

[@greekveteran2715]

@@nicolemartinart5819 Thank you VERY much! I really appreciate it, it's the Saphire! Here it looks like a great color for skies! I'll switch to Arches and I'll get that and the mid Ultramarine, for drawing skies! I don't know why I never tried Arches with colored pencils! Probably because everybody was suggesting the Fabriano Artistico! Thanks again!

[@nicolemartinart5819]

@@greekveteran2715 you're so very welcome 🤗 I know how hard it can be shopping online for art supplies since most of the shops around me never have what I want so I have to order. That's part of why I started this channel was to help others in the same position, and why I always do swatches. 🙂 glad to help.

[@greekveteran2715]

@@nicolemartinart5819 You're so good with anything you do! I love your Pastel still life works! Wish you the best! Keep up the good work!!

[@autismoemcores1979]

Thank you for u explication, I will buy this colored pencils

[@nicolemartinart5819]

I'm glad you found the video helpful . Happy Easter 🐰🐣

[@jenniferjohnson7277]

I know this video is a month old and prices could very well have changed since then, but at the moment, there is only a one-dollar difference between the 100 tin and 100 wooden box set. Also, the fog or bloom that you show, is the same problem I have with Prismacolors. Could it be that even though the Lightfast is an oil pencil, like Polychromos, they have more wax in their formula and that is causing the wax bloom? It sure looks the same as Wax bloom to me. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

Then I'd get whichever you prefer. Wow. They really are crazy with the pricing. Yeah actually when I bought my set they only had it available in the wood box set to get the full 100

[@dq3974]

If you want to see wax bloom (or whatever) at its very worst - Prismacolor! I have Derwent Lightfast and have never seen bloom at all. I’m wondering, if your pencils are brand new, maybe they’ve changed the formula, since I got mine. ???

[@nicolemartinart5819]

No mine are nearly two years old . I have used Prismacolors for 20 years and never had this problem. I have tried almost every colored pencils ( coloursoft , Prismacolor, Derwent drawing , Derwent artists , polys , ect . None have done this on the paper . It's not really a wax Bloom . It's a white fog that forms over time on the surface of the drawings and pencil tips like chocolate bloom .

[@nicolemartinart5819]

I just went back and checked and to be more accurate these pencils are about 1 year-and-a-half-old . But this has been a consistent problem from the beginning. Not sure if they have reformulated since then but I doubt it strongly.

[@BlackStarASMR]

@@nicolemartinart5819 How do you know that your pencils are 1,5 years old? When you purchased them, they already had a certain age and you don't know which age. Could be 0,5 years, could be 5 years, could be 10 years.

[@nicolemartinart5819]

@@BlackStarASMR no absolutely not . They cannot be five or ten years old because they didn't exist back then. The full 100 color range was only just released when I purchased ( was not available previously )

[@dq3974]

@@nicolemartinart5819 I stand corrected. I just noticed almost every single swatch from my lightfast pencils have developed a film. The swatches are about a year old. I was able to wipe the film away with a cloth so will watch to see if it returns. This is so depressing. I went from these being my favorite pencils to being very uneasy about using them. Once a drawing is framed there will be no way to wipe the film away. Most of my dark prismacolors do the exact same thing. I guess I’ll just be using my luminesce and polychromos, until I see what happens.

[@grahamekellermeier8280]

The wooden box set in Australia was $660.00Ausy dollars, better be good at that price.

[@sabihashehzad7391]

Do you want to give your emptied wooden box to me ,im very much interested