This is honestly the best review I have ever seen! I have been wanting these pencils for long, but your review was so thourough I don't think I can wait till my birthday! :D
Dear Claudia, it is always such a pleasure to watch your reviews. You have clearly a very structured and academic approach to your subject matter, so your viewers get a comprehensive account of the product. In addition, you are a highly skilled and experienced artist, so I always enjoy to see you paint. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and skills.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I try to leave no stone un-turned and I'm glad that comes across. I know from personal experience that it can be frustrating to watch a number of reviews and not have that crucial question answered!
I encountered the same problem with sharpening the AD watercolour pencils. I used a small piece of sandpaper to sand away the ridges and make the pencils round for about 3cm from the tip, and they sharpen up wonderfully. It looks dodgy, but I can live with that. Many thanks for the video--I think I must look into a wiro watercolour journal (I haven't seen them) and a waterbrush.
Top review!!! I didn't like how the Canson performed in this video. For watercolours, I wouldn't try anything else than Hahnemuhle Cezanne or Legion Lanaquarelle . Fabriano Artistico: Very overated low quality paper, a step up but still not great, Stonehenge Legion. 2 steps up Arches, still nothing special, just another overated paper, however, it would probably perform better than the Canson. Winsor and newton? Now we are talking!! Can it get any better , Yup, Legion Lanaquarelle or Hahnemuhle Cezanne. If you've tried any of these 2, I would really appriciate your feedback!
It is nice to see a detailed review like this. I have been contemplating buying this set in the tin-case-form myself. Your review has definately helped narrow my choices down. Thank you.
I have the boxed set of Magnus pencils. A Christmas gift to myself. I love them and I can see I’ll need to supplement them with some pencils sourced open stock.
I have this same set of pencils and I do love them! I use them both wet and dry and don't pick up my polychromos as much since I got these. I think this is a great value for the money and if budget is a huge concern one might buy these instead of the polychromos and use them for dry coloring and water coloring. You produced a very nice video and I enjoyed it very much...it is very informative and I found your opinions in line with mine even though I am not a professional artist.
I've heard that some people prefer them over polychromos- they have different properties in their laydown and a few say that they consider them to be more pigmented. I've yet to do a side-by-side comparison so I can't provide my personal input here. But I do agree with you- they are a very versatile pencil. I'm glad you found my video useful :) I wouldn't consider myself a professional either as I don't earn a living from what I do- maybe in the future though!
I love how you used spray to develop a blurred background! Your review/demo was very helpful. I have this set but have never been pleased with outcomes. I will now try application the way you have shown. Thank you!
Lovely and informative, as usual! I am so interested to know how/why you choose a particular pencil set for a particular project or drawing. So many of the pencils seem to have overlapping qualities, I can’t imagine how you decide which to use. I also wonder how much of the choice is based on the pencil features versus preferred experience in the moment. Would love to see a video where you showed completed works and discussed what materials you used and why you chose them 😊
Maureen Nevers Brilliant question! The truth is that I very rarely limit myself to one set of anything apart from with these review videos. Much of my work is with coloured pencil and I use a mix of Polychromos, Pablos, Derwent Artists, Derwent Drawing and a couple of Caran d'Ache Luminance. Some of the the breadth of the collection helps with choosing the closest colour match, otherwise the different laydown and hardness of the pencils has a factor with which I choose. Other than that I usually choose supplies that are lightfast unless it's a personal piece that doesn't matter so much. If something is highly detailed and requires a lot of control I'll use coloured pencil, if it's bright, vibrant and loose I'd choose inks, watercolours or pen.
Your reviews are the most thorough on youtube! I have the 12 set of these, and I love using them for sketches and for plein air painting, I've been wanting a larger set since I get a lot of use out of them... I love them, the colour is so vibrant and they dissolve so beautifully... the only problem is the pencil sharpener issue 😉 beautiful painting as always, and thanks for the video!
Very beautiful drawing. I tested the pencils on Pastelmat, too. Pastelmat is the only paper I am able to work with them. They seem highly pigmented and vibrant when wet, when dried they look very dull, I made a comparison and put the dry colour swatch next to it without using water. My watercolours from winsor & newton (same colour) are much more vibrant and rich, too
I own the Albrecht Dürer pencils, and they are extremely nice to work with. Just as you said, they are nice both dry and wet. I actually like the Albrecht Dürer pencils more than their Polychromos counterparts, because I find the Polychromos a bit hard for my taste.
A very concise description of the quality of the pencils from the box to the ability of the pencils. Needless to say the minutely described drawing and colouring presentation A master class! Congratulations! Your various demonstrations and comments have helped me a lot in choosing which watercolour pencils to buy. I am going to take a botanical illustration course and your videos have been extremely educational. Please continue to enlighten us all with your talent as an artist and as a teacher. Many, many thanks.
You're welcome, thanks for watching! Yes, watercolour pencils are frequently used with coloured pencils. The best approach is to use the watercolour pencils as a base layer, and then add details with regular coloured pencils. Regular coloured pencils create a water-resistant barrier. As such, this makes it difficult to dissolve watercolour pencil applied underneath regular CP, and can also make it difficult for diluted watercolour pencil to adhere over the top of it.
Have had and used these pencils for over 30 yrs & as I own quite a few different brands, including Derwent & prismacolor I still think these are the best in both wet & dry mediums. Thanks for your review.
I love these pencils, I made my own set buying them open stock. For sharpenning I use at home Dahle 133 crank handle sharpenner and away from home I use Maped Igloo sharpenner. Thank you for very precise review.
Love at 18:50 that you said that watercolor pencils need to ‘hit additional specs’ over colored pencils, but that some folks still prefer them used dry vs regular colored pencils. I have had those thoughts too - “aren’t the ‘specialized’ materials better because the manufacturers can focus on a particular outcome?”, but I could not articulate it like you did! It also relates to my other question below about ‘which materials when’ ... Thanks!
i have the 72 set of these pencils and I love them, mostly because of the colors. They blend well and can be used with Polychromos color pencils as the colors match.
The 72 set is one of the ones that comes in the gorgeous wooden box, right? Such luscious presentation... I'm only just dipping my toes in to using them with Polychromos though. But they are divine! I really need to buy some open to expand my collection!
Hi Claudia Faber Castell make a small metal double barrelled sharpener, it has a barrel for normal pencils and a barrel for colour pencils. The colour pencil barrel fits the Albrecht Durer perfectly. It's what Faber Castell recommend for these pencils. You can get them at Jackson's very cheap. My take on getting the pencils cheaper: i also started off with a set of 36 that i got in a sale and have been adding to them from open stock as and when Jackson's have sales that include these. I use the Jackson's 142 pencil case for them which, in my opinion, is a wonderful case for these pencils, especially if you wish to take your pencils out plein air or on holiday. The 142 (without the 8 x 1 star pencils) leaves plenty of room for a few colours from other manufacturers and also the Faber Castell water-soluble graphite pencils. There's also space for some waterbrushes and two of the above sharpeners.
You did a wonderful job doing thus review. Your art is so beautiful. I wish I could paint/draw like you. I am new to color so I treated myself to both the 120 sets of pencils and the watercolour pencils. I hope I get as good as you. I agree with you. Why would they make a larger pencil ? I guess there us extra pigment for us to use. I am looking forward to see more of your art.
I’m wondering if you could do a video using these pencils dry? They are rumoured to blend better than conventional artist- grade CP without water (or solvents in the case of traditional CP). :-)
Magnificent as usual. The video is so detailed and scrutinized. You have left nothing. Very informative indeed. I liked how the demo turned out to be. The colors seem so enjoyable and easy-to-use. Yet, surely they need a talented hand like yours. I have a smaller set of these, but they are still packed. Time to tear the nylon off!! Hahaha. I promised you to try some stored items, and I did. I started with the set of 24 Derwent Pastel Pencils. The colors are so vibrant, but the range of colors is minimal. Mixing was difficult a bit as they overlay.. so if I am adding orange over red, the color will become orange. They were too chalky and it was like after each square, I had to sharpen the pencils. I do not know if these limitations should have been expected. I felt that working on Toned paper was not that a good idea. I preferred the white paper. Blending with fingers or with stump removed 3/4 of the color concentration. White was useless on all colors.. it was only useful on clean toned areas. Yet, I was able to add as many layers as I wanted. I tried a marker on one piece after finishing painting it, the result was amazing. Ink was stable and apparent on the colors. There was no problem with that. On another piece, I used pastet soft chalks for the background, the result was nicer than the result achieved by pencils for the foreground. I might open a new panpastel set to try for the third piece. It is still in process. I found that opening one item at a time is good.. and what is more, focsuing on one medium at a time is much helpful. Any comments would be surely delightedly accepted.. Thank you!
Thank you so much Guru! I'm pleased you enjoyed the video. I am so glad that you're breaking into your shiny new supplies and experimenting with them. I think it's important to remember that every medium has its challenges. I also found that blending and layering with pastels was very different to many other things I had experienced. This is exactly what practice and experimentation is for though- finding out the obstacles and working out ways to overcome them... or even use them to your advantage! :) It sounds like you did awesomely though to play and have fun with your materials and work out intuitive ways to use them. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your journey. :D
These seem a lot better than my Derwent WCP - I've really given up on those, scratchy, weak and a bit chalky. I like Inktense a lot more, but there is a big colour discrepancy between dry and wet laydown - Albrecht Durer really seem to deliver here and what you see is what you get.
I agree! I think the Albrecht Dürer out-compete the Derwent Watercolour quite considerably- they're at around the same price point, but the lightfastness, solubility and intensity of the AD are certainly superior. I admit that I like the subtlety and softness of the colour selection of the Derwent pencils though. :)
Hi Claudia. Informative demo and lovely drawing. I would love to see a review on the Derwent watercolour pencils in the future as a comparison. The FC A. Durer pencil 36 set in Oz is $82.25 and the 120 set $273.50 (cheapest I could find). Considerably more expensive in some art stores. Thanks Marion :)
Hi Marion! I've already completed a review video about the Derwent Watercolour pencils :) Unfortunately it seems like just about everything is more expensive in Australia. An alternative is to look on eBay for some sets second hand that have been barely used. That's how I bought my Pablos at a very low price :)
They work wonderfully together! It's great to hear from somebody who has both complete sets. I'm very tempted to start adding to my collection. :) Do you often use the two pencils in conjunction with each other?
Love your tutorials. I use these pencils with polychromos for the top layer once the watercolour underpainting has dried. Occasionally I do a lot more building up of hair strokes with the polychromo pencils and I wonder whether I could use OMS on top of the polychromos to blend out a little but I'm worried it would affect the watercolour underpainting. I wonder whether you have ever tried this or if you know if it would work?
It's not something that I've personally tried, but according to things I've read online, solvents will activate watercolour pencils, just not quite as well as water does. Apparently OMS will activate dry watercolour pencil somewhat, but does very little to watercolour pencil that's been wetted and allowed to dry previously You could also try using a workable fixative to isolate your watercolour layers from your future CP layers. But like any new technique, I recommend experimenting in order to work out the effects you can achieve as well as any limitations. :)
Claudia Sketches thank you so much for your help Claudia. I've been having a look at tutorials today and I came across Sandrinesgallery where she has done a watercolour tutorial on a gobstopper sweet machine and she has used coloured pencils on top and has blended them with solvent. It's made the sweets look very smooth and shiny so I may use the technique on something sooner or later but thank you so much for all your help as always you are brilliant.
Being a lazy old so-and-so it's very much appreciated that you take the time to test all these products to such great depth. Going to have to get myself a set!
Hi Claudia, excellent, informed unbiased, review. My hubby had these for his birthday present but said he would have got them on the strength of your hard work and results, thank you so much for confirming that we made the right choice. Brilliant. Thank you .. subbed!
How do you sharpen the Albright Durer pencils if there is not a pencil sharpener to fit them? I have a good election of them but never use them as my arthritic hands are unable to use a knife. Joan
The Staedtler Pigment Liners are waterproof and work fine with any water-based medium- just make sure they're thoroughly dry first. I recommend leaving the line-work for a few hours before you paint over it. Overnight is best. When in doubt, run your own tests on a scrap piece of paper ;) That way you know for certain that your combination of paper, materials and technique are compatible.
i just bought myself the whole set i'll keep u updated, i love derwent products ans only just started using faber castell and i fell in love with the albercht durer and polychromos bought 40 set of these and apparently the rest of the full set open stock but they hand picked them at the brick ans mortar store of duck blick and 3 not onw were missing now i'll havw to figure out which are missing it's extremely hard to read thw colors in the pencils so i can't really blame any one i wouldn't haves been able to hand pick that many
I just got some of these. I really like them. I am a newbie. I was using the cheap ones. Boy there is a different. Also looking at different videos on how to use them. I really needed the help. I am now having fun
Hi Claudia, what a detailed and thorough review, it is the best video/reviewI have seen about Albrecht Dürer pencils. I am a big fan of watercolor and I own Derwent watercolor pencils that I bought years ago when I was starting out. They are chalky and do not dissolve that well, so I was thinking that it was time to upgrade to Faber Castell. I own the Polychromos but I need watercolor pencils. You definitely convinced me to get the Albrecht Dürer. The only question is 36 or 60? Is there any real value to get 60 instead of 36? I have 36 Polychromos and It has been enough, but it´s because I only do a few colored pencil artwork. I mainly do water based illustrations and sketches. Thanks so much for your video and help!
I think 36 vs 60 is going to entirely depend on what sort of subject matter you see yourself creating often. I haven't actually used the Albrecht Dürers all that much (despite loving them, and yes they are absolutely superior to the Derwent!). If you know what sort of colours you use frequently you can quite easily do well with a smaller set and just add to your collection open-stock by buying the colours you know you'll use. They are watercolour pencils after all as well, so they do have the benefit of mixing together a little better than regular CP too (and in a pinch can be mixed in a palette and applied with a brush). I personally found that the 60 Polychromos set colour selection was unbalanced for my purposes and was missing a lot of the earth tones and neutrals I use a lot... I ended up upgrading to the 120 set but I may have lasted longer if I'd originally bought the 36 set plus some useful colours open stock. Black Friday is coming up soon so it may be worth keeping an eye open on Amazon and the likes just in case a larger set is available for very cheap :)
@@ClaudiaSketches Thanks so much, seems like an awesome approach, I will be doing exactly that, 36 set + colors that I will be needing on the go, unless if there is an awesome deal! Now at Blick´s 36 set is US$48 and 60 set is $80. Let´s see if they come down a bit. And yes, your videos are amazing!
You did a great job with a lot of info thank you. There was about 6 others doing a review on these pencils and I could watch them Maybe there to new to doing it videos. ... yours was the best watch threw the whole video
These pencils have lightfastness ratings, each pencil is individually stamped with their rating. 3 stars = Blue Wool 7/8. 2 stars = Blue Wool 5/6. 1 star = Blue Wool 3/4. :)
I think you do an awesome job at the product reviews// All your videos are good... but the review ones are just awesome// there are many different yet great ways to do product review s - but you nail the A-Z info thing
Great review. I have the set of 60 pencils and am thankful every day for the advice given me, to buy the best I could afford at the time and that I would never regret it. Best advice ever.
It depends on your preferences, budget, and what each set costs where you are in the world. Objectively speaking, the Albrecht Dürer have the benefit of being more lightfast overall. In my opinion, they're also more pigmented and have a smoother laydown, as well as activating/dissolving a little more easily compared to the Derwent. The Albrecht Dürer comes in a larger range of colours and also are more vibrant. So perhaps if you like muted and softer tones, the Derwent might be preferable. I'd personally choose the Albrecht Dürer out of the two sets.. but if I wasn't really interested in creating artwork for sale or display (so didn't care much about LF ratings), and if the Derwent were significantly more affordable, then the Derwent would be my choice.
