Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set
Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set
Cult Pens
Before we get into this review, in the interest of full transparency, which has always been my approach to reviews from day one of starting this channel; this review is in collaboration with the popular art store Cult Pens. Just before Christmas I was communicating with Cult Pens regarding a separate matter and I approached them about conducting reviews on their behalf of products they keep in their store. Before I explain my reason for setting up this amazing collaboration, I want to assure all of you that there is no financial gain to me whatsoever, I am not paid to do the reviews nor do I receive a commission from them and this can be verified by Cult Pens if you would like to ask.
I am very aware of the smaller art stores working in a market very much over shadowed by the larger platforms such as Amazon and as a result, I personally feel it is important to help the smaller stores as and when we can. We are all guilty of picking up our digital devices and ordering from Amazon and others because it is easy, but I feel the smaller art stores are every bit as important, if not more and so any support that can be given to them, I think is only a good thing. This Derwent Metallic Mixed Media set and another product was sent to me before Christmas but obviously due to being sick over that period I was unable to get the review out sooner, for which I apologise.
Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set Characteristics
This set is more along the lines of a gift set, the packaging that the products come in is top quality, sporting a hard cardboard exterior with a magnetic strip along the front of the box allowing easy access to the inside. On opening the Derwent Mixed Media Set you are presented with what can only be described as a treasure trove of rich metallic colours all glowing. Every item inside the box is inset into a hard foam protective shell, ensuring full protection of the supplies during transit or out on location.
This is a 19 piece set and once you remove the protective black foam sheet, you are presented with 12 gorgeous non water soluble Derwent Metallic Coloured Pencils. As well as this you are provided with 6 pans of metallic watercolours which are obviously water soluble and to help in the application of the 6 gorgeous watercolors there is a water brush provided.
Of the 12 non water soluble metallic colored pencils, the following colors are present, Rose Gold, Red, Silver Rose, Purple, Blue, Green, Silver Mint, Yellow, Gold, Bronze, Graphite and Silver. My only gripe with this set in general is the classification of the watercolor pans, there is no indication of pigment names or numbers on the packaging or on the plastic body holding the pans. I know that we can visually look at this set and say the pans from top to bottom are colors Silver, Orange, Red, Blue, Aqua Blue and Green; however some artists like to know the exact color names. I feel having to search the internet for any information relating to a product you purchased shouldn’t be the case, there is plenty of room to include such information on the packaging.
All of that being said, you can find the information on the Derwent Website and so the correct colors for the pans are Silver, Sunset, Red, Blue, Green and Lime Gold. I personally feel that this information could so easily have been added to the packaging, negating the need to search online and I know so many people are connected online, but there are a group of people who are not so well versed in the ways of the internet or have lost faith and trust in the service, so I don’t feel it is right to force those people on a fishing expedition just to discover the correct pigment names.
For those who may be new to the world of watercolor we will look at the water brush provided or also sometimes referred to as an Aqua Brush. The purpose of a water brush is primarily for watercolor artists working outside the studio, on location so to speak. This is not to say that you can’t use a water brush in the studio, not at all, but their primary function is for use on location.
If you imagine a traditional watercolor brush, you have the handle and then the brush, a water brush is similar in appearance only the handle comes apart by unscrewing and its hollow interior is filled with water. The water brush allows the water to flow internally to the brush and from there you can control how much water you require by gently squeezing the soft plastic body of the handle.
The water brush in the Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set sports what looks like a medium size brush nib, there is a lid protecting the actual brush and when you remove the lid, it can be posted on the rear of the water brush handle. The water brush holds a substantial amount of water and as you can see from the images, mid way along the water brush handle there is printed the word “PUSH”, indicating the area of the brush the artists needs to press when releasing more water.
Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set Performance
For the Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set, I wanted to show this to you on both black and white paper. The black paper that I used in the test was Derwent’s own Black Mixed Media Paper, this is a really nice paper but like so many mixed media papers, it is not a full watercolour paper and so should not be soaked in water as you might do with a traditional watercolor paper.
The White paper that I used was from St Cuthberts Mill, their Bockingford range, not the highest quality paper from St Cuthberts Mill, but still a really nice paper. This type of paper can obviously withstand a lot more abuse and water than certainly the Derwent Black Mixed Media paper and other traditional Mixed Media papers.
Up first I have provided images of both black and white paper displaying the 12 colors of the Metallic Colored Pencils and the pans just laid out below them.
As you can see from the two images provided above, in my opinion, the black paper really displays the metallic properties of both the colored pencils and the pans, even though the pans are simply placed on the paper, I personally think the dark background really makes this product pop.
Again with the watercolor pans being applied to both paper types, in my opinion the paint really shines, no pun intended on the black paper. I apologise for the blurry image on the black paper and I have added a few close up images of the Derwent Metallic Watercolor on both paper types, but even with the in focus images, I don’t think I have done the paint justice.
Until recently, I personally could not find a good place for metallic pencils or paints in my art, and please understand that this was due completely on my lack of creativity. One thing I will always do is fully display my flaws or mistakes when made and my feet dragging with regards to metallic art products was 100% due to my own lack of thought and creativity.
However, after testing and trying to come up with artwork to help display and demonstrate metallic products, I have since amended my view and not because I developed a decent level of creativity, that is very much still lacking. When I looked at fantasy art, sci-fi art etc, I could absolutely see the benefits, to help demonstrate this point I completed a painting using the Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set which I will show you below.
If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, you will have seen that I completed a small painting of Peter Rabbit from the amazing Beatrix Potter in a Etchr Sketchbook I had and this was to help demonstrate a different product. But in painting this image, I came up with what I thought would be a really interesting take for the Derwent Metallic paint. I completed the same Peter Rabbit painting on a St Cuthberts Mill, Saunders Waterford Pad; only this time I added a girls name to the top of the painting and here I added a small fairy on the capital letter in the name. As you can hopefully see from the image provided, I painted the name in the Metallic paint and the same for the Fairy but the rest of the painting was completed using traditional watercolors, helping to accentuate the name and fairy in the painting. In my opinion I think this worked well and really allowed me to separate the name from the main painting.
The core of the colored pencils is a slimline 3.8mm encapsulated within a slim 7mm hexagonal barrel which can be beneficial for so many artists given that a hexagonal barrel is less likely to roll of your studio desk, fall on the floor and run the risk of shattering the core. The barrel on every pencil is lacquered a gorgeous warm rose gold to bronze color, giving the appearance of opulence.
Along one side of the barrel we are presented with printed information starting with “Made In Britain”, in clear black print, this is closely followed with “Derwent Metallic” showing that the pencil is from Derwent the company and part of the Metallic line. The barrel does not sport a paintbrush icon showing that the pencil is not water soluble, every water soluble pencil will sport a small paintbrush icon to help depict it is in fact water soluble.
Toward the end of the barrel is printed the pigment name for that particular pencil along with a number helping to correspond with open stock value. The very end of the barrel sports the iconic Derwent diagonal flash which displays a black ring separating the bronze colored barrel from the half inch pigment identifier.
Awesome Cult Pens Pricing
As this review is in collaboration with Cult Pens, I am ecstatic to tell you that this set, at the time of writing this review, is a crazy £29.99. I don’t normally comment on prices, I just add them and let you decide if the set is value or not, and I would like to re-emphasize that I receive nothing at all from Cult Pens for doing these reviews, I don’t want anything at all other than to help you guys get fantastic value for money and as I mentioned at the beginning, help maintain the existence of or local and smaller Art Stores, but this price is amazing for this set.
Lightfast Information For Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set
The Derwent Metallic Mixed Media set does deliver surprising lightfast information, bearing in mind that the lightfast information is provided under the Blue Wool system and so this is graded 1 - 8 with 8 being the most lightfast and 1 being the least. If you would like to know more about both the Blue Wool and ASTM lightfast systems follow the link to my video on this subject were I layout everything you need to know.
The 12 colored pencils lightfast rating is as follows. Rose Gold - 8, Red - 8, Silver Rose - 2, Purple - 6, Blue - 8, Green - 8, Silver Mint - 5, Yellow - 7, Gold - 8, Bronze - 8, Graphite - 8 and Silver - 8.
For the 6 Watercolor Pans in the set the lightfast information is as follows. Silver - 8, Sunset - 6, Red - 6, Blue - 8, Green - 8 and Lime Gold - 7.
Derwent Metallic Mixed Media Set On Behalf Of Cult Pens Conclusion
As I stated in this review, for a while and due to my lack of creativity, I really struggled with where metallic art supplies would work or fit in with, but now that I have a reviewed a few metallic art supplies and created art with them, I can absolutely see the benefit with them. I also think in the hands of a a really creative artist, you are going to get really amazing results and I am not saying I am a bad artist looking for people to boost my ego, far from it, but my style of art is really a glorified photocopier, I have very little in the way of imagination when it comes to art supplies.
With the Derwent Metallic Mixed Media set, the pencils look absolutely amazing on dark paper, they look really nice on white paper but in my opinion the black paper really shows the pencils as I think they are supposed to. The Watercolor pans are incredibly striking on both white and black paper and I will leave it up to you as to which paper you feel the pans performed better on.
The set in general is a really gorgeous set, with a good quality water brush included, you could absolutely keep everything in the original package, although I do talk about and demonstrate the mess potentially made when using the pans in the black foam on my YouTube Video. However, if the packaging is not for you, you can obviously remove everything, including the pans and insert them into something more suitable.
Finally, the price that this set is currently being sold at in Cult Pens is phenomenal considering the traditional price point for the set. If this is a set you are interested in I would recommend getting it from Cult Pens as soon as you can and please remember, I don’t get anything at all for recommending this from Cult Pens.
Please check out my YouTube Video review of the Derwent Metallic Mixed Media set by following the link and you can also check out the painting I completed using the Derwent Metallic Watercolors. I will be uploading a speed drawing soon of the painting and if you would like to know how to paint a similar image, I will be adding a full real time tutorial to my Patreon Channel. If you would like to follow The Art Gear Guide on other social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, you can select the relevant icons below or the links provided, this will help you keep notified as and when new content is uploaded including new giveaways.
