Derwent Inktense Blocks 12 Tin, Set of 12 Water-Colours, 8mm Block, Water-Soluble, Ideal for Drawing, Colouring, Crafts & Painting on Paper & Fabric, Professional Quality (2300442)

I attend an Art Group in the Hathersage area and as we all paint in different media and styles, it seemed a very good opportunity to take the Inktense Blocks with me. They caused great interest, so much so that a friend had a go with them too and as the blocks snapped in half easily, it didn't cause any problems sharing the Inktense Blocks. My friend painted a lovely cockerel and I had a great time painting a landscape. We were highly enthusiastic with them, and as I had also taken my set of Inktense Pencils with me I was able to mix the two together on my picture. My friend thoroughly enjoyed her day, especially as initially, she had been a bit stuck for ideas. She said she was definitely going to send off for a set too. We both liked the way they were so flexible in use, in that they could be used wet or dry, made very interesting marks, and seemed to work well on different surfaces.. Also, having the 36 Pack gave us a very good range of colour choice and would be much easier and less messier than taking watercolours on holiday. All in all a very good product and we can thoroughly recommend it.

I was very lucky compared to some of the customers who purchased as my tin arrived in perfect condition with none of the sticks damaged. Each section on the inside of the tin was securely wrapped in cellophane so none of the sticks could move to contaminate other sticks as some of the previous purchasers mentioned. I'm not sure if this is a new thing. The Inktense sticks themselves are a joy to use. They go down so smoothly on the paper although there are some variances in softness along the colour range. They blend beautifully with water and the colours are gorgeous and vivid, although you can make them more subtle with mixing. I really love using them. The only thing I felt was missing was some kind of colour chart for identification of how the colours are when wet, as it is really difficult to know what colour you will end up with looking at the dry sticks. I made my own and have stuck it in the tin for reference. Overall thrilled with my purchase. Great value for such a lot of colours.

great product, well pigmented but can be quite grannular up close.

These came up as an Amazon recommendation, so I looked on You Tube to see what they were like. Lots of people raving about them, so I thought I would take a chance on them and include them in my order of art supplies. So glad I did, they are amazing! As a beginner, don't know much about working with watercolour (seems like quite a daunting medium) and don't love water colour pencils much, but these looked so good. Having played around with them, what I love about them is the effects they give - drawing directly onto paper and then going over with a watercolour brush gives an instant 'painterly' effect to your work which is encouraging and pleasing for a beginner. For anyone who knows about the techniques of watercolour already, these are going to be something you would absolutely love because if you already know how to move paint around on the paper you could get even better effects. The other thing that's great is that these are very portable, so you could take them on holiday or out in the field and easily do some painting there. It's easy to paint directly from the sticks (they can break if you use them without holding the tip by the way) and also to blend in the wells provided in the set. Am hugely impressed by this set, well done Derwent!!!

I use these all the time for multimedia art journals. The colours are vibrant and brilliant. They can be used as 'ink' by taking up pigment from a wet brush, or used on wet paper, mixed in with a coat of gesso etc. I keep a tiny box of 1'' stubs in my bag, in case I need a shot of colour work during the day. Versatile, easy to use in many ways. Intense colour. Best art supplies purchase since Neocolour water soluble crayons. But the inktense are permanent, so you can layer and wash over them without losing pigment. The neocolours are excellent but different...and don't remain permanent.

I love these, great colours and apply enough water in the right way and you can get some proper splashy effects and portable enough to take on location. My method is to create two drawings (see above). One black and white, and one in colour. I make a depth matte from the back and white one that I apply to the colour one in software, this adds shadows to the final image so these are digitally remastered drawings. I use the Inktense for the colour pass and they are great up to a point, you can mix them on the page if your paper is muscular enough and they can flick with a toothbrush, but they were not strong enough for the black and white version, this basic tin of 12 is a good start, but you will need other colours (and buy twice as much white as you think you need), I supplement my Inktense kit with white gouache and ink. But having said that it is a good medium and rewards experimentation.

Yellow, orange and red are snapped in identical place and all blocks are dirty. Wound not make as a nice present.

WOW WOW WOW, these are amazing I was expecting a lot from them and they didn't disappoint. As it says on the packet they are very colour rich watercolour which once you have added the water change so they are no longer water soluble and you can add new layers over the top or new mediums and they will not get muddied together. You can use them to lay down a colour like a pastel or use a paint brush and take colour straight from them or grate them up into a powder and add water for a wash to paint with. Just add a waterbrush to your order and you are ready to paint anywhere. Did I say I love them.