The Derwent Inktense Pencils are very unique. They are NOT wax, not oil, and not watercolor. So what are they?
I’m trying them for the first time today to see if these pencils live up to the hype and just how well they work for adult coloring books. Keep watching to see the results.
Check out my first attempt using the Inktense pencils in this video, then scroll down to find out more about these unique pencils from Derwent.
Disclaimer: In case you’re asking…. I have purchased these pencils for myself and have NOT been compensated or asked by Derwent to do this review. This content is NOT sponsored or endorsed by Derwent. This post contains affiliate links for Amazon and I may earn a commission if you click them and make a purchase (at no cost to you).
Resources Used in This Video
- I’ve chosen the jellyfish coloring page from my Sea Life Collection
- I’m using the 72 set of Derwent Inktense Pencils I bought on Amazon
- I used the Color Catalog Volume 2 and Color Catalog Companion for Derwent Inktense for color ideas and reference photos (demonstrated in detail in the video above)
- I used a simple paint brush to apply my water.
- The paper I am using is Canson Drawing 220. It worked quite well, but I’d generally recommend a thicker paper intended for watercolor or mixed media for the best results. (I chose this paper because I knew it would work in my printer!)
- I used the paint pens given to me by Life of Colour and my white Sakura Decorese gel pen for highlights. (Here are some other recommendations for white pens)
Why are the Derwent Inktense Pencils Different to Other Pencils?
Most pencils are made up of a mix of pigment and either a wax or oil binding. Watercolor pencils are different again… but the Inktense falls into a category all on its own.
They are NOT watercolor pencils – they are water-activated INK pencils, which is an important difference to understand how some of the techniques for these pencils are different to other watercolor pencils.
Unlike watercolor, once you’ve “activated” your pigment with water, it dries quickly and the color becomes permanent. So you can create more layers on top, or use other pencils or markers, without worrying about accidentally reactivating the colors underneath.
I’ll be using on paper today, but you can also use the Derwent Inktense range on fabric or other surfaces.
My First Impression of the Derwent Inktense Pencils
They look and feel like a quality pencil. They have a thick core and a round barrel, so they are nice to hold and easy to draw with. The core seems to be quite smooth to draw with, and you won’t need to press hard to get the bold colors once you’ve activated them with water.
They actually work quite well without water too – but where’s the fun in that, right?
The Derwent Inktense Color Range
The color range here is impressive. At first, it seems like there are not many light colors, but these pencils can be diluted and applied in different ways to create much lighter variations of each main color – so even the darkest black can create a very light grey with the right mix of water and pigment.
When it came to creating my Color Catalog Companion, I found that this set of 72 provided more matches for all the color palettes in my Color Catalog than many of the brands that had twice as many pencils, simply because the pencils are SO versatile – and that’s without mixing or blending multiple colors together.
The set also includes an outliner pencil – this is a special pencil that resists water, so you can use it to draw bold outlines before you color, and they won’t smudge or wash away as you apply your layers. I haven’t used this today because I’m working on a coloring page, but this would be very handy for general drawing and illustration.
General Tips (From a Beginner!) When Using the Derwent Inktense Pencils
Swatch out your colors on some other paper before using them on your dedicated project. Activate the colors on your swatches too, like I’ve demonstrated in the video above. This will give you a chance to really see how each color looks and see the full range of colors in your set.
If you’re wanting to mix colors, try a few different techniques to see which works for you. Mixing the colors by layering the pencils before activating with water produces quite a different result to activating each color layer separately. I’ll demonstrate this in the video above.
Your pencil work doesn’t have to be perfect – I found I didn’t need to worry about going close into details or up to the lines until after activating the pigment with my wet brush.
Be careful not to add TOO much water, or you might buckle your paper! I recommend using a watercolor or mixed media paper if you can, or something with a heavier tooth that can handle more layers. Then just apply as little water as possible to achieve the effects you are wanting to achieve. If you are using a coloring book, definitely pop an extra cardstock behind your page to stop bleed through!
Rinse your brush regularly – During my first try with these, I made the mistake of dragging darker colors into lighter areas because my brush picked up so much color. For the same reason, try activating your lighter colors first and moving from light to dark in areas that you are blending or want to create a gradient.
Different Coloring Techniques Using the Derwent Inktense Pencils
There are SO many different ways you can use these pencils, and I’ve just demonstrated a few in this video. Here are some other techniques you could try. I haven’t tried all of these personally yet, so please test them on some scrap paper first!
Some of these techniques are good for big areas, others might work for smaller sections or to create specific textures or effects. Have fun and experiment to see what you can create, and let me know if you know of any I’ve missed!
- Color a small section at a time with pencil, then activate it with the water, as I’ve demonstrated in the video. You can use a brush, waterbrush, cotton bud, or try something else. Wait for each section to dry before adding more layers.
- Color your entire page with pencils first, then go over it with a damp or wet paintbrush at the end to activate the colors.
- Dip your pencils in water and color with the wet pencil on your page.
- Wet your brush and wipe it on the pencil led to pick up the color from the pencil (good if you only want a light wash of color).
- Color on another page and activate your color, then use it as a palette (I demonstrate this in the above video)
- Use a water brush and apply it directly to the pencil, then to the page.
Other Products in the Derwent Inktense Range
If you’ve fallen in love with the Inktense pencils like I have, Derwent also have a range of other Inktense products to broaden the possibilities and introduce a range of new techniques that you can use to make the most of this medium.
Some of the areas I got stuck with – like the large background – would have been better suited to something like the Inktense blocks instead of the pencils.
The Inktense blocks come in the same colors as the pencils, and allow you to cover larger areas, mix bigger amounts of ink in a paint pan, or even create a powder that you can mix into a paint in a small spray bottle or paint pen to create some really interesting effects.
They are on my wishlist!
You can also purchase an Inktense Paint Pan Set and Inktense Paper to really get the most out of the Inktense range.
Availability & Pricing of the Derwent Inktense Pencils
The full set of Inktense colors includes 71 colors and the outliner pencil – but you can also purchase them in a variety of smaller sets or individually.
The pricing varies a lot depending on the set you buy and where you are located, but at the time of writing this, you can purchase the set of 72 I have for just over $100USD in the US, or just over $200AUD in Australia.
I am very happy I invested in the largest set of 72, because I know I’ll be using these a lot. But given their versality and how many colors you can get from each pencil, I think the smaller sets would still give you an amazing range of colors to work with, so it’s not necessary to have the full set unless you really want to.
Resources and Links
I hope you’ve found this helpful! Please check out the above video, as I’ve included more tips and a full demo of this coloring page for you. I’ve included some links below to more resources you might enjoy too. Thanks for reading!
Color Catalog Companion
The Color Catalog Companion is a new printable guide with every color palette from the Color Catalog where my team and I have pre-filled every pencil color for you for some of the most popular pencil brands (including the Derwent Inktense range) so that you don’t have to go to the effort of finding the best match.
Includes pencil and marker reference numbers for every color palette in The Color Catalog Volumes 1 & 2, PLUS a blank printable version with 8 color palettes to a page.
Jellyfish Coloring page
Go under the sea and explore the beautiful creatures in this collection of underwater coloring pages.
Bring these sea creatures to life as you color the whimsical seahorses, intricate crabs or dancing dolphins with every color you can think of.
The Sea Life Collection includes 12 coloring pages, including the jellyfish image used in this tutorial.
The Ultimate White Pen Test!
I LOVE using white pens. They are great for adding highlights or accents to coloring pages or drawings, and they are a lot of fun for lettering on a dark background, and like with most of my artwork, I used white gel pens for highlights on my jellyfish picture.
But not all white pens are the same, and not all of them are good for adult coloring – I’ve bought every white gel pen I could find and have reviewed them, so you can know which one is best for you.
Testing all the Best Colored Pencils
This review will take some of the guesswork out of choosing pencils by putting 26 popular colored pencil sets to the test so you can find the set that’s right for you.
As a coloring book artist, I get asked all the time about what the best coloring pencils are for beginners, or for adult coloring books, or the best quality if budget wasn’t a concern. So I decided it was time to find out definitively… once and for all.
I’ve been researching and shopping online for months to track down the best quality, most expensive, most affordable and most highly recommended wax and oil colored pencil brands available.
I am from New Zealand and today purchased the 100 pencil Derwent inktense. Will you be adding the extra 28 colours to your downloads. I am a beginner at art and am so pleased I found you recently
I fell in love with these pencils. I followed a tutorial of an owl on the Lachri Patreon page and loved working with them. I used Fabriano Hot Press Watercolor paper it worked very well with these pencils, water and two different sizes of water brushes (then I don’t have to keep dipping my brushes in water…yes I get a little lazy). I found the back ground also to test my patience and agree with you that the blocks would make it easier. I used the Artistry Paint pens worked great for any white that I needed on the owl and used a little yellow of the paint pens on the eyes. The cream and light grey helped quite a bit also. It was definitely a mixed medium painting.
This pencil seems amazing!
The drawing got so beautiful, the colors so vibrant. I loved it!