Derwent Pastel Pencils

Derwent Pastel Pencils deliver the rich, velvety look of traditional pastels with the control and cleanliness of a pencil. Designed for expressive colour work without the mess, Derwent Pastel Pencils provide smooth blending, strong pigment and excellent handling for both detailed and free flowing techniques.

Each Derwent Pastel Pencil features a soft, powdery pastel strip encased in wood, allowing you to achieve classic pastel effects while keeping hands clean. The wide pastel core lays down colour smoothly and blends with ease, making these pencils ideal for layering, shading and soft tonal transitions. The pastel strip is partially water-soluble, allowing subtle wash effects to be created when water is applied.

The smooth round barrel is made from California incense cedar wood and stained in a rich natural rosewood finish for durability and comfort. The generous barrel diameter offers maximum control and ease of use, while the extra-wide pastel strip allows artists to create both broad strokes and finer detail depending on pressure and sharpening.

Derwent Pastel Pencils are well suited to pastel paper, textured drawing papers and mixed media surfaces. They work beautifully alongside soft pastels, charcoal, graphite and watercolour, making them a versatile choice for expressive drawing and painting techniques.

Key features

• Soft, powdery pastel texture with a velvety smooth finish
• Encased in wood for clean, controlled pastel application
• Smooth blending and layering
• Partially water-soluble for gentle wash effects
• Suitable for drawing, shading and expressive mark making

Product specifications

• Barrel shape: Round
• Barrel diameter: 8.0 mm
• Barrel material: California incense cedar wood
• Barrel finish: Natural rosewood stain
• Core size: 4.0 mm
• Core type: Soft pastel, partially water-soluble