Derwent Pencils from childhood

I have always loved colour, so it is no surprise that all I wanted as a child was coloured pencils, markers, pens, paint and other art and stationary materials. This set of 72 Derwent Pencils was my pride and joy at the age of about 7. I use water-soluble pencils much more often these days, so have created a couple of blog posts about those, but as it was National Pencil Day in the US last week, I thought I'd share these old friends. They have travelled with me to over a dozen different housesin three countries over the years yet here they all are - all 72. They don't have any fancy colour names, just numbers, 1 - 72.

Derwent coloured pencils from the 1970s.

 I like the colours of the Derwent (and Faber Castell) pencils as they are very realistic and usable, with a good range of earth browns and interesting greens.

Derwent coloured pencils from the 1970s drawn out.

Happy drawing :-)

CARAN d'ACHE Museum Pencils

Caran d'Ache is a Swiss company that has been making a wonderful range of writing and drawing products since 1915. "Caran d'Ache comes from the word "karandash" that is the Russian term for "pencil" and in turn comes from the Turkish root "kara tash" which refers to black stone - the origins of Graphite" (https://www.carandache.com/en/maison/history-and-origin)

They make a range of products for the home as well.

I bought this intriguing set a number of years ago as it looked like a very portable way to carry a number of watercolour pencils. I put the leads into an old cigar package. What I particularly liked was that the pigment information was given - very rare - and the lightfast ratings are excellent. They re-wet well and can easily be used to paint with.

While I believe this set has been discontinued, the new range of traditional wooden watercolour pencils (see here) are probably made using similar pigments though the range of colours is now 80. I haven't tested the new range but they look gorgeous!

Caran d'Ache Museum Watercolour Pencils - Lemon Yellow, Golden Cadmium Yellow (Hue), Orange,
Light Cadmium Red (Hue), Scarlet.

Caran d'Ache Museum Watercolour Pencils - Purplish Red, Violet, Dark Ultramarine, Permanent Blue,
Turquoise Blue.

Caran d'Ache Museum Watercolour Pencils - Phthalocyanine Green, Bright Green, Light Olive,
Yellow Ochre, Brown.

Caran d'Ache Museum Watercolour Pencils - Genuine Umber, Payne's Grey, Black, B graphite, 3B Graphite.