DerwentGraphitint Paint 12 Pan Palette

I love the Derwent palettes! The colors are great for me, but they are mostly all muted, which some folks may not like. I happen to enjoy using them in mixed media projects because I don't have to spend a lot of time mixing colors. Anything Derwent is quality for sure and the Inktense line if especially great to have handy!

These paints work nicely alone or with graphitint pencils. I particularly like them for painting landscapes.

I have been wanting to try these pans for awhile and the price dropped so I pulled the trigger. Overall, they are wonderful. They behave differently than watercolor and are more opaque, like gouache. The graphite settles into the paper, which is more noticeable with cold press than with smooth sketchbook paper and in the light the flecks of graphite add a subtle shimmer. I used them with a light application on a drawing in my Hahnemuhle watercolor sketchbook and more heavily on 100% cotton cold press watercolor block. In both instances they were lovely to work with and allowed focus on tone without the "distraction" of a huge range of colors. The muted colors are lovely for rendering sea birds. One reviewer commented that the green grey was too similar to the other colors, but I found a significant distinction between that shade and the other colors in the palette while painting and mixing with it. I was able to get the darkest tones with the steel blue straight out of the pan, but the range of colors when mixing was impressive. I think these are a great addition to pencil and look forward to sketching with them. Well worth the investment.

As far as the paint and palette, I love it. The muted colors are brilliant for someone like me who does a lot of nature and portrait work. The paint is nice for sketchbook work and the range of colors mixes nicely. The trouble is the brush. It’s awful. The bristles don’t hold water very well and it’s just a fraction of an inch too short to fit in the palette while assembled, which means you have to screw it apart and put the little plug in it every time you finish using it. It just blows my mind that they didn’t bother to just make it a tiny, tiny bit shorter so it could fit in the palette fully assembled to save customers the trouble of having to put it back together every single time. I had this same problem with their pastel palette, too.The paint also falls out of the pans when you first receive it, so be sure to drop some water on each cake when you open it the first time and let it soak down between the cakes and the palette. When it dries, it will anchor the paint to the palette and they won’t fall out anymore.I ALMOST knocked off two stars for the brush issue simply because it would have been such an easy fix, but instead I’ll just deduct one. Overall, the paint quality and color range are great for the price. There’s plenty of room in the palette for mixing. The brush issue is just an annoyance, really.

This is the best watercolor set I have ever used! It’s absolutely fantastic! The colors pop, and I like that it dries permanently, meaning layers can be added without worrying about moving what’s already been painted. The only thing is more colors which is why the 24 set is on my wish list.

I love to take a small kit of paints and a couple of paintbrushes with me when I travel so that I can draw and create remembrances of the places I visit. I was not sure what to expect when I purchased this box, but it is a wonderful size, very portable, and the colors are absolutely brilliant with regard to using as is and mixing to create everything I might need for landscapes and urban environments. I appreciate that it came with a small water-based brush, but I tend not to use them and to carry my own brushes with me. I would not hesitate to someone else who likes to draw and paint similar scenes when they travel.

These paints are magnificent. They handle well, and are gorgeous colors with texture.I noticed however, that the paint pans were not in the same order as shown on the enclosed swatch sheet. I simply popped them out and rearranged them. I think this is the reason some reviews mention the colors are not as advertised? In my set, the colors were all there, they simply were in a different order in the palette. Also, another review mentioned "dirty" colors. These paints are graphitint--meaning there are particles of graphite suspended in the paint. This gives a lovely granulated, muted appearance. This is *not* dirt. It is the look intended and it is gorgeous.The palette as a whole is a lot smaller than I was expecting, but the pans are fairly deep. More of a travel set. There is a small waterbrush included. Not a *bargain* at $30, but the colors are irresistible.

Perfect lil set for on the go or just to add the shades of pastel range that the pencils don't cover.

Use this set a lot for quick sketching - colours are great. Very impressed.

When new and dry, the pans look quite a bit chalky, but they rewet very easily and produce beautiful, actually *pastel* colors (light and slightly muted). They also mix well to achieve soft browns, dusty pinks and purples, and a variety of beige shades. On a more personal note, I'm not a fan of the 'artichoke' green though and would have prefered a warmer color, perhaps like a may green. Overall a very fun palette that can be combined with mediums such as inks or colored pencils.

An excellent graphite watercolor palette. It blends the rich intensity of graphite with the fluidity of watercolors. It offers me a unique and versatile medium to enhance my watercolor paintings and projects. . It features a balanced range of graphite shades. Overall, an outstanding graphite watercolor palette for a very reasonable price. Derwent never disappoints.

They go on light and opaque. Can be used to add a layer of sparkle over a solid colour.My only complaint is the container. The place for the brush doesn't hold the brush with the cap on. Defeats the purpose of having a cap if you have to store it without the cap. I know you could unscrew it, but if the cap could just stay on the other piece wouldn't be necessary.

Beautiful pastel colors! Nice little palette to have it with you when you sketch or paint outside. If they had just reduced the size of the sponge by a centimeter or so, one would have been able to keep the included water brush ready for painting! I wonder how they have not thought of that. All in all, a satisfactory purchase