Unveiling the Best 12 and 24 Derwent Inktense Pencils for Nature Art

[@heather9328]

When considering a new art material the temptation is to buy a set rather than individual elements as it appears to be better value for money but if you rarely use some of them it is counterintuitive. Such a lot of very useful information and food for thought in this so thank you Alex for taking the time to do this.

[@AlexBoonArt]

Absolutely, thats just the message of this video 😁 Thanks for your comment.

[@ruthballard1550]

Thank you so much for this video. I know that in the past I have ordered large sets and just don't use them all. I am now buying only specific pencils as I need them. I ordered the ones you recommended today and can't wait to try using them! I appreciate all the time and effort you put into researching these.

[@AlexBoonArt]

You're welcome, so glad it was helpful to you 😊

[@spktme]

This is such a great find! Thanks for the information you can tell in the video the many hours of research and use to know the products in and out and it's so appreciated. I loved that you took the time to explain each choice and why and the difference between what derwent recommends vs you and I feel like I learned so much from this one video so thank you! This might have been my first video but it won't be my last. 😊

[@AlexBoonArt]

Glad it was helpful! I had a bit of a nightmare with the audio on this video and KZbin won't let you change it once posted... so I am really happy to hear that the video is still reaching and helping people 😊

[@jefffawver888]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.Awesome work.

[@AlexBoonArt]

You're welcome 🙂

[@alicjaverplancken5152]

Very good video. I learnt a lot! You are "disgustingly" talented! Your artwork is so beautiful!

[@AlexBoonArt]

Thank you very much 🙂

[@jeanlanz2344]

Thank you for sharing your expertise. You are very knowledgeable technically and your painting/drawings look beautiful.

[@AlexBoonArt]

Thank you 🙂

[@BillHendricksShadowmason]

Wow... The years of exploration. I took a lot of your advice after integrating the twelve-pack that I purchased. I also took into account the color pallette I have been using in my other work. Thank you for sharing.

[@AlexBoonArt]

You're welcome - sounds like a good approach 👍

[@JoanneTaylorQabboJo]

Very thorough, thank you. And really useful . Saving me some errors, and money 🙂

[@AlexBoonArt]

Very welcome!

[@JordanHunter333]

This is such a helpful video, Alex. I am starting out with watercolor, and after much research, found myself coming up with very similar colors for a 24-set. I look forward to adding watercolor pencil and gouache a little at a time, and your advice regarding mixes and examples of your art help tremendously.

[@AlexBoonArt]

That's really cool, glad to hear that others are supporting my opinions on which colours to pick 😊

[@jenihansen7201]

I just ordered the derwent pencils from your site recommendation. Thank you.

[@AlexBoonArt]

Hope you enjoy them 🙂

[@ellenp7455]

I was watching and wondering, what your colour researching book reminds me of. And then it hit me - the Mendeleev Table! Even your abbreviations for colours look like abbreviations for chemistry elements.😂 That's what I call a scientific approach!👍

[@AlexBoonArt]

Haha! You know what I never thought that but now I really see it! 😄😄

[@MK-3535]

Great video, thank you. Full sets are the way for me because eventually they are all used. But in expensive sets I may start out with the smallest set. The full set is generally purchased soon after.

[@AlexBoonArt]

Sounds like a good plan if you can afford 😃

[@Growingold62]

Thanks!

[@AlexBoonArt]

Thank you so much, very appreciated 😊

[@quinnfitzpatrick7507]

This is super; thank you for doing this! Have you used Faber Castell Albrecht Durer's Watercolour pencils? It would be great to know what colours from that line would be best for landscape and botanical subject matter as well. Thanks again, new subscriber!

[@AlexBoonArt]

You're welcome 😊 I haven't, I'm sticking to my favourites just now (I don't think I would be able to afford to test lots of different brands and ranges until KZbin pays more money 🤣🤣) I am going to be doing some more Derwent Inktense and also coloured pencil videos soon. Thanks for the sub 🙂

[@lynnmckenna9934]

Brilliant!!!!

[@AlexBoonArt]

Thanks 🙂

[@tinakoyama8258]

I admit I have all 100, but I probably use only about 15 or 20 frequently -- and most of them are within your set of 24! Like minds! 😉

[@AlexBoonArt]

Love to hear that 😁😁

[@jasminemp]

Do you mix the colors on the palette?

[@AlexBoonArt]

Yes, usually I do 😊

[@claregraham4732]

I wonder, if you could afford 5 or 6 more pencils than the 12 set, which ones of your expanded palette would you choose to buy? And thank you so much for showing your truly amazing swatch book!

[@AlexBoonArt]

Good question! I think the most important are 0200 Sun Yellow, 0850 Violet, 1600 Leaf Green, 1730 Oak, 2200 Ink Black but it does depend on what you work on. For plants, Iron Green and Spring Green would be my next choices after that. For more landscapes, I would select another blue and a sepia. Thanks for commenting 😊

[@tilialindenbaum3114]

This is sooo useful, thank you, Alex! I'm delighted that I can buy these pencils here in Germany, too. 🌱🌼✏️ Unfortunately, they are out of Burnt Amber and Baked Earth. What do you recommend to buy instead? 🤔

[@AlexBoonArt]

Honestly, I would wait for the Burnt Umber, but if you can't wait probably Bark or Natural Brown. Willow could be used instead of Baked Earth. Mix it with a bit of Tangerine to get back to Baked Earth.

[@tilialindenbaum3114]

@@AlexBoonArt Thank you so much for the helpful answer! 🙏🏻☺️

[@tatyanastepanova8341]

Hi Alex, what an amazing job you have done in analyzing all the colours. May I ask please how do you build these ladder type gradients? I see you marked the colours used on the left but am not clear what they are mixed with to fill out the gradients to the right.

[@AlexBoonArt]

Thank you. So, to make this kind of grid: on the left hand side, first column is the colours straight out of the pencil. In the second column , that colour is mixed with the colour in the next row down. In the third column, that colour is mixed with the colour of the third rows down and so on. This makes the ladder structure, because otherwise you would mix each colour pair twice. I sometimes use the rest of the grid to test out other colours and colour mixes. Hope that explains it 😊

[@tatyanastepanova8341]

Thank you so much for your response! So to explore the possible color combinations from different color families, I would just put them in the order of a desired combination, I suppose.

[@AlexBoonArt]

Yes, exactly, you can put them in any order. Just choose a group and using this method you'll get to see any colour combination in the group 😊

[@tatyanastepanova8341]

Perfect, many thanks!

[@jenihansen7201]

I use the derwent pencils for my collage quilts.

[@annoverton6379]

Great Info, can you just buy 1 set to do flowers ? Or do I need to buy them separately? Thanks Ann

[@AlexBoonArt]

It really depends on the flowers you intend, I recommend buying separately rather than sets unless you use the Derwent "Build Your Own Tin" because the pre-made sets don't include the optimal colours for nature painting 🙂

[@jlm517rocks]

yr so smart, great examples/samples...imma admittedly a neocolor 2's & an inktense groupie, a pens/ink junkie, & a zentangle enthusiast...forget shoes, this girl has more interest in art than fashion....so yr tips are a huge asset to nuke overwhelm...so glad ii found yr channel. Beautiful swatches, ty.

[@AlexBoonArt]

Ha, I love your enthusiasm 😊 Thanks so much for watching!

[@JoyOntheRange]

I can’t find Burnt Umber Inktense pencil in the US. Help anyone!

[@AlexBoonArt]

WHAAT! That's annoying. Is it just Burnt Umber or all of the 28 new colours?

[@JoyOntheRange]

@@AlexBoonArt Just the Burnt Umber. I have all the other colors. What would you substitute ?

[@AlexBoonArt]

Odd, I wonder if they ran out. It is an extremely popular colour. I would go with Bark. You can mix it with Payne's Grey to get a more Umbery colour.

[@poweredbyjoy9682]

Thank you🙏🏽

[@ruthballard1550]

Dick Blicks in the US sells Burnt Umber now. I just ordered it from them today.

[@waymire01]

Color palette is by far the biggest downfall of the Inktense line. I was really hoping for some better options with the expansion to 100, but was disappointed. 100 is plenty to provide a balanced palette but it's still extremely limited and so many are way too similar. You definitely do not need the entire set unless you simply want them all (I do own all of them). The tones across the board are very bright and garish, with limited earth tones and the ones that are there are also way too similar while simultaneously being muddy and dull. Inktense are great for many applications, but soft florals and landscapes with realistic tones will be a struggle regardless of which pencils you choose from the line. I would highly suggest for those who want to do natural subjects with a water soluble pencil to go with the very underrated Derwent Watercolor.. or Albrecht Durer. The DW have a lovely, concise, 72 color natural palette. The AD with a very balanced 120 color palette have plenty of natural tones to choose from, and they layer similarly to Inktense with little reactivation upon subsequent layers.

[@AlexBoonArt]

Thanks so much for sharing your perspective. But I'm afraid I disagree with you! I think there are some excellent colours available I'm this set, the ones I highlight in my video are my favourite. Honestly, I wouldn't have used these in my own work for so many years if I didn't like them. It is perfectly possible to do realistic and soft florals using these, it just takes learning how to wash them out nicely and layer them. I've been using them in my botanical nature journal for 3 years now, I'll share it in more detail on the channel soon 🙂