I is for Inktense

I knew what ‘I’ would be for long before I wrote it on my list. Derwent Inktense pencils are one of my new favourite toys. I joined an art group for a month in February and they were mentioned there while the tutor was discussing watercolours.

Now the key to these fantabulous pencils is that while they act like watercolour pencils for the most part, once they are dry they are not watersoluble – like waterproof ink. This may sound like a small difference, but it isn’t. Because they dry waterproof, you can go over and over and over your piece of work and build up some beautifully intense (funnily enough) colours.

Here was my first attempt.

You can find out far more detail on how I created this drawing at its original post – Phantasmal Poison Dart Frog.

If you compare it to an earlier frog I did in normal watercolour, you can see the difference in intensity.

For further detail on how I created this drawing please see Blue Poison Dart Frog.

Unfortuantely beyond a half finished painting of shells, I have yet to experiment more with these lovely pencils. More experimentation is definitely on my list, I even have a subject lined up, but I’m absorbed in my acrylics at the moment. One kind of fun at a time 😀

So for the lack of further demonstration to share, I visited the Derwent website and dug up a couple of demonstration videos from YouTube. Please note: these aren’t mine, though I can learn from them.

First up, some sped up use of the Inktense pencils.

And they also come in some fabulous blocks like pastels. I have both the pencils and the blocks after maxing out my birthday money in February.

I have yet to use my Inktense blocks to any great degree, though I have to admit that I’m looking forward to playing. I’m particularly interested in using them like pan watercolours like she mentions in the video. I love my pan watercolours (even though I’m only new to the medium) and the thought of being able to layer with a similar technique…I really need to play with these more.

There will definitely be more Inktense on this blog in the future.

Oh, and I’ve started an Inktense Pinterest board, so if you come across any fantabulous work in this medium, let me know.

For all my A to Z Challenge posts, click here!

Liz
(who after a lovely long weekend arting and enjoying my family, has to return to work tomorrow 🙁 )