Inktense Pencils – a comprehensive review of mixing colours from the base pencils, application techniques and result analysis

Summary of Inktense Pencils Do’s and Don't s

DO

• Make a colour mixing chart
• Think about the order of applying the pencil to the paper
• Record your favourite colour mixes including the recipe
• Use a synthetic brush (Aqua-brush)

DON’T

• Apply too much pencil – a little goes a LONG way
• Add too much water at once – this product dries quickly
• Overwork inappropriate paper – the mixing needed will cause the surface to “pill”
• Expect the dry colour to be an exact match of the colour once you add water – treat the colour as a guide

In-Depth Review of Using Inktense Pencils

I was drawn to the Inktense Range by the combination of the bold colour and the wonderful spontaneity of mark with watercolour. Inktense offers both a bright colour response while maintaining the look (although not all the features) of watercolour.

Because this product is unique it only obeys some of the rules for watercolour pencils. So when I was looking for information, I was a little disappointed with what was already available. Hence, this review answers many of the questions I wanted answers for.

I have divided this information into the simple do’s and don’t s I have found for using this wonderful product.

Do make a colour mixing chart

This is a must for using your Inktense pencils. In the beginning I decided to get a set of 24. It was very good but I was worried I would not have enough colours and I started to collect random extra pencils so that I ended up with 31 pencils. This still seemed like a limited palette and I wanted to purchase more.

I saw Derwent strongly recommend a 2 way colour mixing chart and they have an example of a 12 blend available on their website.

The original set of 24 pencils I purchased contained the following colours: sherbet lemon, sun yellow, tangerine, poppy red, chilli red, shiraz, fuchsia, violet, iris blue, bright blue, deep indigo, sea blue, teal green, apple green, field green, leaf green, mustard, baked earth, willow, bark, charcoal grey, black, antique white and outliner. To this I added sienna gold, green aquamarine, red violet, crimson, peacock blue, carmine pink, sicilian yellow, and beech green.

I undertook a 2 way colour blend using my 31 colours (I left out the outliner pencil). The maths of the results of my 2-colour mix chart says it all: I got an amazing 465 additional colours (see the top right diagonal of the chart for the colours achieved). This does not include blends with 3 or more colours, or combinations with more or less of one or other of the colours (I was trying for 50% saturation in total so 25% of one colour and 25% of another). In fact I learnt I had an amazing colour palette to play with! 

Inktense Pencil 2 way colour mix test using 31 pencil colours

The colour mixing test allows me to address some issues on colours in the Inktense pencil range. I have read that some artists are concerned the Inktense pencil range has limited pastel and skin tones available. I will say I found it quite easy to create both skin tones and a wonderful rainbow of glorious pastels when you mix.

The most important pencil I have found for creating these ranges is the antique white. When I first got the pencils I was disappointed with the antique white pencil. I had tried using it like a gel pen to add highlights on top of other colours – this is definitely not it’s function. But the antique white is brilliant for introducing a creamy note to any colour you mix. I find the order the antique white is laid down is vital to getting the best mix (see my notes on colour order further below).

One thing I noticed straight away from my colour mix chart were that I couldn’t see any of the remaining colours in the 72 pencil range that I don’t currently own and that felt I wasn’t getting when my mixing chart. My next purchases are more of existing pencil colours, in the one’s I use more of, instead of more colours. In saying this, the additional colours not part of the 24 set that I can’t live without are sienna gold and green aquamarine. The sienna gold pencil has a nice random way the colour comes out of the pencil and I like the random flashes of deeper red tones.

With the colour chart I kept a column where I just applied the pencil at the same pressure as the rest to give a nice reference for how the colour looks before water and to know how much of the colour I put in my recipe. I also added a very pale pastel mix with lots of antique white applied over a very light amount of the other colours again to see the pastel range.

I tried with the bottom diagonal of the colour chart (where each colour is duplicated) to try out what happens when applying the antique white from the block set over the dried colour, and applying water-based varnish over the colours. I tested the antique white block because I had heard from other sources that it has different capabilities to the pencil version – and it does. The antique white from the block dries very white (way whiter than when you first apply it -Beware!). I wanted to see if just applying the block white over the top of a dried colour gives creamy pastel tones. I was unhappy with how the antique white block applied over the top looked – it just looks like a washed out version of the base colour and I can see from even the tiny testers that you would have to be very even applying the block layer over the top to give even results. Positively though for the test, the dried swatches definitely don’t lift or move when re – wet. This is one of the major points of distinction of the Inktense pencils from regular watercolours. Once it’s activated and dried that’s it. It cannot be reworked.

I was happy to see the application of varnish doesn’t really change the colours of the dried ink either, although when it is wet the colour is much darker.

The paper I used for the colour chart was a rough paper (Eduardo de Paulo Watercolour Rough: a not very expensive paper). The thing I noticed from using this paper is the uneven surface makes a great difference to smooth colour mixing. I think it’s important to imagine the paper surface is a bit like a paint palette for the colour you are mixing. You need to work the colour a little with your brush to get the final result. The uneven nature of the rough paper captured especially the base colour (the colour I applied first) as little “pools” of colour which is great when you are looking for variations and random places in the colour (I like this) but it’s not what you like for solid colours. I recommend smooth papers for mixing colours you want quite even. The Eduardo de Paulo Watercolour Rough paper is also not super white and some of my other colour tests on smoother whiter paper give different results. I will eventually test again on smooth white paper as a comparison as my work progresses.

Do think about the order of applying the pencil to the paper

The order in which you apply the pencil to the surface of the paper will affect the colour you get (the permutations V's combinations). For creamy colours like pastels and skin tones the antique white needs to go on top. For most colours I like the darker colour on the base and lighter colour applied over the top. The red tones have a tendency to stay slightly unmixed at the base of a colour mix.

Do record your favourite colour mixes including the recipe

To further my colour experiments I am adding to a Recipe chart – a test rectangle with the recipe for mixing applied beside it. This is great for Permutations and for multi-step mixes and I have already discovered some of my favourite mix recipes.

Inktense Pencil colour recipe chart

Do use a synthetic brush (Aqua-brush)

I listened to what other artists have said about the Inktense pencils and use a synthetic water brush rather than more expensive brushes. Because you are using the surface of the paper like a palette the brush needs to stand up to the punishment. Using the water brush allows you to work quickly and mix to your desired level. I like to leave some pencil marks in the paint and the water brush lets me do this.

Don’t apply too much pencil – a little goes a LONG way

Inktense pencils are very bold and cover a lot of territory. This will make them cost-effective as a medium to work with over time for me. I have tested some of the pastels/creams as a direct mix and then dragging the colour and they cover a lot of territory. If I wanted some of these really pale blends, I would mix elsewhere on a paper palette and then apply to the area from that palette. Beware, that these pencils do dry very quickly so the palette will also dry very quickly and it would be worthwhile attending to all sections where the same colour is needed at the same time or only wetting a little of the palette colour at a time.

Inktense Pencil colour stretch test - how far can I move the paint

Don’t add too much water at once – this product dries quickly

I painted in Australian summer (temperatures over 30 degrees and a mix of either very dry or very humid). I noticed the paint dries fast. This means for best results you only work one section at a time. The good news then is that you don’t have to wait long to move along with your work. I found I could get some spontaneous colour markings moving together because I work with an ink illustration that I then colour over. This process means sometimes a small amount of the pencil is right on the ink line and a large wet brush worked over the surface at the end will allow this to be moved around in a spontaneous manner.

Don't overwork inappropriate paper – the mixing needed will cause the surface to “pill”

One of the effects I didn't think about when starting my experiments with Inktense Pencils was the quality of the surface I was working on. I tried a Reeves heavy drawing paper which can stand a little watercolour to test on. I found that even a small amount of moving more than a little water as I was mixing colour was causing the surface to pill. This is evident in the background pastel colour in this piece. I have been far more successful moving a lot of water on a rougher surfaced paper.

Inktense pencil mix as a background using the wrong paper - note the pilling

Don’t expect the dry colour to be an exact match of the colour once you add water – treat the colour as a guide

The Inktense pencils look very different dry to wet. To show you just how different I completed a piece by colouring it all in and then adding water afterwards. This would not be my recommended approach because it’s really hard to be neat and not wet adjoining colours.

Left half of image in dry (unactivated) Inktense Pencil, Right half with water added (activated)

You can see from the comparison just how much bolder the colours are. The other things to note are that you don’t need to be super neat in filling in shapes because the colour moves so well to fill the space, and that like regular watercolour you can plan the use of white spaces to fill in a more pale fashion (see the flower petals before and after water)

Future directions

I have just started my journey using Inktense pencils but already I am hooked. As I learn more I will add to this review and I hope down the track to repeat some of this exercise with the Inktense blocks as well.

24.01.2020

As an update I decided to add one additional pencil to my collection - the neutral grey.  This is a paler grey colour and I decided to add it because I am painting images of Huntsman Spiders and the single stroke application of the grey is of great assistance with these paintings.You can see this colour in the face of the spider particularly.