Hi bearisgray. I really like the Inktense pencils as well and I use water. I used them in my Fading Footprints quilt (just search the Picture thread for the title), I used them for the grass. I quilted the grasses first, then used the pencils then just used any paintbrush I had on hand and dabbed the colored area with water. I was surprised at how pastel looking some of the colors dried. They get dark/vibrant with water but I went over mine about 3 times to get a bright color. Maybe I was doing it wrong but that was my experience. I've heard the clear aloe vera works well but I've never tried it. Hope this helps.