Derwent 72-color Inktense are gorgeous, rich, and intense. I also recently bought the Derwent Artbars, very different on many levels, but I will make some basic compare-and-contrast statements that aren't commonly written about.
Derwent Inktense (72 colors)
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Medium
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Watercolor paints. Can be reactivated every time the
painting is dampened, so layers are fragile and can be disturbed, but they
allow more spontaneity as they can be changed if desired.
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Ink—once activated
with water and dried, doesn’t reactivate so takes layers very well! Once
permanent, cannot be changed, so plan ahead.
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Intensity
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Pastel-like. Colors are grouped into four categories:
brights, lights, earths, darks. I found the lights almost too pastel to be
very useful. Marigold and carnation in the brights also extremely pale as
were a couple in the earths (spice and Mediterranean especially).
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For the most part these colors are powerful. A few like
saddle brown, baked earth and willow and a couple of others were weak on
intensity, but then I was only color-swatching and wetting with one steady
swipe.
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3-4cm crayon-like application and
activation with water (one-swipe)
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Activate quickly
and the color is very smooth and evenly distributed.**** Applause, applause!
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Activate quickly but consistently streak affecting even
distribution of color.
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Residue after one-swipe activation of
crayon swatch
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About 80% “melted” by the water
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About 70% “melted” by the water
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Color pulls down in 6-7 inch swatches
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Color pulls down smoothly, easily, and except for lights, consistently
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Color pulls down easily and consistently but in streaks
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Uses for me
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On paper just like traditional watercolor paints, but they
can be used to draw and then activated with water.
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On paper light traditional paint, as a crayon and activated, and on cloth with textile medium—all permanent
once dried.
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Both of these mediums easily activate with a damp paintbrush
on the bars themselves, eliminating the need for a palette or clean-up after
painting—for me in my tiny apartment, this is phenomenal! Easy set-up and
easy put-away!
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| awesome color, but note the streaking with the one-swipe water activation of the crayon-like application to paper |
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| Derwent Inktense color-swatches (compare with Derwent Artbars) |
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| I was rather surprised that the Inktense set didn't come with a list of color names, but only had 4-digit numbers on each of the bars. Some of those numbers were very hard to see too. I actually had to go online to get a list of the color names to match the numbers, a bit of an inconvenience! Then, thank goodness, I carefully checked each of the 4-digit numbers to the name on the list and found an error. There was no "Outline #2400" but I did have the Unknown blue color #1215. Very odd, with double meaning to that word as it was the only odd number in the 72-color set. All other bars were numbered roughly in 10-number increments. One of the reasons I checked the numbers before just labeling the bars is someone else online had complained of getting two bars of the same green color; she wrote the seller and was immediately sent the missing color. For me it's really no big deal, since at least all 72 of my colors are uniquely different. |
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| After making sure of color of each bar, I labeled each so I can easily document which colors are used on future paintings. |
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| And now all of my colors are clearly labeled and ready to use. Also note the little yellow tabs on the top pan. I put a cardboard piece under the fragile plastic form and attached the yellow tabs so I can easily pull the thin plastic palette out without damaging it. Now it feels quite durable and should last a good long time! |
