Polychromos vs Inktense dry - WetCanvas: Online Living for Artists

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July 21, 2015 at 10:43 am #993206
jenwarren
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Hi all, I’m looking to invest in a nice set of colored pencils…right now I am looking at two lines, the Polychromos and Inktense. At the moment as I’m just getting into the medium, I don’t want to purchase both sets. So hopefully you all experienced CPers can help me make up my mind

I ordered a few open stock Polychromos pencils and really like them…I like the feel better than the wax-based pencils and the colors are nice (I really crave rich reds and black, and I can get those with the Polychromos). However, I also played with a friend’s Inktense pencils over the weekend, mostly with a water brush, and I really liked them. I didn’t really try shading or blending with them, though. I like that they can be used wet or dry, but they come in less colors than the Polychromos.

So my question for you is mostly this…are the Inktense comparable to Polychromos when used dry, in regards to vividness, blending, or shading? Or should I really invest in both for different purposes?
July 21, 2015 at 3:05 pm #1228884
Sarosna
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Polychromos are artist grade, InkTense are not.

If having watercolor pencils fancies you, I’d try Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer or Caran D’Ache Museum Aquarelle.

Sure, you can use InkTense for hobby purposes if you want but if the choice is between Polychromos and InkTense then Polys win hands down. You can always buy pencils to compliment your Polychromos pencils. Be that watercolor pencils for underpainting. I use Museum Aquarelle myself. You could also buy real watercolor instead of watercolor pencils.

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July 21, 2015 at 3:50 pm #1228882
Debby
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Definitely get the Polychromos if you like how they are working for you. As Sarosna said, you can supplement with water color pencils if you want or actual watercolors. The inktense are supposed to be like working with ink. There are lots of fountain pen inks out there that can be used as well.

Debby
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July 21, 2015 at 4:42 pm #1228886
Crabby2
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I definitely agree with the others. I love Polychromos. There’s another good reason as far as I’m concerned.

I’m just learning and use books on colored pencils books frequently to learn different techniques. Most books use Prismacolor s in their demos. Polychromos have a very wide assortment of colors and can work extremely well, or better, than the prisma….

Diane
Different Strokes for Different Folks....
July 21, 2015 at 5:24 pm #1228887
jenwarren
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As far as artist level vs. hobbyist, I’m not sure I’d call myself a “serious” artist, as in I’m not planning to try to show or enter competitions, and I do a lot of crafty/scrapbooky type things. But I also like having quality materials and I do want to try more painterly style drawings.

I like the ink aspect of Inktense and the intensity of the colors, and the control and portability of pencils. Do watercolor pencils have the vivid colors you can get from Inktense?

Maybe the answer is I need both for different purposes. While it would be nice to have one set, maybe I’m trying to fill two niches with one pencil.
July 21, 2015 at 6:46 pm #1228874
Robin
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Polychromos are artist grade, InkTense are not.

If having watercolor pencils fancies you, I’d try Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer or Caran D’Ache Museum Aquarelle.

Sure, you can use InkTense for hobby purposes if you want but if the choice is between Polychromos and InkTense then Polys win hands down. You can always buy pencils to compliment your Polychromos pencils. Be that watercolor pencils for underpainting. I use Museum Aquarelle myself. You could also buy real watercolor instead of watercolor pencils.

Where do you get the info that InkTense are not professional grade, can’t find it.

Robin
July 21, 2015 at 6:55 pm #1228875
Robin
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Inktense is more like watercolor pencil than Polys. It’s a total different way to work.

I love them. I used them the first time for a 10 painting commission for a special event in conjunction with prismacolors and they were spectacular, especially in one that was a night scene and I had to do colored lights on a walkway. I wish I could show you. Unfortunately, I had a very tight deadline and we had a wicked storm come through when I was finishing, lost power and I couldn’t stop and take photos before running to Fedex.

‘m using them now over a watercolor house portrait to bring out the brilliance where the sun hits, just a bit here and there. So for me, they are a great accent to punch up a cp piece a bit, not the main event.

If I HAD to pick one, I’d pick traditional colored pencils, I think they are more versatile.

I’m going to be incorporating inktense into my colored pencil pieces more often.

Robin
July 21, 2015 at 7:25 pm #1228883
Hoplite
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If the bulk of what you are doing is drawing, then my advice is get the standard color pencils. Polychromos are excellent. if you plan to do more watercolor, then get a water soluable pencil. The latter can be used to straightforward drawing, but they are not as good at it as pencils designed only for drawing. I prefer the Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer line to Inktense, but lots of people like the latter. You can get a one to one color match between Polychromos and AD.
July 21, 2015 at 9:30 pm #1228876
Robin
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The IT is a different animal. I use regular watercolors, watercolor pencils AND that lil dab of inktense when I can. They aren’t interchangable, imo.

Robin
July 22, 2015 at 1:32 am #1228885
Sarosna
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Where do you get the info that InkTense are not professional grade, can’t find it.

By looking at the color chart alone. Nearly half of the shades have poor light fastness rating. Not a single retailer in Finland sells them as artist grade either. Of course, if this is not an issue then they can be great pencils. I had a set myself in the past when I was just starting out and they were indeed very bright and the colors were beautiful.

When I think of fine art, I think solely about possibly selling some artwork as paintings. I would not sell paintings made with InkTense with a good conscious. I would fear that some of the colors in the painting would fade with time.

As far as artist level vs. hobbyist, I’m not sure I’d call myself a “serious” artist, as in I’m not planning to try to show or enter competitions, and I do a lot of crafty/scrapbooky type things. But I also like having quality materials and I do want to try more painterly style drawings.

I like the ink aspect of Inktense and the intensity of the colors, and the control and portability of pencils. Do watercolor pencils have the vivid colors you can get from Inktense?

Maybe the answer is I need both for different purposes. While it would be nice to have one set, maybe I’m trying to fill two niches with one pencil.

It does sound like watercolor pencils might be what you need. If you’d also like to use them dry then I’m not sure if the InkTense line is for you. If you want soft, creamy pencils both dry and wet then I’d vote for Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer. They aren’t as vivid as InkTense though since IT are ink, not watercolor. They come in 120 colors so you also have a lot more choices in colors than with InkTense.

Then there’s Museum Aquarelle which are very bright but they cost a big buck so I wouldn’t start recommending them to a hobbyist who does a lot of crafts.

If you’re on a budget and see yourself doing crafts mostly then InkTense can work out for you just fine. Just be aware of the lightfastness ratings if you ever decide to go bigger :thumbsup:

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July 22, 2015 at 2:48 am #1228879
Delofasht
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Polychromos are my favorite, Inktense would win if they were more lightfast. In fact, for illustration work, where I do not care about selling the final piece and only about getting the look just right I would use Inktense.

That being said, I have been using walnut oil in conjunction with prepared papers and other surfaces to create some rather fantastic smooth transitions with Polychromos. I chose a drying oil over the more commonly used mineral oil because I wanted to be able to further work the area after it dries for different textural and layered effects. The surface, if it is a paper or wood should be sized appropriately to resist the acids in the walnut oil if you are seeking an archival finish. If it is for illustration work, walnut oil is simply superior.

The major benefit of Inktense over Polychromos for illustration work is that you can just use water, so that can be cheaper. Given that you can achieve similar results with oil dissolution of the Polychromos binder though, if you don’t mind having to buy a tiny jar of oil then the Polychromos are the best investment. They provide better of everything in quality and handling, and if you have some oil will even provide the solubility handling properties of Inktense.

One last note regarding Polychromos used with oil, the color becomes super vibrant and the coverage dense and really clean, but can be tricky to control the spread of color with a brush. Luckily you can allow it to dry and just work the area some more with dry pencils to clean uo edge work.

Hope this proves to be useful info!

- Delo Delofasht
July 22, 2015 at 6:39 pm #1228877
Robin
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By looking at the color chart alone. Nearly half of the shades have poor light fastness rating. Not a single retailer in Finland sells them as artist grade either. Of course, if this is not an issue then they can be great pencils. I had a set myself in the past when I was just starting out and they were indeed very bright and the colors were beautiful.

When I think of fine art, I think solely about possibly selling some artwork as paintings. I would not sell paintings made with InkTense with a good conscious. I would fear that some of the colors in the painting would fade with time.

It does sound like watercolor pencils might be what you need. If you’d also like to use them dry then I’m not sure if the InkTense line is for you. If you want soft, creamy pencils both dry and wet then I’d vote for Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer. They aren’t as vivid as InkTense though since IT are ink, not watercolor. They come in 120 colors so you also have a lot more choices in colors than with InkTense.

Then there’s Museum Aquarelle which are very bright but they cost a big buck so I wouldn’t start recommending them to a hobbyist who does a lot of crafts.

If you’re on a budget and see yourself doing crafts mostly then InkTense can work out for you just fine. Just be aware of the lightfastness ratings if you ever decide to go bigger :thumbsup:

I was able to purchase enough in every color group I needed that had excellent lightfastness. If that’s your criteria for professional vs. student grade, then I’d consider them to be artist grade, by being careful which shade you choose (they are available open stock). I see student grade as being difficult to work with because of lack of pigment or cheap binder.

Lightfastness is an issue for sure, especially with watercolors and watercolor pencils, each shade in any line should be carefully checked out to make sure it’s as lightfast as possible.

As careful as I am about the integrity of art supplies, I was speechless to see a painting on cardboard by Toulouse Lautrec at the art museum on Sunday. Boy, did it look great well over a hundred years later!

Robin
July 22, 2015 at 6:42 pm #1228878
Robin
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Delo, again, just purchase the lightfast shades in the color group and you won’t have to worry about that issue for inktense.

Robin
July 22, 2015 at 7:39 pm #1228880
Delofasht
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Delo, again, just purchase the lightfast shades in the color group and you won’t have to worry about that issue for inktense.

Well, selection is a big deal, Polychromos gives me over 80 colors that I am totally happy with, Inktense have like 30 to 40 colors that I would feel comfortable using on an original meant for sale. That’s a pretty large gap, and many of the ranges of colors, most especially the purples and reds are extremely limited (or nonexistent). This makes it extremely difficult to do nearly any finished works with them meant to be sold as an original.

Polychromos red range is rich in bright, vivid, lightfast colors. So, the choice is pretty obvious for sale of originals, for illustration, all about that Inktense.

- Delo Delofasht
July 22, 2015 at 8:08 pm #1228888
jenwarren
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Would the UV glass mitigate the lightfastness issue somewhat?

I think a lot of what I would be doing with either line would be in art journals and such, so direct sunlight might not be as much of an issue for me. I certainly don’t intend to sell originals.

You all are giving me lots to think about
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