I just bought a complete set of "Inktense Color Pencils" from Derwendt. I did some tests with them to get familiar with what they do when dry or wet. The inktense pencils are water-soluble but when they dry are permanent. I found the colors to be vibrant + fantastic!First I lay down a very pale wash about an inch long and 1/4 inch wide. (the wash I did was a 'dry wash', this is a term that means a light layer or drawing with a light touch to add a light layer.) Then I added, with a progressively heavier touch, more to the strip going left. You can see it's darker on the top left of each color swatch and lighter on the right. Then I used a 'waterbrush', that is a brush that holds it's own supply of water for field work, to pull down color from the top. As I got to the darkest area, on every single color I was amazed at just how brilliant and beautiful each color was! Even the browns, neutrals and mustard color were lovely!
I'm really not used to using water soluble color pencils but I will make an effort to use these till I get the hang of it. My intent is to use them in the field when hiking, to lay down washes that may be worked over with ink or color pencil. I did a catapillar drawing and colored it with them just today, check it out on my Nature Sketching Blog at : http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/
Let me know if you have used the inktense pencils and what you thought of them.
2 comments:
Just found your blog and love your nature paintings. I teach what I call "Nature sketching" for our state parks department at one of the local parks, and love to introduce people to "how to see".
Anyhow, I have tried the Inktense pencils and find them very difficult to work with because if you don't know how to use them they can look garish. But after some practice I'm getting better. Not sure yet if I like them as much as just regular dry colored pencils or watercolor, which are my personal favorite mediums in which to do my nature journaling.
Give us an update on what you have done with these pencils and any techniques you may have learned.
The one thing I have learned is not to use too heavy a layer of color because when water is added they do get very INTENSE. Also, be sure to wash your brush just as you would if using ink, because they can ruin a brush if you allow color to dry on it.
Hi annonymous,
Thank you for your comments, I guess you looked at my other blog on Nature Sketching? I feel bad I don't update this one more.
I know what you mean about the Inktense pencils, they are a wonderful beast! haha...control is needed! A very light hand is helpful, I usually test in little spots around my sketches, you can see on many entries on my Nature Sketching blog when I used these pencils. If you look at the links down the right side, click on "Inktense Watercolor Pencils" and it'll take you to lots of entries I did with them.
Email me and tell me more about which parks you work at, I'd love to talk about it!
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