< Back to blog

Discover Albrecht Dürer Watercolour Pencils

Albrecht Dürer artists’ watercolour pencils from Faber-Castell provide artists with great versatility of expression when drawing, shading and painting in watercolours. High-quality materials, combined with over 250 years of experience, have resulted in pencils that produce unsurpassed watercolour effects and vibrancy.

Albrecht Dürer pencils are available in up to 120 colours that can be blended to form an unlimited number of new hues, either in sharp contrast to each other or merging imperceptibly. Whether you use them as pencils for adding detail, or as a convenient form of watercolour paints, these pencils are a fascinating medium that offer unlimited possibilities.

Exceptional Quality

These are incredibly sturdy and robust pencils, made to a very high standard. Faber-Castell are the world’s largest pencil manufacturer for good reason: they have been manufacturing art materials since 1761 and currently produce over 2 billion pencils per year.

Every Albrecht Dürer pencil includes a generous 5.3mm core, housed within a beautiful 8.3mm hexagonal barrel made from seasoned cedar wood. You’ll find that most water-soluble pencils are thicker than the usual standard as the materials used to create the cores have a different pigmentation. This extra thickness allows for extra coverage.

These pencils are designed with the artist in mind. For example, the hexagonal barrel is designed to prevent your pencils from rolling off of your desk and breaking the core inside. Also, each barrel includes the name of the pigment and the numerical code it corresponds with so that it’s easy for you to replace your pencils as they deplete.

Albrecht Durer Single Pencil

Unrivalled Lightfastness

Just to the side of the numerical code on the barrel is the lightfast star rating system, which allows you to choose your pigments according to their lightfastness. This is especially important if you are painting commissions and want to ensure that your artwork lasts a very long time.

Lightfastness refers to how long colours will remain as beautiful and bold as the day they were applied. If you intend to display your artwork in direct sunlight then you’re going to need to use pigments with a high lightfastness rating in order to preserve its appearance and ensure it doesn’t fade over time.

Faber-Castell make identifying the lightfastness of individual pigments very easy. Within the 120 set of Albrecht Dürer pencils, 64 are rated three stars, 48 pencils are rated two stars and only 8 pencils rated one star out of a possible three. This is an impressive number of highly lightfast pencils in such a large range. It’s incredibly difficult to offer 100% lightfast ratings across all pencils as, some pigments just don’t offer this ability.

Albrecht Durer Lightfastness Guide

Fantastic Performance

Performance is, of course, the most important aspect of the pencil. The Albrecht Dürer has a somewhat crumbly consistency when laying down dry colour onto watercolour paper. This allows the pigments to form an even mix that dissolves when you apply water. You shouldn’t expect this consistency with ordinary wax or oil based pencils.

Albrecht Durer Basic Techniques

With the strong and robust core, coverage is both smooth and consistent. They hold up very well to sharpening and don’t break when doing so, as some other watercolour pencils have a tendency to do. Low quality watercolour pencils can also tend to leave pencil marks under the paint. With Albrecht Dürer pencils, all of the paint dissolves and becomes the watercolour you want to paint with.

Available In A Number Of Sets

In addition to individual Albrecht Dürer colours, we offer an array of high quality set sizes to suit all budgets and needs.

Albrecht Durer Tin of 120

Choose from our set of 12, set of 24 and complete set of 120 colours, each presented in a beautiful metal tin for easy storage and presentation.

View our complete range of Faber-Castell products here.

Want to add some more art supplies to your collection? Here’s how to Choose The Right Tools.

< Back to blog

You may also like....

What is a Medium in Art?

July 11, 2022

Some things you simply can’t know until you look them up. But there’s no need to worry, we’re here to help. When it comes to the fine art world, countless terms can be confusing or misleading when you first start out. A great example of this would be the term “medium”, a word we all […]

read more

Are Staedtler Markers Non Toxic?

June 08, 2022

Staedtler has a history dating back to 1662 but was officially founded in Germany in 1835 – making it one of the oldest manufacturers in the country. Originally creating pencils, the company diversified throughout the years and now offers a wide selection of drawing and art equipment that includes modelling clay, sharpeners and rubbers. They […]

read more

Why You Should Be Trying Different Illustration...

January 27, 2022

Many illustrators have made a career from having a unique and distinguishable style, often associating themselves with one brand or author. However, it doesn’t hurt to familiarise yourself with different illustration and drawing styles to both help find your favoured style but also to give you insight into others work.  Getting to grips with different […]

read more

7 Easy Pencil Sketching Techniques

May 28, 2020

Pencil sketching has long been a popular art form, and it’s no wonder why. Sketching with a pencil is versatile, portable, and requires only a few basic art supplies. With just a few tools you can create an incredibly detailed and beautiful work of art.  There are many styles in which you can sketch with […]

read more

The Best Watercolour Brushes

July 22, 2019

There are a myriad of options when it comes to selecting the right watercolour brush. You’ll find that watercolour brushes are made from a wide range of materials, coming in various shapes, sizes and costs, which can make it difficult to know which type is right for you. There are many different types of watercolour […]

read more

Sketching & Drawing: Choosing The Right Tools

September 15, 2015

The trusty pencil is, of course, a fundamental tool for every artist. Our guide runs through how to choose the best tool for creating your sketches and drawings.

read more