Derwent Charcoal Pencils

These are interesting tools for sketchers. I said yesterday that the Bruynzeel sketch pencils are a boon to have and they indeed are. But for those who solely concentrate on sketching, particularly portraits and other mono-works, these are interesting too. They have been here for a long time, Derwent's. I bought three for outdoor charcoal sketching - light, medium and dark. These three tones are suited for distant, middle ground and forground sketching. They are fat and quite easy to hold. Only problem is to shave them once the charcoal runs blunt. I prefer to use pen-knives and shave them into a wedge, gives the tips some consistency. I will also sketch using these and will show you the work soon.