New Artbar Range!

Derwent’s new Artbar is a water-soluble wax bar perfect for creating bold expressive marks and building up texture. The high wax content gives the Artbar a very smooth consistency and its unique triangular shape means you can make many more distinctive marks than you can with a traditional round block.

Derwent’s new Artbar is a water-soluble wax bar perfect for creating bold expressive marks and building up texture. The high wax content gives the Artbar a very smooth consistency and its unique triangular shape means you can make many
more distinctive marks than you can with a traditional round block.

The new Derwent Artbar range recognises the role of tone within art and the comprehensive spectrum of 72 opaque colours is divided into 4 tonal groups, Brights, Pales, Earths and Darks. For easy colour selection the colours within each
tonal group are positioned together in the tins.

The Artbar has been tested by our panel of professional artists and they found the new Derwent Artbar incredibly versatile, being able to use them dry and wet as well as being able create texture by building up layers of colour almost like paint...

‘I like the mix of drawing vs the painterly marks they can make, the flood of colour and the soft subtle washes that can be obtained despite their richness’ Vivien Blackburn

‘Being able to achieve a delicate watercolour effect and strong gestural mark making on the same piece of work is quite exciting!’ Bev Dunne

‘I found they layered up (used dry) very nicely. Layers ‘took’ really well on all types of paper building up to deep, solid colour’ Nicki Macrae

Each Artbar is protected by a peelable silver wrapper which can be removed in sections thereby ensuring that both the Artbar and your hands are protected throughout the life of the bar. They are perfect for working ‘en plein air’ as they are easy to transport dry and will balance on a hand held sketchbook without falling off!

Derwent commissioned Cornish artist Glyn Macey to draw the image for the tins. Speaking about the new range he said: ‘The Derwent Artbars are an absolute joy to use, particularly their very soft texture.

This is I think the most interesting aspect to this product, the fact that I can draw, colour and paint using the same product, they are absolutely perfect for travel painting due to the light weight and clean nature of the product. The fact I can mix them with water is a masterstroke!’ Glyn Macey

The new Derwent Artbar is available individually and in selections of 12, 24, 36 and 72. The 12 tin contains a set of basics which, in theory, can be used to create any colour you want.

To help you understand the art of colour mixing, a tutorial is available to download from the Artbar section of the website.

Derwent has also developed 3 accessories to accompany the new range to ensure you get the maximum creative enjoyment out of the new Artbars.

The Spritzer allows you to spray water onto dry marks and watch dramatic effects emerge as the pigment disperses.

The Scraper enables you to scratch into layers of pigment to reveal the colours underneath. And finally the Shave ‘n’ Save lets you shape the Artbar, shave bits off and save them in the jar.

They can then be used at a later date, with a little water, to add texture to your drawing or painting.

To see a video of the Artbar and accessories in action visit the hints and tips section of the website.