Inktense Pencils Review

Article updated: October 2020

Derwent Inktense pencils are our best watercolour pencil ever! You can use them dry but mix them with water and WOW! the colour turns into vibrant ink.  Once it’s dry the colour is fixed and you can work over the top of it, and, because it is permanent it’s great for using on fabric such as silk and cotton!
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Taken from the Derwent website - www.pencils.co.uk

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CHARACTERISTICS

BASE: ​Wax-based

HARD OR SOFT LEAD:  Medium

LIGHTFAST RATING: Blue Wool Scale

COSTS (AVE): RRP £2.10

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Sets Available:
Open stock (Individually)
Blister pack of 6
Tin of 6, 8, 12, 24, 36 & 72
Wooden box of 24, 48, 72

• 71 colours and 1 outliner
  
• Permanent once the layers dry
• Pigment dissolves in water
• A highly blendable texture ideal for rich tones
• Can be used on fabric (wash in cold water)

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ADVANTAGES
* Blend well
* Highly pigmented
* Creates vivid ink-like colour when combined with water
​* Due to its permanence, Inktense can be worked over without affecting previous layers
* Well known company - Many local art stores and online store    stock them nationally & internationally
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DISADVANTAGES
* Many colours have poor lightfast ratings
* Difficult to differentiate between colours as the nibs are quite dark
​* Sets can be expensive

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Products & Sets available:

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Inktense pencils colour chart

Derwent's official lightfast rating chart for Inktense pencils

Trying out these pencils - A personal review

A while back I was given the chance to try out the Derwent Inktense pencils (Many Thanks Sam for the loan!) Although a coloured pencil Artist for over 30 years, my skills using watercolours are minimal, so wondered how I would adapt to these pencils and if I would rush out and buy my own set as they seem quite universal. My findings detailed below are reviewed purely as a Inktense novice.

The first thing I noticed with these pencils are that the nibs are dark, there are no pastel colours here! It was also difficult to differentiate between certain tones ie - a warm green looked the same colour as a cool green in the box. A good tip would be to create a chart stipulating the pencil number/name and add both the pure colour and colour wash next to each - this is so handy to keep if you choose to use these pencils often.  I chose a simple but vibrant subject, the peacock feather and got to work layering all the colour tones onto a sheet of 300gsm Winsor & Newton Watercolour paper. The colours were rather dark once placed too but went on well - I was also able to apply a strong white over darker colours to create a 'shine' where required.

I was rather impressed with the strength and vibrancy of the colours and the blendability of light and dark tones together were relatively easy (which can be challenging in normal pencils) and the outcome so far appeared quite effective. With 14 greens, 12 blues and 13 browns to choose from (and attempt to differentiate between) as it was only a practice piece, precision was not high on my list of importance and simply selected 3 or 4 of each colour to help aid the realism of the effect.  As you can see in the photo to the left, these pencils give great definition but you may need to keep your pencils sharp (probably best once they are dry) to get very fine lines, as I felt they were a little soft - but this will depend on your own preference, I only state this as I am used to applying very fine details in my own work.

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Once I had finished applying my tones, I took a fine brush and dipped it into water before wiping it across the pencil nib a few times. This allowed me to grab more pigment which becomes an ink and is waterproof and permanent.  As I always ensure I check the lightfastness of a pencil brand, I noticed that it varies considerably. The purples, pinks and some of the lighter blues tend to have the lowest rating in almost all brands.
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I had roughly sketched in the right side of the peacock feather so that I could try out the water layer and see how strong the colours were. Derwent states the dry pencils can be re-applied over the top of the dry ink to build up the layers and so I spent some time doing this, pencil, ink and lastly pencil again to finish. I left the left side of the peacock feather alone so I could see the variation between pencil & Ink.

My findings:

I see the appeal of using these pencils. Once treated with water, the pencil becomes an ink making your drawing look brighter and more vibrant. Being a big fan of detail, I found the definition of the dry pencil became softer once water was applied, and immediately reworked the detail in again. I really enjoyed trying them out but would only use them for creating tonal backgrounds and laying down base tones. For this, this brand would be ideal.

​I would recommend you try a search for 'Inktense Artwork' there are some amazing pieces of work out there created by talented artists using these pencils!

Which side do you prefer?

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