Our Verdict

Easy to hold and with a lovely balanced feel, these Derwent pencils are a joy to sit and sketch with.

For

Impressive range of degrees
Easy to hold and manoeuvre
High-quality matte feel
Easy to sharpen
Not too waxy or dry

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Like many others, I have fond memories of the Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick, the historical home of Derwent pencils in the UK – paying homage to the world’s largest pencil is draw enough (no pun intended) for an addicted scribbler like me. Graphite has been mined in the Lake District since the 1500s and Derwent has been producing pencils in Keswick since 1832, so they should know a thing or two about how to make a good one.

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The pencils are hexagonal in shape, so they’re easy to hold and manoeuvre, plus they have a high-quality matte feel. The cedarwood shaft has a very fine grain and texture that makes sharpening them a doddle, even if, like me, you enjoy using a scalpel to whittle your points. The cores also have an improved strength to help prevent those annoying messes when you sketch a little too enthusiastically.

With such good-quality graphite, the pencils have a lovely balanced feel to the marks you make – not too waxy and not too dry. It’s a real joy just to sit and doodle with them. While the size of the tin might make them slightly too big for a mini sketching-set, it’s still slim enough to fit into most backpacks easily, and with the addition of an eraser, sketchbook and sharpener, you’re good to go. Do Derwent make the best pencils in the world? I’ve tried lots of pencils, but I find myself coming back to Derwent again and again.

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The Verdict

out of 10

Derwent Graphic 9B-9H graphite pencils

Easy to hold and with a lovely balanced feel, these Derwent pencils are a joy to sit and sketch with.

Rob Lunn is a self-taught painter, and loves to paint in oils. His influences are Vincent van Gogh, Caravaggio and Ilya Repin. He has taught art workshops since 2012 and gets a real buzz from teaching people to draw and paint. He has contributed to Paint & Draw magazine and bookazines, and has also provided traditional art tutorials for Creative Bloq.