No, you can’t! It’s like comparing apples to oranges. They’re both fruit but they taste totally different. Derwent Inktense pencils and Prismacolor pencils are both pencils, but they are totally different!
I was viewing a Youtube video where someone was comparing Prismacolor to Inktense. She was good at coloring with Prismacolor. She was trying to use Inktense in exactly the same way. She used them both on Nina White cardstock and used the white in the set to blend. If I were to use them in exactly the same way, I would have the exact same results that she did.
BUT if I were to use Inktense on watercolor paper and blend with water, I would have a completely different opinion and realize that you cannot compare these two pencils. Derwent Inktense pencils are an ink contained in a wooden pencil form. The ink is dry until it is activated with water which then it becomes a watercolor.
I am passionate about this concept because I use and love my Inktense! My latest piece “Monarchs Invading Spring Valley” is done with Derwent Inktense Pencils and blocks on 140 hot press watercolor paper. It was so easy to blend and layer upon layer until you get the look you are after.
If you are going to try to use Inktense, please use them on watercolor paper with WATER! You will be amazed and in love with the product! Here are my in process photographs of this Monarch butterfly. If you are in the Schaumburg, IL area, please stop by the Prairie Art Center to view the current exhibit which includes this piece. The hours are weekdays from 9am-5pm and weekends when there is an event going on. All work is for sale.
Adding the background with Inktense blocks and water
Black and white version of Monarchs Invading Spring Valley in progress
Monarchs Invading Spring Valley is a depiction from my volunteer work last summer rearing Monarchs from chrysalis to caterpillar to butterfly!