Loved seeing how the two papers completely changed the outcome of the painting! It really does look like that little "Not" sketchbook will make the paint look nicer. We'll see!
Can totally relate. How many times have we - as artists - been so excited to try a new product, only to end up wanting to stomp on it then dump it in the grill with red hot charcoal briquettes? Or is that just me? 😜
Nice swans! You are much more patient than I am - I don’t think I would have given them another go after the first painting. Thanks for saving me some $!
Looking forward to the graphitint review! You will like those way better than the charcoal set. Once you wet them; the colours suddenly pop (and shimmer a bit). I love the swan too, I quite like the moody colours.
I have this set and it was not dirty at all. It was very clean. I am wondering if it is the delivery people??? I wanted to love these. And I somewhat do. As with you, no dark shadows, but I think I will use these with my Nature Journal books where quick sketches and dark shadows may not be needed.
I remember now that mine was sent from the UK, so that would be why it was dusty, lol. Quick sketches definitely seems to be what this set is most useful for!
Now I'm thinking about it, my set came from the UK because there was an Amazon sale, and so I think that had a lot to do with both this one and the pastels being dusty, haha! And yes, those charcoals need serious water on them to activate properly.
I've been so curious about these! Thanks for the in depth review and paper comparison. I too have found paints behave very differently different papers, and I've also found all the Derwent pan products to be extra "thirsty" and add to rewet! Thanks again! Cheers!
Great video! I swatched my new set along with you and had a very similar experience, including the disappointing unboxing to a filthy palette and commingled pigments that needed to be cleaned, lol. Thank you! 😊
Nice idea with the black swan and the second painting came out really well. I might try something like that too. I have just gotten this set, it came in the most recent scrawlrbox and I found the paint’s came out much darker than you managed to get them, I used a pipette to drop water on top of the paints, then let it soak in, I then had to use lots more water to activate them to get the colour out. I have only used them a couple of times but I have found the paints a bit ‘blobby’, and not very smooth or even coverage, so I don’t love them. If you haven’t yet used the graphitint paints, then you’ll probably find them much better as they are lovely to paint with, and the colours in the paint is more clear and the coverage is nice and smoother. I also have the pastel set and the inktense, the inktense are my favourite, however the pastel colours go really well with them so I use them together.
I really struggled with these! 😭 But I have the Graphitint set ready to try out soon, and from all of everyone's accounts, they are much better! It's funny because when I was using the pastel set, I think I made comment that they would go well with the Inktense pans, and I'm glad you've confirmed that! ❤
Beautiful Becky I have the graphitint I use them in my colouring in.. it’s ashamed these paints didn’t work out well but the swan is adorable 🥰 ❤❤❤😊😊😊xxx
Some sketchbooks have "all media" type paper that seems to take anything. Before I was using sketchbooks I could rip out individual pages I was using those.
I had sooooo much trouble with this palette - it was such a pity because I loved the moody colours and loved the graphitint palette so much so I thought I would get a similar experience. What a disappointment! I’m glad I got mine half price. I use my palette for more sketchy/expressionistic/asbstract pictures in my sketchbook but I really need more depth to make it worthwhile
You can defo tell the difference in the papers, man that hahnemuhle sketchbook sucks!!! I actually loved the look of the charcoal paints, lovely muted colours but I really dislike charcoal in any form, far to messy for me, loved these black swans, I have never seen one in real life here in north Wales, great video :D
This was the least messy form of charcoal I've used, aside from the dust I had on the box. But quite a struggle to use them, and the Hahnemuhle paper certainly didn't help! Black Swans are native to Australia, and they were also introduced into New Zealand and possibly Papua New Guinea, so they're very much a Southern Hemisphere bird. 😊
I've just got this set and have only swatched them out so far. My set seem a lot darker than they appear in your swatches and demo. Did you activate the paint before using it? The charcoal blocks are very dry and need a lot time to wake up. I dropped water on mine, then left them sitting for at 10-15 minutes, then rewet again before using. I also used a slightly stiffer brush like i would for gouache and had no problems getting the paint off the pans. My first impression is the paint doesn't move the way watercolour does but just sort of sits there, watering them down you can get some very delicate hues, but full strength they are very dark, particularly thistle, driftwood, dark and ocean deep. They look lovely, although a bit moody for just before Christmas!
Maybe I didn't wait long enough, but even after painting multiple layers I still couldn't get the dark enough. I'm glad yours is working well though! Maybe I got a dud batch, lol.
I had the same outcome. I was really looking forward to these and was really disappointed when I got them. Particularly when you’ve tried the kuratake ones
Such a bummer that your sketchbook isn't working out. I have not tried cotton paper because I'm still learning, but I may avoid that brand in the future. Yikes! I agree. The charcoal should be darker. I still love the swans. 😊
Thanks for the honest review, I will admit to wanting to give these a go, I would love a black/grey toned pallet to urban sketch with and just to practice tonal painting. But I am going to give this one a miss, what would you suggest as an alternative?
I'd recommend either the Boku Undo set of 6 dark ink paints, or the Kuretake graphite set of 6. Both work well and have very pretty muted colours - I've got reviews in my video collection of both sets if you want to do some further research. They'd be very useful for sketching and tonal paintings. They're cheaper too, if I'm not mistaken, yay!
I have this set and the graphitint pans as well. I’ve put them both in a tin together. I surprise myself because I had the graphitint pencils, and absolutely hated them to the point that I ended up giving them away. This lot of pans I find I rather like. They just need a bit of time to reactivate for some of the colours. Also in my tin, I keep the mint green from the pastel set which for some reason I seem to need. I also have a squirt of schmincke transparent orange watercolour in a corner of the pallet. I have no idea why. Because you can’t mix it with any of the colours without getting complete mud. But my brain insists it has to be there and occasionally I use it for highlights in a picture I’ve done some lovely moody wintry scenes and I always seem to want to paint rocks and churches as we don’t know where half of things in my sketchbook come from. I don’t think I’m in control. Somebody else seems to take over half the time.
That is too bad about the sketchbook......I had not tried that brand's sketchbook, guess I won't. LOL For the paints, I usually use them to mix with other colors to get darker ranges or shadow mixes. Also, they work really well if you are using water-soluble sketching pencils, the two mix wonderfully. And I use Baong 100% cotton paper, less expensive, but also, so comparable to arches. They work very well on that paper, hot or cold press. Hope this helps! Great video!!!!
The Hahnemuhle book has been a huge disappointment! The paper is fine for watercolour pencils, just not really for paints, even though it's cotton. Oh well, I may go for a Baohong book next, depending on what I can find that's decently priced.
Nice swans, shame about the paint. 😅 I think it's interesting that Derwent is trying out these (sort of) different water soluble media. I have one of the inktense pen sets myself, sometimes wonder about getting others, but to be honest it's a struggle to get over the first hurdle: the fact that the water brush doesn't fit in the case. 🤦♂️ Tell me you're using rebranded generic chinese products without telling me you're using rebranded generic chinese products. (Seriously, I've seen these cases on Aliexpress, without the Derwent logo) And the charcoal set - _and_ the pastel set - are duds? There's a thought that runs through my head every time I inspect this brand: Derwent, I want to like you, but you make it too difficult.
Haha this is all so true! 😂 I think of all the soluble sets I've tried by Derwent, the long skinny 24 Inktense pan set is the best one. I have a Graphitint set as well which I haven't tried yet...I really hope it's better than the charcoals and pastels! Not really liking the odds at the moment though, lol.
Loved seeing how the two papers completely changed the outcome of the painting! It really does look like that little "Not" sketchbook will make the paint look nicer. We'll see!
I lost my words there when describing the other sketchbook, lol!! But yes, different papers really affect the paints.
Merry Christmas hopevyou have a good holiday
Can totally relate. How many times have we - as artists - been so excited to try a new product, only to end up wanting to stomp on it then dump it in the grill with red hot charcoal briquettes? Or is that just me? 😜
Ah yes, the old rage burn, haha!
Nice swans! You are much more patient than I am - I don’t think I would have given them another go after the first painting. Thanks for saving me some $!
I had to know if it was the paper or the charcoal paints but I was whinging the whole time, you can be sure of that! 😂
Looking forward to the graphitint review! You will like those way better than the charcoal set. Once you wet them; the colours suddenly pop (and shimmer a bit). I love the swan too, I quite like the moody colours.
I have high hopes for the Graphitint set - the pencils are nice too. 😊
I have this set and it was not dirty at all. It was very clean. I am wondering if it is the delivery people??? I wanted to love these. And I somewhat do. As with you, no dark shadows, but I think I will use these with my Nature Journal books where quick sketches and dark shadows may not be needed.
I remember now that mine was sent from the UK, so that would be why it was dusty, lol. Quick sketches definitely seems to be what this set is most useful for!
I love how the swan turned out.
Thank you, it's not too bad in the end...just not as dark as I wanted!
I also had no issues with my set being dusty. The only issue I had was that you almost need to soak the paints to get pay off.
Now I'm thinking about it, my set came from the UK because there was an Amazon sale, and so I think that had a lot to do with both this one and the pastels being dusty, haha! And yes, those charcoals need serious water on them to activate properly.
Yes indde hon 5 days to Christmas.... really hope you have a lovely christmas and wonderful new year 2024 xxxx
Thank you, and you too! 💙
@@BeckyTregear 🥰
I love the swan drawing, I think they came out really good
Thank you! ❤
@@BeckyTregear Your welcome
I've been so curious about these! Thanks for the in depth review and paper comparison. I too have found paints behave very differently different papers, and I've also found all the Derwent pan products to be extra "thirsty" and add to rewet! Thanks again! Cheers!
They are the thirstiest paints ever! So frustrating when first using them, lol.
Thoughtful review Becky. Thanks
Beautiful painting and thanks for the review
Thank you! 😊
Great video! I swatched my new set along with you and had a very similar experience, including the disappointing unboxing to a filthy palette and commingled pigments that needed to be cleaned, lol. Thank you! 😊
It's a pain when they have gotten all dusty on opening! I hope you find uses for your set (mine is currently languishing in a drawer, lol!).
Nice idea with the black swan and the second painting came out really well. I might try something like that too. I have just gotten this set, it came in the most recent scrawlrbox and I found the paint’s came out much darker than you managed to get them, I used a pipette to drop water on top of the paints, then let it soak in, I then had to use lots more water to activate them to get the colour out. I have only used them a couple of times but I have found the paints a bit ‘blobby’, and not very smooth or even coverage, so I don’t love them. If you haven’t yet used the graphitint paints, then you’ll probably find them much better as they are lovely to paint with, and the colours in the paint is more clear and the coverage is nice and smoother.
I also have the pastel set and the inktense, the inktense are my favourite, however the pastel colours go really well with them so I use them together.
I really struggled with these! 😭 But I have the Graphitint set ready to try out soon, and from all of everyone's accounts, they are much better! It's funny because when I was using the pastel set, I think I made comment that they would go well with the Inktense pans, and I'm glad you've confirmed that! ❤
Lovely Becky, swans in the UK have orange beaks
And white feathers! Swans are beautiful birds...I do love our Aussie black swans too though; they're the heavy metal version.🤘😆
Beautiful Becky I have the graphitint I use them in my colouring in.. it’s ashamed these paints didn’t work out well but the swan is adorable 🥰 ❤❤❤😊😊😊xxx
I'm looking forward to trying out the Graphitint pans - I hope they're better than the charcoal ones, haha!
Some sketchbooks have "all media" type paper that seems to take anything. Before I was using sketchbooks I could rip out individual pages I was using those.
The all media paper seems to be a lot better with these than watercolour paper, for sure!
Hi, Becky. Wow, that paper sure made a huge difference! Your swans were great, though! I did like the paint, but not the paper of that paint pad.
That sketchbook has been nothing but trouble so far! 😭
This is gorgeous, I love your notebook ❤❤
Thank you! 😊💜
I had sooooo much trouble with this palette - it was such a pity because I loved the moody colours and loved the graphitint palette so much so I thought I would get a similar experience. What a disappointment! I’m glad I got mine half price. I use my palette for more sketchy/expressionistic/asbstract pictures in my sketchbook but I really need more depth to make it worthwhile
Yeah it was a bit of a letdown; I had high hopes for this set too and it didn't live up to them, sadly! 😭
You can defo tell the difference in the papers, man that hahnemuhle sketchbook sucks!!! I actually loved the look of the charcoal paints, lovely muted colours but I really dislike charcoal in any form, far to messy for me, loved these black swans, I have never seen one in real life here in north Wales, great video :D
This was the least messy form of charcoal I've used, aside from the dust I had on the box. But quite a struggle to use them, and the Hahnemuhle paper certainly didn't help! Black Swans are native to Australia, and they were also introduced into New Zealand and possibly Papua New Guinea, so they're very much a Southern Hemisphere bird. 😊
I've just got this set and have only swatched them out so far. My set seem a lot darker than they appear in your swatches and demo. Did you activate the paint before using it? The charcoal blocks are very dry and need a lot time to wake up. I dropped water on mine, then left them sitting for at 10-15 minutes, then rewet again before using. I also used a slightly stiffer brush like i would for gouache and had no problems getting the paint off the pans.
My first impression is the paint doesn't move the way watercolour does but just sort of sits there, watering them down you can get some very delicate hues, but full strength they are very dark, particularly thistle, driftwood, dark and ocean deep. They look lovely, although a bit moody for just before Christmas!
Maybe I didn't wait long enough, but even after painting multiple layers I still couldn't get the dark enough. I'm glad yours is working well though! Maybe I got a dud batch, lol.
They need to sit, they go very dark if you do, but you don’t have much opportunity for lots of layers as they will lift a lot.
I had the same outcome. I was really looking forward to these and was really disappointed when I got them. Particularly when you’ve tried the kuratake ones
Oh yes, the Kuretake and Boku Undo sets are far superior when it comes to dark mass-tone!
I like your swans. I’m not a fan of charcoal in general…I do have the graphitint one too…I like the boku undo inks as an alternative…
Yes, the boku undo set is really great! ❤️
Such a bummer that your sketchbook isn't working out. I have not tried cotton paper because I'm still learning, but I may avoid that brand in the future. Yikes! I agree. The charcoal should be darker. I still love the swans. 😊
Yes, super bad luck with the sketchbook! Would not recommend, haha. I'll find another better one soon, I'm sure!
Thanks for the honest review, I will admit to wanting to give these a go, I would love a black/grey toned pallet to urban sketch with and just to practice tonal painting. But I am going to give this one a miss, what would you suggest as an alternative?
I'd recommend either the Boku Undo set of 6 dark ink paints, or the Kuretake graphite set of 6. Both work well and have very pretty muted colours - I've got reviews in my video collection of both sets if you want to do some further research. They'd be very useful for sketching and tonal paintings. They're cheaper too, if I'm not mistaken, yay!
I have this set and the graphitint pans as well. I’ve put them both in a tin together. I surprise myself because I had the graphitint pencils, and absolutely hated them to the point that I ended up giving them away. This lot of pans I find I rather like. They just need a bit of time to reactivate for some of the colours. Also in my tin, I keep the mint green from the pastel set which for some reason I seem to need. I also have a squirt of schmincke transparent orange watercolour in a corner of the pallet. I have no idea why. Because you can’t mix it with any of the colours without getting complete mud. But my brain insists it has to be there and occasionally I use it for highlights in a picture I’ve done some lovely moody wintry scenes and I always seem to want to paint rocks and churches as we don’t know where half of things in my sketchbook come from. I don’t think I’m in control. Somebody else seems to take over half the time.
S sorry for the lack of punctuation that made that rather hard to read, I’m using dictation software and I can’t seem to go back to edit.
Sometimes The Muses take over the creative process and we're just their vessels! 😁
That is too bad about the sketchbook......I had not tried that brand's sketchbook, guess I won't. LOL For the paints, I usually use them to mix with other colors to get darker ranges or shadow mixes. Also, they work really well if you are using water-soluble sketching pencils, the two mix wonderfully. And I use Baong 100% cotton paper, less expensive, but also, so comparable to arches. They work very well on that paper, hot or cold press. Hope this helps! Great video!!!!
The Hahnemuhle book has been a huge disappointment! The paper is fine for watercolour pencils, just not really for paints, even though it's cotton. Oh well, I may go for a Baohong book next, depending on what I can find that's decently priced.
@@BeckyTregear The Boahong is really a good price. Love the paper!! Even the student grade!!
💖💖💖🎄👋
Same. Very hard to activate.
Good to know I'm not the only one, lol.
I think you were unlucky my set was pristine no charcoal out of the pans at all.
My colours were a lot darker as well
I got a dud, haha! 😂
@@BeckyTregear try contacting derwent they may replace them for you. As I said mine were much darker and much more vibrant.
The sketchbook swan looks like something ruffled its feathers. Ive been less than impressed with derwent paints. You’ve managed to make great pieces.
Thank you! The paints started "bunching up" on the sketchbook, giving that ruffled feather look, haha! 😂
Nice swans, shame about the paint. 😅
I think it's interesting that Derwent is trying out these (sort of) different water soluble media. I have one of the inktense pen sets myself, sometimes wonder about getting others, but to be honest it's a struggle to get over the first hurdle: the fact that the water brush doesn't fit in the case. 🤦♂️ Tell me you're using rebranded generic chinese products without telling me you're using rebranded generic chinese products. (Seriously, I've seen these cases on Aliexpress, without the Derwent logo)
And the charcoal set - _and_ the pastel set - are duds? There's a thought that runs through my head every time I inspect this brand: Derwent, I want to like you, but you make it too difficult.
Haha this is all so true! 😂 I think of all the soluble sets I've tried by Derwent, the long skinny 24 Inktense pan set is the best one. I have a Graphitint set as well which I haven't tried yet...I really hope it's better than the charcoals and pastels! Not really liking the odds at the moment though, lol.
That looks awful!
My art or the charcoal paints? 😂
Very funny!