Comments about Derwent Charcoal Pencils:

A few years ago I favorably reviewed the compressed form of Derwent Light charcoal; now it's time to praise the pencil.

Again, I'm restricting my comments to the "light" version. I've tried but not personally found use for the medium and dark. They all handle similarly.

When applied with a light touch, the tone is similar to graphite. Although hard to describe, it handles a little differently than other brands, perhaps more smoothly, although it retains that open, grainy texture that makes charcoal such a beautiful medium.

The drawing below is 6x8", done on Twinrocker 18th Century, a crisp, moderately toothy rag paper. (Every drawing is an inseparable combination of the tool, the paper, and the artist's hand.) It's 99% Derwent Light charcoal pencil with a few details in a Prismacolor hard pencil.

Comments about Derwent Charcoal Pencils:

They're so smooth, they blend easily and are resistant to breaking but dark, definitely recommend them, anything derwent is good, their graphite pencils are amazing.

Comments about Derwent Charcoal Pencils:

Very satisfied with these, the depth of darkness is just what I expected them to have and the charcoal is tough, allowing me to dig in to the paper if need be. The "dark" is nearly as dark as good compressed charcoal, great for detail work and very smooth. Keep in mind these are quite thick, great for writing comfort, but a potential problem for sharpeners and so forth.

Comments about Derwent Charcoal Pencils:

Wish Blick offered the Crestacolor Nero number 4 or 5, but the Derwent Pencil is just as good.