Pretty in Pink & Derwent Coloursoft review

I wouldn't want you all to wait too long without a new piece! This again is just off the drawing table - meaning that I haven't "tweaked" it yet so there will be minor changes before I seal it. The photo isn't very good as it is blurry on the right side. I had to photo it quickly as I photograph them outside and it was drizzling!

For all you colored pencil people I wanted to talk a bit about the new Derwent Coloursoft pencils. I used some on this piece and the previous pieces I've done. I only did one so far in all Coloursoft pencils - I've mostly been combining them with Prismacolor.

I just love these pencils so far. They blend really well without getting that darn waxy build up and combine well with Prismacolors. I did find, however, that it is best to put the Coloursofts over the prismacolor than the other way around as the prismacolor waxiness is hard to get on top of the Coloursofts - not impossible though. The colors of the coloursoft are amazingly vibrant and, so far, I haven't had any trouble with them darkening with fixative or even the spray varnish I use after fixing. The black and white pencils (and ditto if you are an indigo junkie) are worth buying alone as they go on much better than Prismacolors. The black for instance covers most all of the pesky grain of the Pastelbord easily while the black Prismacolor never does. My black and indigo are small enough already that I need new ones!

They are available now in open stock at Dick Blick http://www.dickblick.com/zz220/64/. If they weren't avaiable that way I wouldn't have even tried them.

My only complaint so far is that although they fit in my American pencil sharpener - you have to use some muscle to really get them to sharpen. I guess I need to get a Euro pencil sharpener! Oh and the other thing, which really comes from being used to Prismacolors, is that all the pencil shafts are the same color so although they are marked on the bottom with the color they are harder to locate quickly like with Prismacolors.

If I could buy them in openstock locally I would switch over to them from Prismacolor - I like them so much - but there's always that time when you just need another pencil NOW and can't wait for mail order. Plus I have drawers filled with Prismacolors so I can't switch any day soon!