Derwent Watercolour Pans?! | Are they Better than Inktense?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
- I recently bought the 24 set of Derwent Watercolour Pans. I am someone who loves the Derwent Inktense line, so I was curious to see how the watercolors compare with Inktense! Let's see how they stack up against one another as I do a side by side comparison in my sketchbook!
Materials (affiliate):
Derwent Watercolour Pans 24 set (not available in the US Yet, but can be shipped from Cult Pens- cultpens.com/products/derwent...
Derwent Inktense Pans 12 set #1 shrsl.com/4l5wz
Arches Hot Press Watercolor Paper- shrsl.com/4l5x3
Jane Davenport Watercolor Journal- janedavenport.com/shop/suppli...
Other:
Holbein Gold Synthetic Brushes
This video is not sponsored by Derwent.
Please note: Product links used in description are often affiliate links, this means I earn a small profit when someone uses my link to purchase a product. However, there is no additional charge to the person who is purchasing the product.
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Music:
Piano sound in the beginning is my own.
Editing programs:
Corel VideoStudio Ultimate 2023
CapCut
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I have wondered about the Derwent watercolors. Thanks for showing them in action!
You're welcome! I'm surprised you haven't tried them yet! Lol. Thanks for watching, Lindsay!
@CautionArtistatPlay honestly, I am kind of afraid they might disappoint me and I love Derwent products so I don't want to review them for that reason 😅
@thefrugalcrafter, haha! I don't blame you. I was worried about the same thing! I still don't think they are a must-have, but I was pleasantly surprised.
@thefrugalcrafter as you are someone with such a vast knowledge of watercolour and has tried so many different paints, these will probably disappoint you. They are very chalky, the palette itself doesn’t latch properly. Very over priced on the Derwent website. I can see no difference between these and the inktense.
Yeah, I agree the price point could be better. I think it really comes down to expectations. I went into it knowing fully that these weren't going to be a high end artist-grade watercolor. I was curious to see just how close they were to the Inktense, I was relieved that they at least behaved a bit differently in water. But boy, do they like alike when dry. Other than the fact that the watercolors might be a bit smoother in some areas. It's one of those things that I think if you are happy with Inktense, there is no reason to run out to buy these.
I love how you review things, you manage to explain yourself so well, brilliant ☺☺
Thank you so much!! 🥰
I was surprised that they turned out with such a similar look, I like both pieces. I have the inktense pans (and pencils, and blocks, I know, probably overkill!) and I have an 8 pan set of Derwent pastels. They are super matte and chalky when dry. I was wondering about the watercolors and am so glad you reviewed them. Thanks for these videos, Shana!
You're welcome, Elizabeth! Thank you for watching! I am not judging, I have the blocks, pencils, and pans, too! You are in good company! Haha. I haven't tried their pastel paint pans, having looked at them online, I am not surprised to hear that they are super matte. I figured they probably would be! Thanks for letting me know!
i am very confident in you, i don't buy without watching if you have tried the product ; thanks for all
Thank you! I'm glad you find my reviews helpful! 🥰
Hi Shana! Ohhh...well, I love Derwent Inktense, they're so wonderful products! But when I see this comparison...I think both are doing a wonderful job, but, I love the watercolors side, because it look so much natural, more soft and obviously, more blendable than the Inktense pan paintings. I will love to try this Derwent Watercolors, but I really concerned about the lightfast ratings. I don't have the Inktense pan painting set, but I have the Inktense pencils and blocks, and I love them❤. Oh, I forgot something, the side of the Inktense pan painting, looks more opaque, and it's like you said, looks like gouache, and its so nice too😊❤ thanks to do this comparison Shana❤❤❤
Hi there! Yeah, the water colors definitely had a more painterly, flowy quality to them. They are both fun to work with, though! I'm happy with how each piece came out, but I really loved working on the petals on the watercolor side. That was fun!
I looked at these watercolours. In my opinion they are water soluble paints rather than traditional watercolours. They’re quite opaque and don’t flow or blend very well. I think they’re quite expensive for craft quality paints. Another factor to consider is whether the replacement pans are available to buy individually. The Inktense have different qualities and uses so are different from other mediums and I enjoy using them for that reason. The pencils and blocks are available open stock but not sure about the small pans from the paintbox.
The pans are available open stock for both the Inktense and the watercolours. Which is definitely a bonus. I agree that they are not the highest end watercolour on the market. That's another reason why I would like to do another comparison video where I test them next to other watercolours that are of a similar price range.
Both of those flower paintings really pop!! 🌺 Nice comparison!! 👍
Thank you!! 🥰
@@CautionArtistatPlay You are quite welcome! 🤗😍
I would love to try these 😍
They are a lot of fun!
Great review! I love your videos.
Thank you, Dianne! 💖
This is so interesting to me! I have to admit that when I first saw this video, I thought, “no, no, you’re wrong. This is just Inktense renamed for a different market.” I have seen Derwent do that with Graphite/Graphitint XL. Then I looked and couldn’t find it available anywhere or on the Derwent website, so I was sure that was the case. But I see you did thorough research and addressed those issues. I guess more watercolors are about the last thing I need, though….
Yeah, as of the time of this recording, they aren't available on the Derwent U.S. website yet, but they are available on the U.K. website! Since they are made there, they get the products before we do here in the U.S. and have different sites depending on which country you are in. Which can make it confusing for consumers! Here is the listing on the U.K. website: www.derwentart.com/en-gb/p/2306324/professional-products/paints/derwent-watercolour-paint-pan-24-set
I have been curious about these as I am all about Derwent, but they seem so similar to Inktense, thank you for the review. As always your work is amazing. I love that you hang with Lindsay and Angela ❤
Thank you so much! 🥰 I'm glad you found this review to be helpful! I'm so glad to have met Angela and Lindsay! It's amazing to be friends with other artists who also do TH-cam. They are amazing! 🤩
I'm actually surprised you didn't know about these. I've been tempted for a year now to get the Derwent pastel set. I noticed the pastel colors weren't listed on the sheets you showed.
Yes! I have known about the pastel set for a long time! But that's its own product called "Pastel Shades Paint Pan Set" and have been around for a while. These are an entirely different product and are simply called "Watercolour Paint Pan Set." It's a different line of paints. There are no pastel tones in this set. There are a ton of different pan sets by Derwent, which are all essentially some sort of watercolor varient, but these are the first to be marketed simply as "watercolour."
They seem to be very similar and whilst I like both pics, I would tend to prefer the Inktense. Just looks that bit more colorful and vibrant. Though, if I were to buy either product I would be very happy with both.
Inktense are really vibrant! They are both great products, though. I agree you probably would be happy with either one! Thanks for watching!
Loved how you did your bokeh background the watercolors do look like they blend well. Thank you so much for sharing this I have been very curious about trying these watercolors! I love the green in the background of the watercolor side! Was that straight color or did you mix that green? I didn't see a swatch that looked that dark, but it is lovely. Both of your poppies are wonderful! Is this watercolor palette one you would grab to go out on our next Plein Air adventure, or will you still reach for something else? I loved the way you lifted to add in leaves in the background, that worked very well! All the poppies we saw on our adventure were amazing, both of these were my favorite colors! Reliving the day through these pieces, great memories! Seeing both finished, the water color just looks a bit smoother in blending from your wet in wet washes, based on what I am seeing I love the look of the watercolor just slightly more than the inktense. I would be curious to see how these look in comparisons to watercolors like Cotman, Meilang (Paul Rubens student grade), and even the Meeden watercolors, but it would also be interesting to see them go head to head with some of the pro colors with similar qualities, these didn't look like fast movers and would be curious how they hold their own vs something like W&N pro (which IMO is a very "reliable" I will stay where you put my kind of professional watercolor, in relation to say their hyperactive cousin QoR. lol). Thank you so much for sharing this I think they will remain on the list of watercolors to try.
I am curious to see how they hold up against other watercolors, too! I found it interesting how well they blended when I was working in the background. I wasn't trying for a smooth background because I knew I was going to do a bokeh anyway, so it was neat to see how the watercolor side flowed and blended itself on its own accord. The color for both backgrounds was mixed, I added a bit of black to each and used a combination of greens as well. I rarely work straight from the pan for things like that. For the vibrant color in the poppies, though, I mixed way less because I didn't want to muddy them and wanted them to pop! The funny thing about the pink poppy is that I changed the color on that one. The reference I was working from was from the really pretty peachy colored ones, but I changed it here so it could be more similar to the red one in value! I didn't have any really good pictures of the magenta colored ones, so I had to improvise. I might bring these on our next adventure so I can get more practice with them. If I do, I will let you try them!
Love the pieces. I own the inktense blocks so going to skip the watercolor
Thanks, Rob! If you are happy with what you have, I don't see a huge reason to run out and grab the watercolor palette.
Oh interesting, I didn't know Inktense was officially classed as a watercolor product! People keep repeating they are ink 😆
Thank you for doing thorough research! 👌
I was under that impression for the longest time as well! Then, a while back, someone mentioned in my comments that they weren't actually ink. So that's when I went to the Derwent website to investigate! You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
@@CautionArtistatPlay This is interesting and raises questions in my mind. Is it all just semantics? They don’t say they are “watercolor-based” vs. “ink-based,” they just say they are classified as a watercolor product and appear like ink. So what actually IS ink, vs. a water-soluble pigment-based paint? Ink can be pigment-based and water-soluble, too. How is it that they “appear like ink” but aren’t actually ink? What would be needed to make them ink?
@@CautionArtistatPlay Oh that may have been me, haha! I've been banging this drum for a while. Seriously though, you have got to try the Inktense on black paper. It's a revelation! Then make a video about it, please! I have never seen anyone do a video of the Inktense on black paper. If you do it, you'll be the first!
I personally love them regardless of what they are made of! But you wouldn't believe how passionate some of the comments on videos can be about this subject. Some people really do care, which is why I have to put the disclaimer in for clarification purposes when I talk about them, lol. And I think it's good to know the ins and outs of the products we are working with.
I don't recall if you mentioned it in my comments or not. If so, you were probably much nicer about it. There was one particular man who commented and wasn't very nice about it. It was probably a few years ago now, and that's the first comment that sticks out to me, and that's what really made me look into it. Either way, like many I was under the wrong impression about them for years, because of how they were marketed when they first came out, and because of how a lot of how other artists I watch on here describe them. I always try to be accurate in the information I give, so that's why when I talk about them now, I try to give all the information I can.
THANK YOU for saying Inktense is kind of like gouache! People always say it's ink in solid form, and it is NOT! The revelation for me was when I used Inktense on black paper - it really did look like gouache! It's frikkin opaque! Could it be a dye-based gouache? Gouache-adjacent also explains why it dries so fast and has kind of a matte finish. And why the lighter colors like white and yellow dry more more opaque. But of course it doesn't lift easily like gouache. It's obviously not the same thing, and I really wish Derwent would be more transparent about what the heck this stuff is. But anyway, enough with my rant. The mystery remains....
According to the FAQ'S on the Derwent website, Inktense is pigment-based and not dye-based, though they can be used to dye things, so that confuses a lot of people too. It's just such a strange product that no one seems to know what they are! Haha! It's a mysterious product indeed! I think they combined qualities from a bunch of different media to formulate them!
But ink can be opaque, too. I have no “horse in this race” and don’t really care if they are ink or not, but I am still sort of confused as to why they can’t be ink, but water-soluble like watercolor, and also opaque like gouache. It sort of sounds like it is just Derwent classifying them as a watercolor product for artists, not some industry standard determining they must be classified as something other than ink. What is it that would make them NOT ink? Or what is it which would make them ink, since (as I mentioned in response to another comment) ink can be pigment-based and water-soluble (and opaque.)
@Anonymoi All very good questions. I just looked up the difference between ink and watercolor, and honestly, I don't think it clears things up very much in reference to the way Inktense lay down. This is the first answer Google gave me "The difference between these two media colour-wise is that watercolour is particles of pigment suspended in water, and ink is more of a liquid stain. This means that the watercolour hues will mix more, while layered ink will make the new colour more with the light shining through the different layers" All I know is the fact that Derwent says that they are made to "look like" an Ink implies that they are not actually ink. If they were, I feel like they would have answered that question and explicitly
stated that they were ink. Especially since most of their marketing has relied on people being under the impression that they were ink. They, as art supply manufacturers, know the difference better than most of us do. So, if they classify it as something other than ink, then it must be that they aren't actual literal ink. I don't know. The whole thing is very strange. I don't see why they couldn't very well be an ink, but I also don't see why if it was an ink, they wouldn't just say so. Artists use inks, too. It would only benefit them marketing wise to admit that they are ink, since most people buy them thinking that is the case to begin with. It's all very confusing.
Oh, a nerdy discussion, I love it! 😀
I made a ChatGPT inquiry, and the only possible reason I found is: ink needs to be liquid to be considered ink. Well, that makes sense. Ink is liquid, duh 😂 Inktense uses pigments as opposed to dye, and there are inks that are made of pigments as well, but there are no special "ink-pigments" that would make a product ink.
Here are more details:
- Traditional Inks are generally liquid from the start, designed to be applied with pens, brushes, or other applicators. The physical form of Inktense (as pencils and blocks) sets it apart from traditional inks.
- Pigments only become "ink" once they are mixed into a liquid medium with appropriate binders and solvents. This formulation process defines the ink's properties, such as flow, drying time, and permanence.
- Binding Agents: Inks use specific binding agents that help the pigment adhere to surfaces and remain stable once applied. These agents are crucial for defining the medium as ink rather than paint or another type of art material.
Conclusion
While the same pigments can be used in inks and other art mediums, their classification as "ink" comes from the specific formulation process. This process includes mixing the pigments with liquid binders and solvents designed to create a medium with the desired properties for writing, drawing, or printing.
While modern products can blur the lines, traditional ink is defined by its liquid state, which is essential for its intended applications and performance characteristics.
Thank you Rita for the tip about black paper!! I will definitely try this out!
Compare it to faber castel w/c since they are always competing lol
Omgosh, that would be perfect, but I donated my set of Faber-Castell watercolor pans a while back because I never used them!
Whats your stance on fixating art?
Do you mean using a fixative?
@@CautionArtistatPlay Yeah. For me it enhances the saturation and improves the contrast most of the time, though some colours end up a bit too dark.
I always add a protective coating on work that I plan to sell, and depending on the kind of fixative or varnish, it can definitely enhance the color saturation. I don't typically do it to work that's in my sketchbook, unless it's a medium that will smudge easy. A lot of fixatives have harmful fumes, and I am sensitive to the smell, so I don't want to smell it every time I open my sketchbook. Where as things outside of the book have ample space and time to air out, lol. It depends on the piece, though. I didn't even think to do it here because neither of these pieces is at high risk of smudging. But it probably would enhance the colors a bit if I did!