Summary A true classic

Reviewer's Comments

Derwent Artists has been there since 1938 and it was the first brand to be expanded to 72 colours in the early 1950s. The classical colours include such subdued hues as Pale vermilion 13, Red violet lake 24, Blue violet lake 27, Smalt blue 30, Cobalt blue 31, Juniper green 42 and Sap green 49 as well as lots of brown.

In the mid-1990s the range was expanded to 120 colours. About a half of the new hues are very light and delicate, making it possible to create opaque light-coloured paintings on coloured paper – the other half includes dim and soft greens, dark reds, hues like Sunset gold 6410, Autumn leaf 6420 and Rust 6430 and even some bright colours.

The lead is thicker than that of Derwent Studio and somehow it feels a little softer although the structure is supposed to be identical. The thickness of the lead may have some influence of the feeling you get about softness (of any pencil). The leads are not as smooth as Caran d'Ache Pablo and Faber-Castell Polychromos; some browns particularly are on the sticky side.

Look at my review of Derwent Studio for the lightfastness of the 72 classical colours (and note that the classical numbers 1 to 72 are now replaced by 0100 to 7200 in the Artists range.) (Update 29 Jun 2009)