Derwent Watercolour Pencils Review & Demo
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- Опубліковано 19 жов 2024
- Welcome to another thorough review video! Today I'll be taking a close look at Derwent's Watercolour pencils, and in the second half of the video I'll be showing a timelapse of a painting I completed with this product.
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Frequently Asked Questions: claudiasketche...
Claudia's Sketchers discord chat server: / discord
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Time stamps:
Intro: 0:04
Packaging: 0:49
Pencil: 2:45
Swatch chart: 3:48
Techniques: 5:28
Demonstration: 09:15
Summary: 18:04
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Info:
-Scan of my swatch chart: imgur.com/a/kDb4e
-Lighftastness value info breakdown: en.wikipedia.o...
-Chart & Info of all colours: accoblobstorag...
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Materials:
*Derwent Watercolour 24 Set
UK: amzn.to/2E2auXG
US: amzn.to/2N6PjsT
Canson Montval 300gsm watercolour paper
*Clairefontaine pastelmat
UK: amzn.to/2v01zUa
US: amzn.to/2MroJyt
Derwent electric eraser
*By purchasing through the amazon affiliate links above, I earn a percentage commission on the sale at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your support- you’re helping me to review more products and improve my channel’s content!
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Reference: pixabay.com/en...
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Hi friends! I've been noticing a lot of comments on my older videos where people tell me to turn off the background music! Thanks for the feedback- the advice was heeded a while back (November 2017-ish, around the time I was able to upgrade my audio quality), so be sure to check out some of my newer videos. 😊
PS: Be sure to check out the cards in the top right for other reviews on watercolour pencils!
Can you please let me know what’s the sketch book you are using ? I realised the sketch book what I use at the moment , the paper would go bad when it touches the water. Not sure about the quality of the paper .
Many thanks
Nilmini
I have the 72 sets in both the Derwent watercolour pencils and the Inktense. I often dip my watercolour pencil tips in water as well as take colour off the tip with the brush. I always make sure I hang them upside down afterwards and give them plenty of time for the wood to dry before putting them away. Just like you would for a brush. I’ve never had any problems with the wood cracking as a result. ❤
Derwent wc pencils are my fave wc pencils. They're soft and creamy and has a great color payoff. I like them better than Faber-Castell wc pencils coz they are softer and the feeling of using them on cold pressed wc paper or sanded paper is heavenly.
Thanks for watching and commenting! I enjoyed working with them, I'm glad you do too :D
Wc pencils
I have a fairly old version of these pencils, mine came in a light blue tin. I agree on the additional material, I always enjoy the leaflets showing other product options from the company, also having useful info on the underside of the lid would also be valued. Great review and drawing as always 😊
What a thorough review! I greatly enjoy your review style, looking forward to watching more!
Thank you very much for watching and commenting, glad you enjoy my process!
Wow, seriously, you are on top of your game. You didn't leave anything to the imagination. Obviously, you have one of the highest commands of the English language I've seen, or you had a heck of a writer construct the writing. I bought some and wanted to watch this before trying them out. Outstanding Claudia.
Thanks for a great tutorial. I found a tin of watercolour pencils under the bed this evening and then by happenstance stumbled upon your tutorial as to how to use them. Looking forward to the sun coming up tomorrow morning so I can crack on with creating a swatch palette and then dive into something a little more creative.
Excellent tutorial, and very timely for me as yesterday I visited the Derwent factory outlet shop and museum in Keswick and bought the 36 artist pencil set.
Having completed my own swatches and test piece I agree with most of your conclusions.
After many years using the student pencils I was particularly delighted with the much denser pigments in the artists quality.
For anyone planning to visit the museum be aware that all the Derwent pencil sets are on sale at vastly reduced prices.
Thank you Claudia.
Omg thx for reviewing . I was planning to buy them . But not really sure of them before .
And Now I'll be buying soon
I'm glad I could help! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
like the review... like all your reviews a lot... very in depth.....thanks a lot!! I use watercolor pencil mixed with tube watercolors to have best of both worlds...... I like the faber castel watercolor pencils a lot
Thank you so much, Sayanti! I'm itching to try out the Albrecht Dürers, they look brilliant. :)
Claudia Sketches Do you happen to know any ‘Unknown’ brands that rival the best, pencil wise? Someone must make some, I like supporting small brands/companies if they can match or exceed the top of the market as long as it’s not vastly more expensive. Assuming I can afford them.
Sayanti Fine Arts ddc
This video is absolutely perfect and really really helpful, all my questions and doubts are answered here since i m just starting color pencils, thank you for this wonderful demonstration i am buying this set right now ☺️👍
Thank you very much! Glad you found the video helpful :)
I enjoyed your review, especially when you told your audience your lack of any direct connection to the product. That helps one in evaluating your review. I use this product quite often and found what you had to say to be in line with my feelings and observations. I also enjoyed your work. Very artistic and pleasing to the eye. I just cannot sketch, draw or paint as fast as that (bad joke). I so than you for the review. I have a better opinion of the pencils and feel I’ve been using the right medium for my sketching and painting. I normally use water color paints, normally Turner, but I do on occasion touch up my water colors with watercolor pencils (Derwent for the most part). In plein air work I have found watercolor pencils easier to use than paints so your comments are close to my heart. Thank you so much.
Great video had just ordered myself some and then came across your video look forward to your next one
Beautiful demonstration. Love your skills and thank you for the share!!
Nice review, Claudia, love it. I'm lucky enough to have both sets, Derwent 72 watercolor tinbox and Albrecht Dürer 120 tinbox. Derwent is not bad at all, depict their lightfastness, but Faber Castell's are incredible! You should try them as fast as you can, and you will never look back. ;) Regards and thank you.
Thank you very much, Raul! I definitely will try the Albrecht Durers- if I don't get a set for Christmas I might just have to treat myself to some ;) I'm also interested in trying out the Caran d'Ache Supracolors... too many art supplies, too little time!
You should!
On the other hand, Caran d’Ache make excellent products, but I think they are a little overpriced. But you can’t argue with the lightfastness they provide, nearly all of their range are archival for 100 years.
I wish you a merry Faber Christmas! :)
Raul Brozzi I've promised myself only to buy Caran d'Ache if I can find a steal on eBay for that very reason. And thank you very much! I hope you have an equally artfully fruitful season :D
I think your approach in this piece is so wonderful. I relate it to pastel-pastel pencil, my favorite medium. Do you use minimal water? Does pastelmat wrinkle or buckle? I love the watercolor feel of this painting. I cannot watercolor not at all 😂😂
maybe I can now
I do have these, but I think derwent could improve the formulation of these pencils such as, improve the dissolving ability so no pencil lines show, improve the layering capabilities when dry. The wood casings need to be stronger to support the softer core because it does break frequently, the studio pencils are fine because they are a harder lead so they don't break as often. The vibrancy does need improving but derwent do have the inktense, so I guess these are for light and paler colours to contrast the inktense so you can do mixed media with it. The lightfastness could improve but other brands have fugitives colours also, and even then fugitive colours are still being sold and bought. Professional artists grade brands still sell fugitive colours but some artists agree that some colours just cannot be lightfast, I mean look at opera rose, it is still sold and used by botanical artists regardless of lightfastness issues. Also artists use copic markers and these are not lightfast. Derwent does get a lot of hate for the quality and lightfastness issues of their products compared to other brands such as faber castell and caran dache, but at least their customer service is good, the lightfast ratings of their products are honest probably because they do better testing, and they are willing to improve their products such as the new derwent lightfast and the new paint pan travel sets. If we politely whisper to derwent to improve their products especially their watercolour pencils then they will improve.
Very well written and thoughtful comment! Thank you :)
Excellent video. Very helpful. Thank you.
Thank you very much for watching and commenting! Pleased you found it useful :)
I have a suggestion that I came across especially since I enjoy multimedi, pastels,watercolor and ink. I use Strathmore 400 series paper and stretch it. In other words I wet it then I use a clear liquidex gesso but only one fourth amount to the water. I tape it with artist or brown tape. When it dries, the pastels and watercolor show brighter and the ink well is ink. The paper does not warp but it takes a couple tries because if too much clear gesso will impead the intensity of color. Give it a try
I have the Durent and Albrecht Durer. So the very light clear gesso on 140lb paper helped me. No more than 1/4 clear gesso AFTER the paper is saturated.
Sounds fun and interesting! I'll try it if I ever buy gesso and the paper :)
I have a vague memory of hearing of a glass used over pictures that has its own ability to increase lightfast rating of the image. Have you heard anything like that? Something galleries would use? Block UV rays perhaps.
Yes, it's called Museum Glass i believe :) . It's more expensive and you're right that it filters out the spectrum of UV light that can breakdown pigments. UV protective fixatives also exist.
However... visible light also breaks down pigments. And there's not much you can do about protecting a displayed work from visible light (apart from hanging it away from light sources). I did a test last year on my Derwent Inktense for a few months during our very bright summer- one protected with UV fixative and one without (+1 control), and the lower rated colours did fade noticeably even with the spray.
Personally I think if you're creating work designed to be displayed for years, it's worth investing (where possible) in products that will stand the test of time. It gives a good sense of security but also potentially saves your customers from having to buy museum glass for the pieces.
Another lovely and educational video.
I cannot get bored from your posts.
You are so resourceful and knowledgeable.
This is something to be Proud off.. even Bragged about..
To tell you a secret, just between you and I.... I possess most of the materials you show. BUT, they are allllll still packed and closed. I seem to be an art-materials collector rather than a user... something that is bugging me lately. I do not know how to begin.. or I do not want to start off with something and find that I am either unable to do things with it or it is a disappointment... So I keep buying stuff and preserve them.. It is not ending! Any advice?!
Thank you so much! Hearing that my videos are enjoyed makes me very happy :)
It sounds like you have the imagination and creativity, but not the practice? Try focusing on the enjoyment of using the materials you own rather than the end-result at first. Start off with swatching out a set of something that inspired you most. Play, experiment- see how they blend and interact with each other. What can be done with them- what can't they do? All of this trial and error helps to build an understanding of the medium and you'll be much better prepared when you start using them to render something. Play with colour and texture, soon enough you'll be itching to draw something.
I've been in a similar place- at least feeling disappointed whenever I created something... because it didn't match the image in my head. Using all the tools that you have available helps (e.g. tracing/grids for an accurate outline, using digital colour pickers to help with choosing colours, converting your reference to black and white to see the values and contrasts). It takes time to build skill and discover all the helpful hints, but the sooner you start the sooner you'll know them, and the sooner you'll be consistently producing work that you're happy with. I found that drawing very regularly helps not only practice and build skill, but also changes my perspective on art. When I started out, every single piece was very precious to me and as such I'd be devastated if it didn't go to plan. Now, if a piece doesn't work out, it's not really a big deal- I know that there will be loads of pieces in the future that I'll be happy with and I can move on knowing what not to do next time. Remembering that this is a journey, and that there will always be improvement is a comforting thought- for me at least! :)
Perhaps promise yourself to use something before buying more, or tell yourself that you have to practice X amount of hours a week before you allow yourself to upgrade, buy a different set or try something else in your collection. Hope this helps! :)
Wow. I am amazed. Allow me to copy your reply to keep it as a Motivation.
Your words are most encouraging.
I will try to follow these instructions.
Thank you a lot... Thank you for the time and effort of replying. It means a lot to me.
Best Regards,
Any time, Guru! Just glad I could help. Please let me know how you get on and of course don't hesitate to ask if there's anything I can help you with :)
Surely, I will :D
Great honnest review Claudia, wonderful picture and i had order the Sennelier and winsor & Newton watercolors set, do you like that kind of watercolor sets Claudia, to me it will be my first try xx
Thank you, Sylvie! I have a couple of sets of pan watercolours but I don't use them all too much. I find I have more control with a pencil than a brush. I occasionally use regular watercolours as an underpainting though, and use pencils and pens over the top. :)
OMG! i'm devastated by your response to me :LOL! i tought it would be easier with a brush and you Claudia the Pro of watercolor tell me it's more difficult Oh My what a my gone do with these when i will recieved them snifffff!
Sylvie Dufour I'm certainly not a pro with watercolour- I barely use the medium :P
And it's just down to personal preference, Sylvie! Just because I don't like it as much as pencils doesn't mean that it's bad, or that art can't be made using them. :)
You're so sweet my dear friend xx Thank You Claudia!
Great review and demo ! Thank you.
Thank you for watching and commenting, Ramona :D
Great review! I agree that Derwent has some low lighfastness across a majority of their products. Did you notice if certain colors dry transparent or opaque? I found that the browns and blues dried much more opaque than the reds and greens
I would classify the majority of the pencils in the 24 set as semi-opaque, but you're right in that the red/yellows/purples dries more transparently, although I found that the greens were about as opaque as the browns and blues. If you take a look at my scan of my swatch chart (link in the description) you'll see what I see :)
Actually I understand that pencils in a given range have different lightfastness, because that depends on the pigment, i. e. the colour. What I do NOT understand is that Derwent does not offer a "lightfast set", because a look at Derwent's colour chart shows that even in the yellows and reds there are a few lightfast option (gold, flesh pink and madder carmine have 8 or 6.)
Great butterfly and thanks for the review!
when i use these pencils the original marks always stay after i go over them with water, it would be nice if they dissappeared
Love the butterfly!
Thank you very much! :)
I would love to learn how to color butterflies with Derwent and Prismacokor as well. Thanks!!
I'll add it to the list and keep it in mind for a future video :)
I just got the same watercolor pencils im making a wonderland art❤❤❤
Lovely! Good luck with your piece and enjoy your watercolour pencils :D
Derwent watercolors pencils or Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolour Pencil? Which one is better?
How do you organize and store yours art materials? I'm just curious
Tania Montandon I don't have any particularly special way of organising my materials- they just stay in their tins and then go into my cupboard :) I do like to keep the pencils in colour order though in the tins, and when I'm using them I'll keep the ones I'm using out in Tupperware and mugs to keep the, accessible.
Faber-castel and darwent which is best watercolour pencile. . . ? Please inform me
If you haven't already, check out my review on Faber-Castell's Albrecht Dürer pencils. I provide clear descriptions of the pencil's properties, meaning you'll be able to compare what you've seen in this Derwent Watercolour review to those pencils. ua-cam.com/video/u-kEsH7Wh2g/v-deo.html
That being said, my personal preference is the Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils. They score better in terms of lightfastness and their pigmentation is better. They hold a better point and have smoother laydown that the Derwent. They often retail at around the same price, meaning that in my opinion the Albrecht Dürer win hands down. The colour selection in the Derwent watercolour set is softer and more subtle, which can either be seen as a strength or weakness depending on what you like.
Ultimately it's down to your own personal preference though, and what might be cheaper or more available where you live :)
Only thing I don’t see the colors really “blending” at all. You can intersperse them or stripe or blend on the end. But making lighter colors or reddish purple, greenish yellow, etc., doesn’t happen.
if you use pencil completely can you buy them separately ?
Yes you can Alex, there's plenty single pencils available on eBay.
I'm very disappointed with most Derwent products. The only pencil line I like is the Derwent Graphics AFTER the rebranding, but again, they are still not my favourite. I experienced endless breakages with all their lines except that one. My 12 Pastel pencil tin broke so badly (all 12 of them) I had to get a replacement from Derwent. I found the Studio pencils (big mistake, bought the 72) are super dry and scratchy, and I could not get the saturation despite many layers. They also blended quite badly with rubbing alcohol, which works for my Polychromos and Luminance. The sketching and water-soluble sketching pencils are very dusty and difficult to sharpen. I use their accessories like electric erasers and pencil extenders though. But on the subject of these pencils, I would also think that they are dry and waxy. I wouldn't like how they look, which actually affects my mood when I'm drawing. For the price I pay for Derwent pencils, it is not worth it. Bear in mind, my local art supply shop sells the Derwent Pencils a lot cheaper than online or overseas. All the 72 sets cost about 60 USD compared to 110 on amazon, or 516 Krone (I assume you use that currency), but yet, I don't feel that it's worth it. I'd rather pay 2 times the price for a Polychromos Pencil. I also realised, now that you mention it, the Albrecht Durer cost about the same as a Derwent Watercolour on Amazon! That is insane. I can't buy Faber-Castell coloured pencils locally because they are seriously expensive. I have a bias for Faber-Castell btw. every product I have got from them, including their kid's watercolour and classic pencils, are of a superior quality to competitiors, and for a very reasonable price, compared to Derwent at least
Have you tried the Derwent Drawing pencils? They're by far my favourite Derwent product- the colours are saturated, the laydown is buttery and smooth and the colour range is so unique. Oh- and they're all lightfast for once!
I have an old set of 72 Studios which I use only very occasionally now- definitely agree that they are dry feeling and not very saturated at all compared to Polychromos. I've heard many people voice the same opinion, and I've heard that the reason why the pencils are like this was because they were designed for a time where CP work was most popularly loose and sketchy, rather than heavily layered and brightly saturated. I also picked up a small tin of Coloursoft when I bought this watercolour set, and I'm really interested in see how they work out as I've heard lots of mixed/negative reviews about them too.
I was also super excited about the release of the Procolour, but my hype quickly disappeared when I found out that a good portion of them aren't lightfast. :/
That being said I do like the Derwent Artists Black and White which I also find myself using quite often as I like having the variety, and their laydown seems fine. They are a hard pencil, but that suits me for what I use them for. I'm looking to buy a new small tin of the Artists (which are identical to Studios aside from the barrel shape and colour) just to try and update my opinion a bit. I want to believe that the reason why my Studios aren't great is because of their age.
And what can I say- there's nothing quite like German engineering! I've got Faber Castell Pitt Pens and two sets of Polychromos. They're both wonderful and I love them to pieces. I still love Derwent because of their variety and experimentation though- and for my corner of the world they seem to be pretty available and affordable. Not the highest quality, no, but there's something playful and fun about the way they approach art supplies.
We do use Norwegian Kroner here in Norway, but I'm pretty familiar with USD and GBP as well as I convert in and out of these currencies frequently. :)
It's a shame you didn't like them, I was under the impression studio pencils are just coloured sketching pencils, like prismacolor verithin pencils. It sounds like you would probably like the procolour and drawing range pencils-I'd recommend steering clear of the artist range too.
I've heard awesome things about Procolour's laydown, but only 37 score a 6 or above (51 rank a 5 or above which isn't *too* bad), but right now they're pretty pricey. I might get a full set if the price comes down a bit, but I am tempted to get some open stock as there are some pretty good dark colours.
The artist range is identical to the studio range apart from barrel shape (and that the artist range has a wider selection of colours). I still don't fully understand why there are two ranges with the same colourstrip, I wouldn't have thought that barrel shape was such a divisive topic! But yep, if you don't like one I imagine you wouldn't be too keen on the other :P
I'm not sure about this, but I think Derwent attempted to supercede the artist range with a range called signature, I believe this was unsuccessful and theyre left with two very similar ranges. Keep in mind though, the studio pencils actually work ok on Bristol paper whereas, at least in my experience the artist ranges has to be used on watercolour paper to actually work properly-your mileage may vary though, all just my personal experience.
Ps, Procolour is new, theyll get cheaper in time I think.
Derwent shoot themselves in the foot with their 1-8 light fast ratingstoo. Other companies use a three tier star system. I've used some Lyra pencils (which I do like) that claimed to have high lightfast ratings, I tested them on the windowsill and honestly, they dont live up to their claim. With strong layering/saturation and uv resistant glass casing, the procolours would be mostly ok to be honest. I think certain brands are a little less honest than others with lightfast ratings.
Again, just my own two cents.
Sorry if i come across as an argumentative know it all btw, it's not my intention.
You should contact Caran D’Ache or similar to see if they will send you out sets to review. I have no issue with this as you would continue with unbiased reviews. If you show them sample reviews that you already have, I think you would have a good chance of them sending out their products to you.
MaZEEZaM I have thought about contacting companies and asking for samples, but I think I'll wait until I have more views and/or subscribers. I don't have any quibbles about receiving free art supplies to review them :P
Claudia Sketches No worries 😊
Hello Claudia, great video thank you for sharing. where can i find the details of the color used in this video? can you please make a tutorial of sunset and sky with water color pencils showing the techniques?
thank you
Hi Anat! I used the 24 set of watercolour pencils only during the demo- so if you google something like "derwent watercolour 24 chart" you'll get a clear overview of which colours are in this set. I used all of them except the Rose Pink and Light Violet. Alternatively, if you look in the video description there'll be a scan of the swatch chart I made.
Because there aren't many colours in this set, it should be pretty clear which colours I used for what areas.
Thanks for the suggestion too, but I'm afraid I'm not a landscape painter- I don't have enough practice or knowledge for landscapes to feel comfortable giving out information. I'm more likely to take on suggestions that are in-line with my usual subject matter and mediums as these are things I feel like I can give my own experiences and insight on.
loved it!!
I wonder regarding the lightfast rating for this set shows two ratings, one for dry pencil and separate rating for once it’s been wet? Obviously this is going to vary depending on dilution.
MaZEEZaM I haven't seen a chart with two ratings, would you be able to link the one you've found?
Claudia Sketches No, you can tell when I’m tired when I post comments as I tend to miss words lol. In this case that word was Whether. I wonder Whether...my point being you don’t necessarily know if the lightfast rating was pure pencil or once its been diluted with water given this is a watercolour set.
The ratings shouldn't change drastically when just adding water and retaining a solid colour as the pigment itself isn't altered in any way, but if you do choose to dilute the colour out it will show signs of fading faster.
I think with oil paints (for example) they run LF tests on tints of colours, but I don't think it's something they can really test with watercolours as it's hard to quantify how much pigment is applied to the paper, and how much pigment is present in the wash.
Brilliant.
Oh I have the 72 it had
Two layer but I'm not sure if the
24 has that too
Spirit Music The 24 tin is just one tray of 24 pencils.
Claudia Sketches oh thank u!
I like it! I subscribed.
Thank you for subscribing :D Glad you enjoyed the video!
Butiful work
I just purchased derwent pencils but i throwed it in the trash after sharpining they just break the whole time. Im gonna switch back to my faber castell gold faber 12
That's an awful shame! I hope you didn't actually throw them away though- Derwent has an excellent customer service team and most likely would've sent you a whole new set if you had sent them an email. :)
Love your accent. You sound like Lizzie from Pride and Prejudice. :)
derwent has to improve their lightfast pencil problems, or classify their products as a studio range.
only derwent drawing and derwent lightfast are good lightfast pencils.
I agree, it's a shame that they market a lot of their pencils as artist grade when so many of their sets are a mixed-bag when it comes to lightfastness.
They're certainly not the only brand to do this though (Caran d'Ache, Faber-Castell, Lyra etc all sell artist/professional grade sets with mixed LF ratings). On the plus side although the lightfastness information isn't on the packaging, Derwent publishes detailed LF information online and is easily accessible.
It's also great that they're available open-stock- that's what I've done for a few Derwent products; their colour variety is pretty nice, so I just pick and choose the most lightfast colours in the colours that I'd use.
@@ClaudiaSketches then you don't use two asterisks polychromos for example, only ***?
Nope, only the pencils rated three stars (they rate 7/8 on the Blue Wool scale).
I don't use the ones rated two stars as they rate 5/6, and 5 isn't considered lightfast enough to use on pieces destined for sale or display.
Professional artists grade brands still sell fugitive colours, and still no issues from artists to call the products studio line. Professional artists grade can mean both quality in terms of performance and lightfastness, but unfortunately you don't get best of both worlds. If you were to say that if they wouldnt improve their lightfastness ratings or call their line studio range then wouldn't faber castell and caran dache call their artists grade lines studio line aswell because there are fugitive colours in most of their products aswell. I am not defending derwent, but this is true for other brands.
@@alizafar2624 I partially agree, but it is not the same 10 bad pencils from a box of 100, than 50 percent of the pencils in the box, derwent tells you that that box with more than 60 percent with low quality pencils, it is a professional box, regardless of the name they use for the boxes, it is misleading.
Tnx
I thought I was answering a few questions for Google. Lol
Your speaking sounds like a Flight Attendant talking in the microphone!
The screen is black
£22 is not $20.
It's not! But when I quote a dollar price it's the price I found them on Amazon at the time. Prices fluctuate, my videos are a few years old :)