'The arrival of brand new coloured pencils is always an exciting event in my studio, especially if they were created with the professional artist in mind,' says Alyona Nickelsen.

'Working with Derwent Procolour was a real pleasure and the colour selection is very attractive. The wood used for the casing is soft and allowed me to sharpen the pencils easily either with a knife to expose a large portion of the core, or with an electric sharpener to form a needle-sharp point.

'I was pleasantly surprised at how Procolour pencils retained their points under the pressure of a working hand, without crumbling or breaking. This is definitely a plus when moderate pressure is needed or when I work using striking strokes to achieve a textural effect.

'Another happy discovery was the fact that, due to a lower content of wax, Derwent Procolour coloured pencils immediately demonstrated a great ability to blend well on sanded paper with Powder Blender. They work perfectly for fast coverage of large areas such as backgrounds, creating seamless colour or value transitions or even when working with the wipe-off technique in the underpainting process.

'These pencils are also highly pigmented, and allow you to create impressive colour saturation in a single layer using heavier pressure, or by blending with odourless mineral spirits for a painterly effect.

'This set of pencils would be a great addition to a professional coloured pencil artist’s studio, although I would like to see more colours with the maximum lightfast ratings within the range'.

Demonstration: Of Dragons and Men

Of Dragons and Men, Derwent Procolour pencils on Fisher 400 paper, (23x40.5cm)