Derwent Chromaflow Pencils, Set of 150 in Tin, 3.5mm Round Core, Premium Core Strength, Blendable with Smooth Texture, Ideal for Drawing, Coloring & Layering, Professional Quality (2306263)

These pencils are so saturated and pigmented. I purchased the 150 set after hearing that all of the colors will soon be available open stock from art stores. I mostly use Faber Castell polychromos for sketching and art, but I noticed a lack of the more bright, fun colors that a lot of the student brands have. I did not want to sacrifice performance and it was also important to me that the colors are available open stock. This set includes 4 great and very bright lime greens (Pear, Key Lime, Citrus Yellow, Lemon Lime) which are the hardest to find in the more "serious" professional art brands. I'm sure it has to do with lightfastness and subject matter, but I plan on using these in coloring books and love using bright, pigmented colors.On pencil quality, they are slightly smaller in diameter to the average Derwent pencil. They feel in the hand similar to a modern Prismacolor. The paint on the barrel is matte and there were some more textured pencils that I noticed, but did not affect my ability to use them. I also noticed some with chipped paint and incomplete printing, but also did not affect my ability to use them.They are extremely blendable and quite soft and buttery (to me, compared to Polychromos and Arteza). When I was swatching them I do not recall any scratchy colors. I also used the Prismacolor colorless blender and they are the most easy to blend of all of my pencils. I actually have to be careful to not blend or smudge too much! This also means that I can color faster because I can put down a light layer of color on the page and very easily blend it out to get the full color coverage that I want. They're not watercolor pencils, but the effect of using the colorless blender pencil on a light layer was similar to activating a watercolor pencil in that you can get a lot of color coverage and it does change the look quite a bit. The Derwent colorless blender used on a blend of blue and yellow actually blended to a green, where the prismacolor blender just brightened the colors and softened the texture.Overall I am very happy with these pencils. I think they're a great value and there's an excellent color selection. I wish they were a tad bit harder, but I also realize I'm probably in the minority when I gravitate to harder pencils and anything softer feels too soft. I definitely recommend these for coloring book enthusiasts.

This is my first time using colored pencils other than crayola quality, but omg they are so smooth and blendable I’m blown away! Also they sharpen very well and don’t break. Not scratchy either. Pretty soft and super vivid colors. Love them!

They were well protected for shipping, and the tin and pencils arrived in perfect condition. I sampled them in various coloring books for a quick test. The colors are vibrant and they glide when laying down the color. I especially liked how they lay down on the paper in Maria Trolle’s books. I sharpened a few without any breakage using a manual Kum sharpener and Prismacolor sharpener. The pine wood is different than all my other pencil brands, and it seems the Dahle 133 will sharpen the wood the smoothest. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase, and am looking forward to continue finding the best paper for these pencils. Derwent does such a good job with color selection, and I will enjoy using these pencils.

I have purchased 5 sets of color pencils, and chromaflow is my favorite!The core is soft and creamy, (but not as soft as prismacolor), which I enjoy that the point seems to last a bit longer.The tints are vibrant and beautiful!One thing that I noticed from other reviews was the breakage with sharpening them. Well, there is a special way to sharpen the soft-core pencils. Use a handheld shapener only. With the sharpener in your right hand, turn the sharpener not the pencil, going over the pencil (turning sharpener to the right).I hope that helps someone save their pencils.

The lead is not as soft as I thought it would be. Might be different on better paper. Ok for coloring but not professional quality, nothing says these are lightfast.Update: I tried the Chromaflow on better paper and they lay down beautifully. Colors are bright and vibrant.