Derwent Coloursoft Pencil (Brown Earth C630)

One caveat about this review: I like fine detailing, so take what I say with a grain of salt.I wanted to love Coloursofts, but, alas, I cannot even like them.Pros: They ARE soft. Most of the colors are permanent to light. They do layer well. Many of the colors are looking to be unique. If you like texturing instead of smoothness, these are fine.Cons: They crumble too easily. Just use them to make the points crumble, as even light pressure causes point failure. (Best used, IMO, with broad points, to glaze/layer.) Prisma Premiers are far better at keeping their points! Any coloring pencil crumbles a bit when sharp. Some brands, like Polychromos, Verithins, Pablos, and Luminances have very little crumbling, scarcely an issue at all. Premier soft cores can be ... MoreOne caveat about this review: I like fine detailing, so take what I say with a grain of salt.I wanted to love Coloursofts, but, alas, I cannot even like them.Pros: They ARE soft. Most of the colors are permanent to light. They do layer well. Many of the colors are looking to be unique. If you like texturing instead of smoothness, these are fine.Cons: They crumble too easily. Just use them to make the points crumble, as even light pressure causes point failure. (Best used, IMO, with broad points, to glaze/layer.) Prisma Premiers are far better at keeping their points! Any coloring pencil crumbles a bit when sharp. Some brands, like Polychromos, Verithins, Pablos, and Luminances have very little crumbling, scarcely an issue at all. Premier soft cores can be brought under control with careful usage. Coloursofts' crumbling causes problems.Blending? With a solvent, yes. With heat, probably. By the way, many of these colors dissolve in water, like a watercolor pencil. And drawing on wet paper makes for some good effects, well worth trying for those who like this kind of pencil.The laydown, for me, is a failure. These pencils are clumpy on every kind of paper I've used. Even Crayolas, Cra-Z-Arts, and Rosearts have a smoother laydown than Coloursofts. For those willing to overlook these faults, this brand has some unique, very useful properties.

I have used these myself and I prefer them over Prisma colors. I bought several of them to replace the prima colors for my classes as they are break resistant and need to be sharpened less. Well, in theory anyway.

Just tried these out breifly...really impressed. I got the skintone package in Derwent and sepia in Tombow, and I like the Derwent a little better. I found the Derwent to be a tad less waxy/Crayola brand-like than the Tombow. I love that they came in a metal case, because I'm a pretty rough and tumble gal as far as my art supplies go, and the case will come in handy when transporting supplies to do portraits. When it's time to get another color family, I'll definately check out what Derwent has to offer first!