Derwent Inktense Ink Pencils Set - 72 Vibrant Watercolor Pencils for Drawing & Art - Premium Metal Tin Case - Ideal for Sketching, Watercolor Painting & Mixed Media Art Projects

So, let me preface this review by saying I am NOT an artist (by any stretch of the imagination) and I have never written an Amazon review. My creative credentials are comprised of a lifelong habit of picking up a 1,000 different hobbies, all of which I am OK at, but none of which I have ever mastered. Artistic ADD, in a manner of speaking (no insult intended to those suffering from real ADD). I am, however, afflicted with perfectionism and a very analytical mind, which is likely why I have never become truly proficient at any art form. If the result of my efforts doesn’t look good enough to me, I’ll keep trying for a while, maybe take a lesson or two, get sorta good, get bored with my lack of fast progress, move on to something new, and stick the supplies/equipment/fabric/whatever in a closet to collect dust for the next decade. I think I'm gonna need a bigger house. (But, give me a massive spreadsheet and I’ll make magic happen!!)I just picked up my first adult coloring book as a stress reducer/time waster that would have some sort of product to account for my (wasted) time. I can DO coloring, I just can’t draw anything that even remotely resembles the target object. I have now colored a sum total of TWO pages. The first was colored with Crayola colored pencils, which were cheap...and fine, but not very vivid, not all that blendable, and with not enough color variations to be really fun (the primary goal of this new hobby). I started the second page with some decades old colored pens missing half the pens (of course, the best colors were all dried up) and some of the Crayola pencils. At that point, I started a quest for better colored pencils. Almost all of the pencil reviews had the highest praise (vivid colors, good coverage) as well as the lowest praise (leads constantly breaking, leads off-centered, impossible to sharpen, etc.). After several days of near analysis paralysis, I finally settled on the Derwent Inktense collection of 72 pencils.I was so excited I could barely stand the long wait for the package to arrive (a whole, like, five hours with Amazon Prime). I broke those puppies out long after my bed time and completed two or three flowers on my otherwise pretty dull 2nd coloring page. First impression? Well, not titillated, to be sure. Thought it might be the light, my old tired eyes, or maybe the wine....(no, not the wine...ok, maybe the wine). So, let's wait until morning. It was five minutes into my new day fresh perspective before I started drafting my first negative Amazon review in my head. The color was super waxy with spotty coverage, even with a heavy hand. Honestly, they felt like kindergarten crayons in a pencil barrel. For $70+ bucks??? Really??? The lead stood up to the pressure, which was a plus, but you could still see the white of the page under the ink. The pencil would not stay sharp for the fine lines and small spaces. Most colored pencils, except perhaps really soft ones, sort of self-sharpen just by shifting the angle of the lead. Not these. The colors seemed really vivid and blending them was “ok,” but I was so disappointed that the color didn't spread evenly and smoothly on the page. It was very blotchy. I sat back and thought about all of the five star reviews and wondered what in the hell all these people were thinking. Were they ALL paid reviews? Then, out of nowhere, DING, DING, DING…I remembered reading that these are WATER color pencils.Not having any artist brushes whatsoever, I cleaned up a make-up brush (lol, yes, you heard right) to see what would happen to the ink from my crayon pencils when I added a bit of H20. It was a total freaking revelation. I am blown away. The color just jumped off the page. Blending was a dream, layering on different colors was a blast, and removing color was a miracle. Removing one color to lighten an area in order to add an (afterthought) brighter color was like too much to ask for. I AM SOLD. I have not colored in a coloring book since I was a child and I have never done a water color in my entire life. But, I may just spend the REST of my life using these pencils to make “art” that I will proudly hang on my refrigerator.In terms of the pencil quality and packaging, there are 72 distinct colors, all with perfectly centered lead. They sharpen easily in a manual or electric sharpener. They do not erase easily (I imagine you can’t really erase a real watercolor). The pencils are very professional looking and have both color names and numbers so that you could really wear the pencil down to a tiny nub and still know which color it is to replace it. They are in two trays in a tin box. The lid doesn’t really fasten down on the tray, so you would have to carry and store it carefully or put a rubber band around it. I’ve added a few photos of the pencils, the lead, and my second colored page. The light pink and purple flowers are a mix of my previous pens/pencils. The tiny bell flowers are from a new set of colored pens that arrived the same day. The rest is the Derwent Inktense after adding water. Please remember, I am not an artist, I am a total noob to adult coloring books (and, btw, can we not think of a different name for this hobby so it doesn't sound x-rated??), and I was using one old make-up brush that kept splitting into a TRIDENT shape (now eagerly awaiting the arrival of real water color brushes). Regardless of my skill level, or lack thereof, I think the colors are brilliant and my own imagination is the only thing that will limit what I can do with all these colors and combinations of colors. Hallelujah! Maybe, I’ll stick with one hobby for a while (no guarantees!). Thank you to one of my last remaining brain cells for the reminder that these were actually water color pencils and to Derwent for creating this amazing product!(WARNING- This is an in-depth review. I am writing this for people who really want to know details about these pencils. If you prefer a shorter summary, see section marked THE BOTTOM LINE)---------------I am torn on how to rate these pencils. As a watercolor pencil, they are bright and intense and are nicely colored. As a permanent ink pencil that stays put once it has been activated with water and dried, well that is another story. Because that is how I purchased these, I am rating them based upon that premise, since that is what makes these pencils unique, according to their description.WHAT IS THIS SET OF PENCILS LIKE?This is the entire set of Inktense pencils. I have spoken with someone who knows the art field in ways few do, and I was told that Derwent was re-formulating the Inktense line of pencils. I think I know why. More on that later.This set of pencils comes in a tin box which has a nice cover on it. It does snap into place, but there is no hinge. The inside has two rather flimsy trays where each pencil rests. You have to remove the top tray to get to the pencils below. Mine came arranged by color which was nice. There were no colors missing and no doubles either.WHAT WAS THE QUALITY OF THE PENCILS LIKE?I know that there has been some question about the quality of the pencils in this listing, but in my case, the pencils were good quality. One has a split in it, but for the most part, they were fine an all tips were ready to use. They came shrink wrapped and in brand new condition.HOW DO THESE PENCILS PERFORM?Now here is where the problems start. First of all, there are many different surfaces to use watercolor media on, but in this case, the ink takes it to another level, supposedly. The box advertises that these pencils can be laid down, and once laid down, they can be activated with water and moved around the surface. Once they dry, they are supposed to be PERMANENT and not move around or muddy when you paint over them.I have tested every single color of these pencils. I have swatched them and drawn them out to a very slight wash. I left them in place for a WEEK without touching them. When I went over them gently with a plain water brush (not sopping, just wet enough) I was very disappointed to find that they smeared as badly as watercolor pencils do. This was on high quality watercolor paper without a heavy layer of gelatin on it.This is not supposed to be the way that these work. I was very disappointed. As watercolor pencils, these perform as expected, but that is not how they are advertised as working.Having said that, I will say that there are different surfaces that I am going to try these on. I plan to use them on silk, scratchboard, and experiment with other porous surfaces to see how these behave. On high grade watercolor paper, they are not permanent once activated, even if they were drawn out to a light wash. That is disappointing.STORAGEI wanted to mention here that I moved these to the Nach einer Entäuschung mit wasserlöslichen Stiften von Faber Castell wurde mir schnell klar, was mich an den Faber Castell Stiften gestört hat. Man kann ganz schlecht mit Layern arbeiten, weil jede neue Schicht die darunter liegende wieder anlöst und die Farben sich mischen. Genau diese Lücke füllen die Derwent Inktense. Ist ein Layer einmal mit Wasser in Berührung gekommen, ist die Farbe permanent. Und das ist kein leeres Versprechen vom Hersteller, das funktioniert super. Die Farben sind sehr leuchtend, manchmal fast zu viel, das es schwer ist sie zu kontrollieren.Ein paar Tips zum Handling. Beschriftet euch den Stiftetray mit den Farbnummern. Vor allem bei den Grüntönen lässt sich von der Minenfarbe nicht auf die Farbe schließen, die letztendlich auf dem Papier landet. Die Minen sind braun, der Stift malt grün.Klebt eine Pappe unter den herausnehmbaren Tray, die Plaste ist sowas von dünn, die ist ganz schnell kaputt.Macht euch eine Farbtafel damit ihr abschätzen könnt, welche Farbe am Ende heraus kommt, darum ist es auch wichtig das jeder Stift am Ende wieder an der richtigen Stelle liegt.Zusammenfassend, vom Handling her etwas komplizierter als normale Farbstifte, aber die Farben entlohnen für alles.Fotos:FarbtafelTraybeschriftungPappe mit Laschen zum heraus hebenein Beispiel ;-)I'm a keen card maker but I'm not so keen on (nor very good at) the mixing and applying of watercolours that are often used to enhance handmade cards so, when I saw these pencils used by a couple of card makers on Youtube, I decided to give them a go. I bought the tin of 12 because, in all honesty, I will only be using them for embellishing cards and did not want to run to the expense of the bigger collections with their more nuanced colour sets. The 12 pencils have the 'rainbow' of colours (fuchsia rather than violet, though) plus some neutral browns and a black and this is sufficient for my needs. I watched a couple of Youtube videos to learn how to use them and experimented - it is so easy and I'm delighted with the results. So delighted I may even give one of those popular colouring books a go!The appeal of these pencils was the fact that they're water-soluble, but like Indian inks, once dry they don't remobilise so you can work over them with another colour, or paint right up to an area, without the earlier work remobilising.While they are certainly more resistant than standard watercolour pencils, they seem to rework if you apply much pressure. Maybe I didn't leave them long enough.Overall, I'd day a better choice than normal watercolour pencils, but not quite the Magic Bullet I was expecting!these are not bad but they do easily re-activate with water and even just rub of onto my finger with 24 hours drying time. this happens in the areas of thin well diluted colour as well as thick colour. it says on my tin that they are permanent when dry and can be worked over, i could probably work over it with pencils or pen but if i used ink or paint the inktense would re-activate and go into the new colour.These pencils are just the best for any aspect of watercolour painting. They are NOT paint ..they are a permanent ink but can be used with water , used dry and can be used in so many creative ways. Absolutely love them. Had a smaller tin but now have every colour I will need . They can be mixed together to alter shades or weakened by diluting with water. . Learn to use them correctly and you will never ever loook back !