Derwent Inktense Blocks Swatch, Review, Painting & Comparison with Pencils, Paints & Watercolours
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2023
- Today I played with my new set of 36 Derwent Inktense Blocks. I compare them with Inktense Pencils and Inktense Paints, plus compare their properties with traditional watercolours, and share my thoughts.
I also do a painting with Inktense Blocks and Pencils.
(Update: There is an Inktense pencil numbered 1215 - it is one of the new ones, but is called 'Mineral Blue')
Derwent Inktense Blocks 36:
amzn.to/46ampAR
I bought individual Inktense Pencils from Cult Pens in the UK,
but my original set of 72 is from Amazon:
amzn.to/3BP91En
Derwent Line & Wash Paint Pan Set:
amzn.to/3qXnR9C
Princeton Neptune Brush:
amzn.to/430dO1k
Canson XL Watercolour Paper:
amzn.to/40IxoOQ
My previous Derwent Inktense Pencil Swatch & review video is here:
• Derwent Inktense 72 Wa...
Derwent Inktense Block haul video:
• Big Jackson's & Amazon...
Music from Uppbeat:
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WEBSITE: Helen Cryer Art
www.helencryerart.co.uk/
(As an Amazon & Jackson's Art Associate, I earn a small amount from my purchases, which doesn't affect the price for you. I'm very grateful when you purchase anything via my links, thank you!
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Beautiful painting 🎉 Aren’t you blessed to have such wonderful scenery to take your walk. Thanks for this informative video ❤
Thanks so much! Yes, I have never loved living anywhere as much as here!
Thank you for a great video I really enjoyed watching you create art with Inktense.
Thanks ever so much!
Lovely sketches and it looks like a wonderful place to swim.
Thanks! Yes, the water around here is lovely!
Loved how this picture turned out 😃
Thanks!!
I have had my sets of inktense pencils and blocks for years now, but other swatching haven't really played with them. Makes me want to dig them out, and do some mix media work with them. Love the video.
I'm so glad! Hope you do get round to it! Thanks!
Helen, great video! Your art is beautiful and exactly the style I am practicing. I always learn a lot from your channel. So informative yet relaxing. 💔
Thank you - that's so lovely of you to say!
Lovely pic Helen! And I loved the swatching etc. I have a set of the sticks and after seeing your review I wish I had the pencils instead. They just seem smoother. Thanks for another great video!
Susan in AZ🥰🏜️
I think the paints are the smoothest of all, but the pencils are handy for details. I've not used the sticks since this video, I'm afraid!!
They are such luscious colours! Those greens are heavenly. Gorgeous painting.❤ 😍 Thank you!
Thanks Panda!!
I first bought the Inktense blocks to use on fabric because they are permanent and fixable with heat. I was using them in a ‘brass rubbing’ method with leaves. Just an idea I had! Anyway, it worked really well and I was able to produce some beautiful designs. I haven’t used them much on paper, but after seeing this video, I will definitely have a go. I have the pencils and the large pan set too. Thanks!
That sounds just lovely!! Great idea!
Thanks for a great video, the comparisons will help me decide what to purchase. I have a few Inktense pencils and really like them, especially to take out and about travelling. Lovely seeing you create art at the end.
I'm glad! Thank you!!
I loved your painting 😍 and thank you for the comparison it was really helpful 😊
Thank you!
Thank you, Helen! I've struggled with (against?) Inktense for a couple of years now, but never thought to do a simple head-to-head comparison with watercolors as you do here. I knew the little devils did re-activate when I didn't want them to and left marks when I didn't want that either, but as I poked along toward understanding them as their own medium, I didn't do the kind of foundational brain work you do here. Less kicking-self-in-head needed now.
I've settled on the notion that Inktense's milder re-activation lets me neutralize and blend colors subtly on the paper - and not lose all the texture I've created in the base layer. Your landscape showed that well. When I don't want to do that, I should use another medium. Such forethought, however, has not been a prominent feature of my, ummm, technique.
Haha, thanks!
I think you're definitely right - best to accept how they *actually* work, and go with it, rather than getting frustrated that they're not doing what I want!
I can see myself using them for backgrounds, where the top layers will be similar colours.
I found that you need to use a dry brush technique That being said they layer very well. Just let each layer dry before proceeding
Before watching your videos, I never thought about how each brand of watercolor, the media used can have an effect on the overall finish of the painting. Or how different types of media effect watercolor within the same brand, fluidity, ease of use, etc. Very informative video, thank you.
Thanks! I'm still very much exploring and playing and learning all of these things myself!
I've had both the blocks and pencils for years but had never compared them like this. Thank you!
They're such fun to play with!
Lovely painting!!
Thank you!
I am SO glad I watched this video! I used the blocks in certain areas of a painting, and as a result it caused the whole painting to go south! Thanks so much for taking the time to thoroughly review this. I, too, will use what I have left to stain. All is not lost.
I'm really glad it was helpful! Thank you!
I love the Inktense blocks ❤😊 thanks for the video
Great to hear! Thanks!
Rey interesting video your picture is stunning
Thank you!
I love Derwent's Inktense products. I have the paints, blocks and pencils. I have been using them for a while and I really enjoy them for backgrounds, etc.
That's really good to hear, thanks!
I’m really enjoying your content, I only discovered you the other day and I’ve been binge watching. But OMG you’re going to cost me a fortune in art supplies!!! 😅
Haha - thanks so much!! It goes both ways - I'm always buying supplies recommended by viewers! 🤣
Beautiful ❤️
Thanks!
If you activate all of the pigment in the inktense, it becomes permanent. You have to add more water so it requires lighter washes.
If that's the case (and that makes them significantly less useful - because my washes were reasonably light already), then Derwent ought to be making this clear. I've seen so many 'if you do it like this's now, suggesting loads of different methods to make them permanent. It shouldn't be this hard! Also, the artwork on the tin doesn't show super-thin washes.
@@helencryer I'm guessing either the artist on the tin weren't worried about the pigment reactivating or they did several washes. It would be nice if we could use them just like dried watercolor, but different media requires different techniques so I just go with the flow.
I suppose I meant it's just a bit misleading to show them being used one way, if that's not the way that lets them be permanent.
Anyway, moan over, sorry! I'm sure I'll figure out fun ways to use them, thanks!
I went with that for a while. But eventually I had to ask, how *thin* a wash am I limited to in order to get all the pigment activated and therefore permanent? With actual ink, I can go in heavily saturated with no re-activation. But with Inktense, I cannot. Wet, wet, wet, thinned, thinned, thinned, and still it reactivates. Thinking of Inktense as "semi-permanent" or "staining" has led me to using it more effectively, just as knowing which watercolors lift and which do not is useful.
Inktense is ink so they don't replace watercolors. The impermeable lines and greater opacity are an asset. As I've previously commented, the blocks are my favorite of the Inktense products, because of their versatility and ease of control. I also just enjoy swiping my brush across the surface. I hope that you enjoy them! And PS, you forgot to put Freddy in the painting :)
Yep, they definitely behave differently. This comparison actually made me more interested in the Inktense paint pans!
@@helencryer The paints are nice, too! They seem more vibrant and heavily pigmented, so one has to be a bit careful not to over-saturate. Your sketch of your beautiful coastal path was lovely
Thanks! I think it was their smoothness I liked too.
they're a lot more opaque than I thought they'd be 😮
You can definitely get transparent washes from them, but you can get them to be quite thick and opaque.
A collab with nerdforge would be amazeballs!
I had to go and look them up... Oh my gosh... stunning work!!!
The inktense blocks are certainly an interesting product. I wonder how quickly they get used up if you use them with water and brush vs using them directly on paper as a block? I’d worry about losing the colour number on the block as it gets worn. I love how you used them in the video…it was interesting to see them used as a base under pencil like that. I have too much to learn already with watercolour and gouache to be adding new tools into my repertoire 😊, so I’ll enjoy watching you! Beautiful painting!!
They feel quite dense, so I think they'd last pretty well. I wasn't that interested in using them straight as blocks, but last night I saw an amazing video of someone using them as an underpainting for soft pastels, so I might have to give it a go!
Yes, the number thing has worried me too! At least now they're swatched so I can compare them. I'll try and keep them in the same order.
The turquoise block is instead of the insoluble outline pencil in the pencil set.
Ah, interesting, thanks. I found out that one of the new pencils does have the same number as it, it's been given a different name though.
Helen, which sharpener do you use to sharpen your inktense pencils?
Hi, I use the Kum double hole small metal one.
@@helencryer got it. Thank you.
I was wondering if the intense books need to be left much longer to dry out, and if that would make a difference to how much colour is lifted when rewetted.
I had done the Inktense block underpainting of the picture I showed at the end, a whole day before, and it was still lifting. On the test sheet, I dried it thoroughly with the heat tool (just fast forwarded how long I did it for). I've heard various things to stop it lifting - dry longer, use heat, use a lighter wash, use onto wet watercolour paper, use different paper etc, but I think if Derwent want to claim it's permanent they themselves ought to explain under what circumstances it is, and it shouldn't be too unrealistic/complicated!
I agree that Derwent should make clear under what circumstances they are permanent. Permanent seems to be the wrong word for a paint that actually lifts off. Highly staining might be better. I’d hate to think what would happen if you use them on fabric and then washed it.
Yes, that's the phrase that occurred to me yesterday - they are highly staining, but still release some pigment.
Someone else just left a comment saying the pigment has to be more fully activated first - so using a more dilute wash.
I've gone back even a week later and still had Inktense lift. Certainly, it is staining, but once I got done believing that it was as permanent as ink yet somehow malfunctioning in my oafish hands, I started painting better with it and enjoying its mis-described properties.
@@silkspinner7010 Swan Amity has a video on fabric painting and a wash. There was no lift.
They really need to swap the outliner pencil with a turquoise one.
I found out the turquoise one is actually one of the new Inktense pencil colours, but for some reason they gave it a different name from the blocks.
What paper were you using for the swatches? Ive never seen any swatches with such bad results...including ones ive done myself and the paper makes a huge difference
Canson XL Watercolour paper. I'm not swatching for a smooth or neat finish. I want areas of thick, and washed out areas of each colour, so it did the job adequately for my needs.
@@helencryer ok, cool. I’ve done it this way too on my swatches and better results. It’s the paper. Just thought I would mention it but if you are happy with that then fair enough 🤗 Arches watercolour paper really works beautifully with Inktense ❤️❤️
Thanks! I have some Arches I can try it on! Yeah, I'm not too fussed for swatching, but it's a good point I should mention so people know that it won't necessarily look like that on better paper.
@@helencryer You will love it 🥰 let me know what you think. They look good on cold press especially 🤗
Great, thanks!