Derwent pencils are famous throughout the world for their amazing high quality and the excellent range of colours that are available. Any artist or school student would be proud to own a set of Derwent coloured pencils.

Derwent pencils have been the favourite of professional pencil artists since 1938, and the pencils have a heritage stretching all the way back to 1832 when the first ancestors of the modern Derwent pencil were created by the Cumberland pencil company.

This long legacy of creating fine quality pencils is bolstered today by the manufacturer's accreditations of ISO 9001 (quality consistency) and ISO 14001 (environmental performance). This means your choice of Derwent pencils is both practical and ethical.

Amazing variety and versatility for sketch artists

The pencil range for sketching and drawing includes:

• Precision – smooth textured, blendable, and erasable. The Derwent Precision pencils allow for an exceptionally fine level of detail, with a core size less than 1mm in diameter.

• Graphic – having many of the same features as the Precision pencils, but with a 3.3mm core and 20 colours.

• Sketching – designed for plein air sketching, these pencils have a strong 4mm core and are available in three shades.

• Onyx – for exceptionally dark lines, these pencils with a 4mm core will really help you make your mark.

• WSSP – all of the Derwent pencils, with the exception of the Precision and Tinted Charcoal varieties, are water soluble, but these soft graphite sketching pencils take solubility to the next level. With them, you can achieve an extraordinary level of layering in your composite sketches.

• Graphitone – super soft water-soluble graphite allowing for beautiful rendering, as in this example from artist Kathleen Renninger. Note the exquisite texture replication of the roof shingles in the sketch. It is details like this that make the Graphitone pencils really something special.

• XL Graphite – just a big chunky block of graphite for achieving beautiful tonal blends. Available in 6 different shades including olive green, dark Prussian, raw umber, burnt umber, soft graphite, and very soft graphite.

• XL Charcoal – chunky charcoal for amazing intensity, and also available in 6 shades.

• Charcoal Pencils – providing a finer level of control for a charcoal finish.

• Tinted Charcoal – an amazing 21 different colours to select from.

Further information:

When you want to achieve the most realistic colouring in your work, Derwent colour pencils are the way to go. Here are the features that make them stand out:

• Up to 126 different colours and shades available

• Most colours have exceptional lightfastness, retaining their intensity for at least 100 years under what might be described as "museum conditions"

• The "pastel" and "inktense" pencils are suitable for use on fabric

• Choice of oil-based, wax-based, and powder-based pencil types

• Special watercolour pencils available

• Metallic colours available