Review: Magic Pen and Graphitint pencils

[mekare]

So, I think I mentioned getting one of these artbox thingies. I got the same as sexycazzy so maybe she can add her experiences with these pens as well.

So far I've mostly gotten pens and here are two that warrant a tiny review:

1 Magic Pen - Koh-i-noor

I used this one in my challenge 17 drawings. It is unpredictable and definitely not for perfectionists (which I am haha) because you can't really control the colour. It is a lot of fun to layer the effects and I think it makes simple sketches more lively just by changing the colour ever so often. I woulnd't have bought this for myself, but I'm glad I got to try it out.



2 Derwent Graphitint pencils

These confused me, because they supposedly contain graphite and colour, but can also be used with water. So actually they are like watercolour pens. The only difference I found was that they are really really soft and thick, the colour sticks to paper more, especially on structured paper. I did a little landscape using four of the six colours I got, and a flower.



Since I own a lot of watercolour pens already I wouldn't have bought these on my own either. I like the soft texture though. The paper I used them on was in the box as well (with the warning that it doesn't handle a lot of water well).

Here's a scan, so you can see the effects of adding the water better:

Comments

[olivermoss]

Thanks for the info. Derwent products are massively hit or miss with me. Their Inktense pencils are amazing. I am having trouble seeing the point of their tinted charcoal. Their graphite blender makes me angry because if I'd have it years ago it could have saved some of my art projects.

[mekare]

This is my first experience with Derwent actually. What are Inktense pencils?

[olivermoss]

They are like water color pencils, but way smoother and more pigmented. They are solid ink, so if you wet the color and let it dry it's fully set. Re-wetting does nothing. I'd picked up water color pencils a few times but found them frustrating. The Intense pencils I adore. The colors are a bit intense, but I can mellow them out with graphite.

[mekare]

Oh those definitely sound interesting. Although you would have to know what you are doing pretty specifically beforehand right? Since they are waterproof after drying?

[olivermoss]

Once the marks are down they are down, but I find them pretty easy to control where and how much, so that works for me.

I wish I'd bought a water spray bottle while out because I could do a Inktense demo drawing. I mostly use brushes, but just spraying down with water is an interesting look. But I am not going back outside today :)

[adafrog]

Those look fun.

[mekare]

The first one definitely is.