Derwent Graphic Drawing Pencils, Medium, Metal Tin, 12 Count (34214)

As someone with drawing for a hobby, I really like to check out different products from time to time to see how hold up compared to what I am currently using. This time though I needed new pencils because my others were getting quite short so I got these. These were disappointing, I may be picky when it comes to pencils but these were not up to par. The casing for the pencils is a big weak point, they constantly splintered no matter the sharpener I used. This caused lots of breaking of the pencil lead below the tip as the casing couldnt support much pressure from drawing. The casing also wasnt very smooth can you could tell just by sharpening the pencils. It felt like the wood grain on the pencil wasnt tight so that causing the weakness in the casing. This weakness in the casing applied for all the pencils not just one or two. The pencil lead was sub par as well, especially the 9h-2b range where the clay in the lead wasnt refined enough. The unrefined clay caused many scratches into the paper when drawing or writing and made many of the hard h pencils unusable. Though the problems with these pencils dont end there. Their higher gradient B pencils also had problems, such as, the lead being too weak to sharpen and constantly breaking. This also had the side effect of them not being able to hold a sharp tip without breaking easily. Overall, theyre not the worst I have used, but they are certainly bottom tier when it comes to the artist grade pencils I have used. Lyra Rembrandt pencils are much more refined in their h pencils they are very smooth, while remaining quite light in gradient. Tombow mono pencils are also very smooth and have amazing tip retention in their B pencils. They also get noticeably darker than the derwents. The Mars Lumographs are also an amazing well rounded set of pencils as well. Each of those sets I would easily pick over the derwents, and its not even close. Now I know that I could have gotten a bad batch of pencils, which is the only reason why these are at 2 stars instead of 1. I wish I could say better things about these pencils.

I have tried nearly every brand of premium graphite drawing pencil: Caran dAche, Staedtler, Faber-Castell, Koh i Noor, Tombow, Generals, Cretacolor, Conte and Derwent. I like them all, and it would be difficult to say one brand is best because theyre all good; just different users will subjectively prefer one for their personal style over others. Having said that, the Derwent pencils just feel right in my hand and seem to fit my style the best. The leads are smooth, and the hardness grades are spaced well. They feel most similar to the Faber-Castell 9000 pencils, just a touch softer (grade for grade of course), and come in a larger range of hardness values (20 vs 16). I also like the Faber-Castells, but still I slightly prefer Derwent. Overall, Derwent are my favorite brand of drawing pencil, and Ill definitely be ordering more as I use these up.

I use to only draw with a number 2 pencil so I’m adjusting o these pencils. Less work and less smudging.

Good quality but has hard spots in graphite.

This is my first set of professional drawing pencils, so I am definitely getting better results drawing with my 12 count medium range set than anything Ive been using previously. However, it is in fact true that Derwent can be a bit scratchy. As for the leads, most of them are fine and sharpen perfectly well, however at least two of the pencils, the 2B and 3B , have a problem with leads that break off in the sharpener and some sort of unevenness about the wood casing that makes them virtually impossible to sharpen and by consequence virtually impossible to use, and Im using a pretty good sharpener. That makes for a pretty big drawback as far as value for moneys concerned, seeing as youre not really getting your moneys worth when 2 out of twelve pencils cant even be used. Still, they arent so pricey to begin with, so Id say theyre not the worst pencils in the world and theres no harm in trying them.

The pencils are fine. My review is mainly about the packaging. I assumed that with a pencil set in a tin box, that it would have a lid, but my set came with the bottom only and it was shrink wrapped so the pencils stayed in place in the thin cheap plastic tray in the bottom. But there was no lid with my set so I was mildly disappointed. If the shrink wrap would have torn in the shipment, then the pencils would have been tossed about in the box and in the past I have had some items fall out of the box through the minimally taped ends. Many delivery people will handle the boxes by either puncturing the sides for a finger hold or grabbing the ends of the lids to move the boxes so the lid ends are bent and elevated. Sometimes the paper tape holding the lid closed will fail and the lids are partially open. so I have lost items that way. Not sure how this pencil set was packaged that way, at Derwent factory or at Amazon, but it bugs me to get items shipped with unexpected surprises like that. So thats my 2 cents. Pencils are fine. People have mentioned grittiness, and yes I have felt that sometimes the pencil will have a gritty drag and wont produce a clean line until the grit particle wears away after a couple of strokes. But they are otherwise good enough pencils. I cant say they blow away some lower priced pencils I have. The Castle pencils seem to have a really nice feel and were a very good value in comparison. Staedler pencils are equally priced and I do not notice any gritty feel.

These are great and cover the whole range of grays. I had heard these are the best. They seem great so far.

Im new to purchasing art pencils, so I went overboard and bought these as well as the Castle set, and Rembrandts. I think I have to say I find the Castles a bit less scratchy, but theyre similar. These are fine. They all work well. I now have enough pencils to draw 5 hours a day for the next 3 years!

Giving these a four star review for now, but time will tell if they deserve it. Im pretty disappointed--I dont see that these perform any better than my sons Castle Art cheap artist pencil set. In fact, so far I like it less. The pencils are hard and scratchy (not just the harder numbered pencils, but all of them) and none of them seem to erase well, even using a Prismacolor. I fully admit that Im only an amateur artist, but I just dont enjoy these so far. Theyre not bad, but they were pricey for not bad pencils. I was happier with a good old yellow No. 2! But to be fair, Ill try to do a head-to-head comparison of these pencils, my sons Castle Art set, and a No. 2, and see what the results are, and then report back. Maybe Ill be surprised.

Love the pencils. Such a great quality. Only problem, I have to put a rubber band to keep the box closed. I believe that I close it right and then poof all my pencils are spread around. Very frustrating.Good thing they are good quality and dont break easily. I have a box of Royal Langnickel colored pencils with a similar box and never had that problem. Bad luck?