no one is exaggerating. These really are awesome and they do not compare to anything else on the market. I'm pretty smitten. I thought they would be normal watercolor pencils, but they just plain are not. Instead of the waxy texture of run of the mill watercolors, these draw more like charcoal if charcoal didn't smudge. They are literally dried ink, so when you wet them, the ink is activated and upon drying it becomes completely permanent. My one very small issue is the drying speed. It is very quick and since it dries permanent (which is a plus for the most part because it removes the need to spray fixative) so if you haven't blended/finished manipulating the medium you're kind of out of luck. they don't layer great either but they are so highly pigmented I haven't felt the need to try to stack them much. I got used to them pretty quick though. I found that using a self watering brush helped tremendously. It allowed me to change w But I got the 36 colors and it's really plenty. I'm going to check and see if they sell metallic next because that would be fun. I mean who doesn't love a little gold in their life? Happy painting, I'll try to upload the finish products in a bit (not sure if it'll let me). I'm pretty impressed!

I purchased the 36 set. I think I found the medium of my choice! I always enjoyed watercolor however, it can be tricky to control when doing a light wash and it isn't very intense in color. Also, it is difficult to layer because colors can muddy up or be removed. These inktense solved those issues! I've used this on some sketching paper it still looks great. Definitely create a swatch chart and play with these before using on a drawing because the color on the end of the pencil can be different than what it actually is. The 36 set could have swapped out a few greens and blues for more yellows and oranges so that a full range of skin tones could be created. Even with the browns and reds that are in the set, the range of warm dark and deep skin tones is kind of tricky to achieve.

You must be sure that you dissolve all of the color pencil on the paper or you may activate it again when you do not intend to. I would recommend using masking fluid to keep colors off of unintended areas (I do portraits) because you cannot remove color after it is wet.

Overall I love these pencils and have placed an order for the 72 set of inktense blocks just to cover more ground and to get more shades

I am so pleased with these pencils! It takes a little while to get the hang of them but once you do, they are amazing! The ink dries permanently and doesn't go through the pages of my adult coloring books! They arrived perfectly also. I wish there were more greens in this set, but I can buy them in open stock. Attached is the first picture I colored with them. I followed along with a youtube video.

This was my second Inktense purchase and they are all that and a box of crackers! Seriously. Unlike watercolors, these pigments become permanent once they dry, which means you can layer your colors and achieve a vibrancy that just isn't possible with anything else I've tried. I use them in coloring books as well as in painting (I'm not an artist and this picture is my first painting ever. It's not finished, but this is where it's at now.) The pencils often work better than the blocks in coloring books because of the control allowed. Use a Furetake water pen to activate and you've got magic in there.

I have just returned to doing flatwork for the first time in about 25 years. I have been purchasing quality colored pencils and was just introduced to the water soluble colored pencils. In doing my research, these were highly recommend. I have purchased the 36 pencil set, and just recently the 72 pencil set for my mother. In my limited time, I have been very impressed with the Derwent Inktense pencils. The colors are very rich when laying them down on the paper. For me getting the set was a good way to experiment with the different pencils so I know which ones I want to buy in the future. In a couple of week, I will have the summer off and can't wait to really use these.I highly recommend these to anyone wanting a good quality colored pencil.