Freebies!

My friendly postman has been at it again. Yesterday I had another unexpected package. I do like jiffy bags: you can bet your life it's not a bill (unless it's a REALLY big one!)

When I opened it, I discovered those nice folks at Derwent had sent me a little pressie. They'd noticed how keen I am on my pastels and thought I might like to try out some samples of their wares. So I did... 

It's interesting: I already have a few Derwent pastel pencils (labelled Rexel Derwent), but I'm not keen on them - they are slightly waxy, which doesn't mix well with the softer chalks. These new ones are different though: they are lovely to use, and the colour is really rich. I was especially pleased to have the pillar-box red, as it made me realise that the red pastel pencil I have been struggling with for my, oh-so-fiddly Baby Can Bounce spider is rubbish!

Got to say though, their pastel sticks are not going to be any good for my illustration work: though the tin says 'new softer texture' they are still harder than the other brands I use, like Unison and Rembrant, so they tend to scrape the softer chalk off the page. I will however try them out again on general sketching, where I think they will be perfect - really soft pastels are not even slightly portable, but these look like they'll be tougher on-the-go.

Thank you Derwent - much appreciated!