Brand New 72 Set Of Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils, Plus Free Giveaway of Derwent Drawing Set
Brand New 72 Set Of Derwent Drawing Coloured Pencils, Plus Free Giveaway of Derwent Drawing Set
Derwent have finally done the unimaginable, one of the most sought after wishes that colored pencil artists have had, was for Derwent to expand the 24 set of Derwent Drawing Pencils. I can remember quite a while ago when the Derwent Pencil Museum was destroyed due to heavy rains and flooding in Keswick in the Lake District, I was invited to grand reopening of the Museum and got to meet the CEO OF Derwent. At that time the Derwent ProColour had just been released, and we spoke about that new pencil to the Derwent range, however I also asked him about the Derwent Drawing Pencils.
I explained to him that over the years, I am always asked, if Derwent have plans to expand the Derwent Drawing Pencil range? His reply to me, at that time was, to expand the current 24 palette of the Derwent Drawing Pencil would dilute the uniqueness of the set. I thought about that answer for a while and actually agreed with him. At the time and it was mid 2017, I seriously couldn’t think of other colors, that could be added to expand the set and more importantly colors that would complement the 24 palette.
Well, I was totally wrong and the wonderful people at Derwent have created yet another set of pencils that will send colored pencil artists the world over into a tailspin. The colors in this new 72 set, including the current 24 are just amazing, absolutely gorgeous. If you are a botanical artist this is the set you are going to want period, with this set you will have all the colors you need and no other set needed.
Derwent have consistently been releasing new sets or expanding current sets, making Derwent the colored pencil artists everyday is Christmas feeling. 2017 seen the introduction of the Derwent ProColour, then 2018 seen the first introduction of the Derwent Lightfast Coloured Pencils, perhaps the most anticipated pencils. 2021 seen the release of the Derwent Chromaflow, a direct competitor to the Prismacolor Premier, they originally only released a 36 set but in 2024 we were graced with a huge 150 set of the Chromaflow. As If that wasn’t enough, Derwent have now increased their most loved pencil, the Derwent Drawing Pencil to a beautiful 72 set which is on review here.
The Derwent Drawing pencil was originally released back in 1986, however only a set of six was released, the Chinese White, Ivory Black, Brown Ochre, Sepia Red, Sanguine and Chocolate. The set was expanded in 2000 to the 24 set we all came to know and love, but now, Derwent have spoilt us with the brand new 72 set of Derwent Drawing Pencils.
I have reviewed the Derwent Drawing pencils before, but for those new to colored pencils, I will provide a run-down of the pencils characteristics and then on to the new palette along with a comparison of the new additional colors compared to the 24 original colors.
The Derwent Drawing Pencil is the largest pencil in Derwent’s range, which in my opinion lends to the amazing experience of using the Derwent Drawing Pencils with the soft creamy core almost feeling like using a crayon. The Derwent Drawing Pencil sports a huge 5.0mm core and the buttery smooth core is encased in high quality 8.3mm, cedar wood barrel.
The barrel is lacquered this gorgeous orangey brown color, indicating the earthy palette Derwent have selected. Along one side of the barrel we have printed, in clear easy to read white print “Made in England” followed by “Derwent Drawing”. Further along the barrel we have the pigment name and number printed in the same easy to identify white print.
On the very end of the barrel, we have the quintessentially, Derwent pigment identifier, in the traditional flash shape. The pigment identifier is separated from the barrel with a decorative bronze ring. Every pencil in the Derwent range has this pigment identifier on the end, so much so that the Derwent Museum in Keswick, the entire outer building is painted in the same style, it looks like you are walking into a giant Derwent Graphite pencil.
Derwent Drawing Pencil 72 Swatch
As you can see below, I have included the full 72 Derwent Drawing Pencil swatch and this was completed on the Derwent Lightfast paper, an absolutely fantastic paper in its own right. I have to say, as a colored pencil artists who loves drawing botanical pieces, this palette is simply to die for.
As you can see the swatch is split into five rows, looking at the top row, we can see the yellows included, golden rich warm yellows like the mustard and Gold. The Apricot, Autumn Leaf and Rust are just perfect for autumn or fall drawings. The Strawberry, Autumn Red and Rioja are gorgeous and they take us into a few lighter tones. Light Sienna, which is an original color, Light Rust, Dusty Pink, Bistre and Ash Rose are perfect pale tones for blending and mixing.
On the second row we have two of my absolute favourite colours from this new 72 set, the Burnt Rose and Grape, truly beautiful colors. We then have a few light violet tones coming into the darker Delft Blue, a beautiful Royal Blue, Teal Blue, Polar Ice and stunning Deep Atlantic color. Toward the end we have some gorgeous pale grey blue tones in the Solway Blue, Ink Blue, Ash Blue and Smoke Blue.
On the third row we have a lot of new green colors included this in my opinion, was the only colors missing from the original 24 set. Fir Green, Spruce Green and Distant Green, then we have the new Fresh Green, Moss Green and Light Moss. Perhaps my most favourite of the greens is Sage Leaf, one of those Greens I think botanical artists are just going to love.
Row four is mostly colors from the original 24 set, only the Dark Brown, Light Ochre and Midnight are new colors. The Midnight is another gorgeous color, not quite a dark indigo, but more like an incredibly dark Prussian Blue with a hint of Paynes Grey.
The final row has the best dark green I’ve ever seen in a set of any colored pencils, Forrest, a rich deep dark Green. This is followed by a gorgeous selection of greys, Mist, Platinum, Carbon Grey, Granite, Taupe and Fossil Grey.
In 2016 Derwent released a new set of six pencils, the Black and White set, of which the core was that of the Derwent Artist range. The set comprised of three dark tones and three lighter tones. The dark tones were Raven, Midnight and Forest, blacks with hints of color in them. The lighter colors were Oyster, Arctic and Pure. Because the core of this six set Black and White was that of the Derwent Artist pencil, a much harder core, not many people took to them. However, Derwent have created the same colors in various sets such as the Lightfast range and the Chromaflow range, making the dark and light tones all the more desirable.
Now, Derwent have introduced four of the six colours to the Derwent Drawing range, Midnight and Forest as well as Arctic and Oyster. The soft creamy and buttery core of the Derwent Drawing pencil certainly makes the colors all the more desirable.
New 48 Colors Of The Derwent Drawing Range Compared With The Original 24.
I wanted to show the original 24 colours separately from the new 48 colours, just to show you the colors that have been added. At the time of writing this post, I have no idea if Derwent plan on selling a 48 set with just the new colors in it for those who already own the original 24 set, but I have sent an email to Derwent and as soon as I hear back from them, I will amend this post.
Derwent Drawing Lightfast Information
As the 72 set of Derwent Drawing Pencils are not available until the 1st of October 2025, Derwent have not released the official lightfast ratings. However, what I can say is that in the 24 set, 23 of the pencils were 8 on the Blue Wool scale, that is the highest and only one pencil was 7. Based on this information I think the 72 set of colors will be very similar in lightfast ratings.
However, when Derwent publish the lightfast ratings I will of course amend this review, this is the main reason I include a written review as I am in full control of it and can make changes as and when needed.
The New 72 Set of Derwent Drawing Pencils Conclusion.
I can’t tell you how much I love this new set from Derwent, I have to be honest, I sincerely never thought they would extend the Derwent Drawing set simply because of the palette. My Wife and I have been taking our kids to Keswick in the Lake District since they were born on family holidays. We only live an hour and a half away from Keswick and it is like a second home to us. However, the colors in the 24 set, are colors very much inspired by the beauty of the Lake District.
It is because of this, I genuinely never thought Derwent could expand the set and if they did, at a push I thought perhaps a 48 set. So, when the 72 set came out, I was thrilled, but even more so when I seen the actual colors. I really can’t speak highly enough of the new Derwent Drawing range.
The 72 set will be available on the 1st of October for everyone to buy a set. I think colored pencil artists all over the world are going to have a wonderful Christmas this year with a 72 set of Derwent Drawing Pencils for Santa to deliver.
Derwent have kindly given me a discount code for the followers of The Art Gear Guide. The code is valid from the 1st of October to 31st of December 2025. The code is DRAW-TAGG and this code will provide you with 20% discount on all Derwent products purchased directly from the Derwent website http:www.derwentart.com/en-gb . This is an amazing discount and especially for Christmas.
Finally, if you would like to win a 24 set of Derwent Drawing Pencils, all to yourself, completely free to you and no matter where you live in the world, I will ship to anywhere to whoever wins, all you need to do is click the link to my YouTube review and leave a comment. It doesn’t matter what the comment is, so long as you write something, by leaving a comment, you also leave your YouTube name, the software then collates all the names from the comment section and randomly selects a winner.
The Winner will be announced on the 1st of November, I have a few items to giveaway for Christmas and so announcing the winner of this giveaway on the 1st of November will see quite a few quality giveaways for the Christmas and New Year period.
Do not forget, if you are under the age of 18 you can still enter the giveaway, however it is important you make sure you have the permission of your Parents, Grandparents or Guardians as if you win you will need to provide me with you address. It is important to note that providing personal information such as your address to anyone over the internet is very dangerous and this is why your parents must agree. If your parents would like to chat with me to make sure the giveaway is not a scam, they can email me at theartgearguid@gmail.com and from there we can FaceTime, Skype of chat over the phone, whichever they would prefer.
