Derwent Inktense WC Pencils

This past week the Quiltart list has been discussing the use of Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils. I'd not heard of them, so I ordered a small set (plus a few extra colors to balance out the set) on sale from Dick Blick. They arrived today and I decided to give them a try. I did two sample pieces as you can view below.

The first example is done on a a piece of 8x10" smooth Bristol board paper.
Here is the completed colored pencil drawing prior to the addition of water.
This shows the colored pencil drawing and the photo I'm working from.
This is the completed painting. Only water was added in very small amounts with a fairly small brush.


The second example is done on 5x7" watercolor card stock (before folding, it measures 10x7") I'm working from one of my photos taken at the area's annual orchid show last fall. 1. the base color applied
2. more color is added
3. completed colored pencil drawing
3. completed painting


To compare Derwent's pencils to Prismacolor's pencils, see my blog posting here. For example, this is the same cat as above, different pose, but done completely in Prismacolor pencils. It was also done on a sheet of 8x10 Bristol paper. The above is done with soft pencils layered one over the other and blended well to create a finished piece. It is then polished with a soft cloth to bring out the color and add a finished sheen to the work. As noted above, check out my earlier posting for the step-by-step process of this piece.

The watercolor above is lighter and more spontaneous in appearance, as many watercolors are. The pencils lines still show - which is probably my fault for not adding more water to the pencils to give it a more painterly effect. Both pieces are fine as they are, but they are quite different.


What I've learned thus far:
1. when water is added to the pencil drawings, the colors are VERY intense.
2. these pencils do not blend well, although they layer fairly well.
3. the finished paintings look better done on watercolor paper (of course!)
4. they work well for color/design studies (in my opinion) than for finished art.
5. I'd like the whole set of them if I were to plan on using them for finished paintings.

I have yet to try them on fabric, which is what Quiltart members were discussing. I'll post my results of those experiments after I've tried them out on fabric!