How I Learnt Derwent Inktense ✿ HONEST Sketchbook Tour
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- Опубликовано: 8 мар 2023
- Take a tour through my development using Derwent Inktense - learning pretty much from scratch and then developing those skills further in a sketchbook. I'm honest about my learning in this video - failings included. Nothing polished - just hints and inspiration so you can learn Derwent Inktense too.
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☆ PAINTING NATURE IN DERWENT INKTENSE ☆
Do you want to learn how to paint with Derwent Inktense? The first of its kind, my "Painting Nature in Derwent Inktense" course explains the Inktense range, recommends which colours to buy, provides four painting exercises with all reference photos and templates included, and troubleshoots Inktense problems.
Enrol here: www.naturejournalingcircle.co...
The course is also included as a part of the nature journaling circle membership and we often paint in the live sessions using Derwent Inktense. Find out about the membership here:
www.naturejournalingcircle.co...
Mailing list: view.flodesk.com/pages/63026f...
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☆ STUFF IN THE VIDEO ☆
○ Below are affiliate links. I receive a small commission on sales ○
Jacksons (UK). If you are a new Jacksons customer, you receive 10% off your first order.
Khadi Papers Fat Book: www.jacksonsart.com/en-us/kha...
Derwent Inktense: www.jacksonsart.com/en-us/sea...
Amazon links (International):
Khadi Papers Fat Book: Midori Cotton MD A4 sketchbook: amzn.to/43pAYiO
Derwent Inktense "watercolour" pencils (permanent when dry) 24 set: amzn.to/3zSNSbr
More materials via the materials and reading list on my website:
alexboonart.com/recommended-m...
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☆ LINKS ☆
○ Mailing list signup: view.flodesk.com/pages/63026f...
○ Instagram: / alexboonart
○ Website: alexboonart.com
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Now that is a well worked sketchbook 😍 So lovely seeing you not only document your ideas & pallets but also the massive progression from start to finish 👏
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
It looks like you are drawing mostly from life observations (as opposed to photos)? Bravo! I'm a huge fan of drawing from life on location. I appreciate your analysis and self-critique of each study. Your sketchbook is a true work book that documents your learnings. Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you 🙂 Yes, this book was almost entirely done outside from life. Something I need to do much more of again, as I quite miss it!
What a fantastic video Alex. It was so interesting to see your development. And it is so true that there is always something to be learnt every time you draw and paint. I write next to my drawings what I have learnt from my mistakes!! Sometimes I feel demotivated because a piece hasn’t turned out how I would like but realising what I have done wrong feels like a win in the end! Thank you for being so honest with your work - such an antidote in today’s picture perfect social media world.
Writing down tips for yourself is certainly such a good practice, I do that in my working sketchbooks a lot. I think that RUclips is a really good platform for being honest and real, whereas with things like Instagram you have to curate everything to get traction. I love sharing on RUclips best for that reason. So glad you enjoyed this video 😊
“The lines on the pens will disappear if you use enough water and sweep back and forth enough!” This is precisely the information missing from hundreds of Inktense videos on RUclips. Everyone resorts to blocks or large images to cover up this ignorance. Thank you for all the great research work over so many years. She answers real questions from Inktense pen users!
Aww thank you! Yes, this does depend a lot on the paper you use and particularly how hard you press with the pencils, but it is perfectly possible to remove the lines and get a beautifully smooth picture if you have a light touch. I have also seen reviews where people complain about things like the pencil lines showing, or the pencils not being permanent after drying (that is because they put too much pigment down and don't wash it out properly!) It is a bit annoying because with practice it is perfectly possible to get excellent results with them. Thanks a lot for your comment 😊
There is one more difficulty that I haven't been able to solve yet. If large areas have been colored with Inktense Pencils, I am not able to activate them evenly with water. I use Arches 300g hot pressed paper. But the edges of the activated area dry up quickly. The result is shading. This even happens when I paint the Inktense Pencils liquid. The paint dries extremely quickly. The more pigment it contains, i.e. the stronger it is, the more this is visible. Of course, this can be concealed by making many small areas out of the large area with different colors or color gradations. Even a sufficiently large brush does not solve the problem. This problem also occurs because you want to dissolve the pigments of the pencils by moving the brush back and forth. It is not possible to evenly color large areas, i.e. larger than 5 x 5 cm, which is not a problem with normal watercolor paint. The finished surface later looks very unclean and granulated.
I would not recommend using the pencils for large areas of coverage (i.e., where you would use a wash in watercolour). For that, I use the Inktense studio pan set. I have also heard good things about the blocks, which you can use like pans, or grate into water and spritz onto the background depending on the effect you want. Hope that helps 🙂
Thank you so much for demonstrating the progression of learning a skill through determined practice. I am a beginner in watercolor, and I want to say 'presto, I’m there.' Thanks for reminding me that even the pros have a learning curve!
I am very glad you enjoyed the video, thank you 😊 It definitely takes time, but the learning is a fun part of the journey!
Completely agree! Its so helpful to watch your development with this medium
Thank you for showing your artwork. I really enjoyed it and your work is amazing. I can’t wait to see another one of your sketchbooks!
Thank you so much! 🙂
I never liked watercolour pencils until I got hold of the Inktense pencils a few years back. Now I use them all the time. Love your journal, for me the best pages are the more high contrast pictures with some restful places for the eye (like sky & water). I like the way you have allowed yourself the freedom to experiment and explore the medium.
Thank you, I had a lot of time for this as most of it was done during the pandemic so it was a good time to explore and just study the medium. I really love the Inktense pencils and am writing a few RUclips videos and online course about them right now. They do seem to be growing in popularity, which is a good thing!
This is brilliant -- using one medium til you get the desired results. I need to spend more time with my Inktense.
Thank you, hope you find time to experiment with them more 😊
Practice, practice and practice! Thank you!
Always 😁😁
You can also ‘pallet them’ this has been really helpful to me. As in get a surface (such as scuffed up duralar or the special caran’dache pallet made from plexiglass that has a rough and smooth side $12.50 on Amazon in the USA but not really available in Canada yet…) anyways you can use a rough scrubby pad on a sheet of smooth -plastic to rough up the surface and make a custom pallet. Then you can draw on it (as you would on the page) or place next to each other and pick up with a wet paintbrush. This allows you to paint in a watercolour style and get perfectly smooth washes, and easily get very pale tones.
I tend to use this in combination with the layered drawing and wetting to reveal the final colour. I typically let the pale wet washes completely dry before adding more.
I noticed the paper and the pencil tip can get more easily damaged working into the wet. It does create the darkest possible lines.
With inktense mixed media works also very well!
Consider palleted wet washes as a base that doesn’t reactivate or lift (very well) to layer typical watercolours or gouache)
Also try various brushes. I always recommend makeup brushes being added to your art supplies as they can help blend out for soft airbrush effects and gradients!
Try different mixed media, papers and subjects!
Work from life and, photos , artist studies and imagination!
Vibrant can be great but plenty of the inktense are very natural and not extremely vibrant. I have the full set of pencils.
Also my favourite pencil is Madder Brown. Palleted or pulled with a wet soft brush well it makes a pale Caucasian skin tone and is useful as part of all human skin tones, most bark, many rocks, tons of birds, etc.
Also try sketching with coloured pencil and using the inktense for painted washes and to ‘colour in then when dry go back on top with regular coloured pencils!
I can also recommend waterproof inks (such as India ink) lineart that you colour in with inktense. But even a ballpoint pen typically has waterproof ink so try that too! Very inexpensive, and extremely portable and instantly drying too!
I’ve been doing even more with my mixed media inktense lately and loving them. My other favourites are; red oxide, baked earth, saddle brown, bark, sepia ink, Chinese ink, charcoal grey, Payne’s grey, neutral grey, iris blue, green aquamarine, leaf green, Shiraz, hot red, and dark purple.
I invested in the full pencil set when it was a good price I think in 2017 or 2018 but didn’t use them that much until again I’ve been using them a ton since 2022.
I have been enjoying continuing experimenting.
I enjoyed watching your journey and hope you continue on!
Great advice here, thank you. I had already ordered the Caran d'Ache palette and if I like it, I will review it in a later video. I will compare it to my paper-palette system, which I have been using for years, and see if the plastic palette is any better. I usually use a waterbrush with the pencils, and a paintbrush with the inktense pans. I'll be carrying on with inktense for sure, I am going to focus on them in my second online course 😊
I really enjoyed seeing your sketchbook and the progression as you tried different things! All of your pages were quite lovely (even the ones that you thought didn't really work).
Thank you 😊 I'm glad you enjoyed seeing my sketchbook and the progression.
Great video, love that you shared your struggles and growth. I loved the one with the deep blue sky!
Thank you 🙂
Enjoyed the video, and thanks for the Khadi papers tip. Makes me think I should be keeping more of my sketching.
Thank you! Definitely keep as much as you can, it's so useful to look at the progression 😊
Loved seeing the evolution of your use of this material, but also the context you provided with the narration. So informative - and enjoyable.
Glad you enjoyed it 😊
This is the most helpful video! Thank you for sharing your Derwent Inktense journey. I love the progression and the helpful tips along the way. I’ve been wanting to try these pencils but am so nervous lol You’ve empowered me!
You are so welcome 😊 Hope you enjoy trying them out. And don't forget I've got a video course on my website if you'd like any guidance 🙂
great work! thanks for sharing
You're welcome, thanks for watching!
You are such a pleasant, relatable person - this video is a delight - and you give me hope. Thank you.
That's so kind, thank you 😊
WOW! What beautiful work and lots of info on your experiments. I always enjoy seeing your paintings🥰
Thank you 😊
I am about to begin my journey in drawing with pen & inktense pencils. I bought inktense pencils of 36 colors.Your video is very informative & fun to watch. Thank you.
Welcome, glad you enjoyed it 😊
Wonderful, informative video! I am excited about “re-exploring “ my Inktense!
Glad you enjoyed it, I hope you do have another go with the inktense 😊
Your sketchbooks and drawings are fabulous! I do love the blocks and the pencils and it never crossed my mind to do the color mixing as with watercolor paint. Thank you for sharing ❤
Thanks for such a kind comment. I am yet to try the blocks but need to get some to demonstrate in my new course so will give them a go! You're welcome 😊
Thank you so much for sharing all of your work with Inktense. It is extremely helpful.
Glad to hear that! You're welcome 😊
Thank you for sharing your experiences and book with us. Such a beautiful way to see your growth and success
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it 😊🙏
Lovely to see your process Alex. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it
Marvelous tour! Thank you. I just got the 24 pan set and dropped by to see how others like Inktense anything. It'll take me a lot of practice, since I'm very new.
Glad it was helpful! I have another Inktense video coming up at the end of this month focusing on the colours available in the pencils mainly, to sit alongside a full Derwent Inktense course I am working on. I also have the pan set and use it quite a bit too, it is especially good for covering larger areas than is realistic with the pencils, and for mixing. I hope you enjoy it 😊
Alex, this is a charming video. I have only just got my first set of Inktense colour blocks, and have been working on some tree stumps, both in summer and also winter,....lovely different shadings. It was fun to see you have had much the same experiences I have had. I have also played with painting with them, onto calico, for a friend to embroider over, and have just completed a pair of models of Little Owls in paper clay...Oh boy! that has proved to be marvellous. I am from the UK, but now live in Australia, so lovely to listen to your accent too. Best wishes
Hehe thank you, I've heard Inktense are good for fabric but not had cause to try that myself yet. Hope your projects go well 😃
Thank you for responding. I was really surprised at how easy it was to work on a square of calico. The colours lay on really easily, and with water just flow out. Once the fabric has been ironed, the drawing is set. Clever stuff! Cheers Nancy
I am at the beginning of becoming an artist. I quite enjoyed your presentation, your verbal skill describing and critiquing your work. I am learning to draw, and I want to begin to add a little color to my sketches. So far, I have just used colored pencils. I appreciate learning what my options are.
Thank you 😊 I wish you all the best with your continued artistic explorations!
Great video Alex. It's interesting to see the progression and really brings home the fact that constant practice and play is so valuable. I love your seascape pictures :)
Glad you enjoyed it! It's definitely so important to just mess about with the media at the start. I am getting my next sketchbook for experimentation set up - it needs the hard binding added. So hope to share another one like this in a year or two!
Very much enjoyed your book and seeing the progression you made with Inktense. I was involved with Derwent when they developed the pencils. At first I didn't like them much, as I was used to w/c and dry coloured pencils. So they stayed in the drawer for ages, and I dug them out a couple of years ago. I really love them now. As you say, it takes a while to get I to a new medium and lots of practice. I have 72 pencils and 24 blocks. If I want to use a pencil wet I have the Caran d'ache palette which has a rough side you can scribble the pencil on and use it like w/c, with the advantage that because it's plastic you can rewet it when dry. Great for colour mixing, you might find it very useful. I take out a handful of the pencils out with me too, so handy. Loved those botanical inks!
Thank you, interesting that you were involved with Derwent! I initially liked them because they weren't like w/c 🤣 Another person recently put me on to the Caran D'Ache palette, I had no idea. Been using scrap paper for that for years. I'll order one, and if I like it, will feature it in my upcoming 'Spring Favourites' video 🙂 Thanks for your lovely comment 😊
Great video Alex! Loved seeing your progress. I’m a huge fan of Inktense pencils, they’re a bit tricky to start with but once I got the hang of them I loved them. I realised at the start to go lightly because you can always add more pigment but it’s difficult to take away colour.
@ruthiepurnell7507 Thanks, that's pretty great it took me ages to figure out how to make them subtle. I went from completely lifeless and flat to way too bright then got there in the end 😁😁 They are definitely my favourite medium now though!
I just got a new set of these pencils! I really enjoyed your demo. Thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed it, hope you have fun with the new pencils 😊
Such an encouraging video emseeing your progress gives me hope. Especially in a medium I'm trying to improve in myself. Thanks for sharing this.
That's great to hear, thank you. Good luck with the Inktense 😊
I enjoyed watching your inktense journey😊. I have already purchased inktense pencils, and I am inspired to bring them out and begin creating
Thank you, good luck with your inktense pencils! 😊
I've just stumbled on to this video and your channel - honestly the best and loveliest sketchbook tour I've seen on RUclips - and I've watched so many of them! I really love listening to your feedback on your work and it's so great seeing how you build skill over time, really cool to see. So many hide those first stages!
Wow, thank you, what a lovely comment! This sketchbook tour is my most popular video on the channel - I will have to make some more like this 😊
@@AlexBoonArt
A beautiful sketchbook tour and you explained everything so well. I'm off to dust off my Inktense pencils now. Thanks for the inspiration!
Glad it was helpful! 😊
Thank you for sharing your personal journey! You do love drawing! I do too, have quite some rather "failures" while drawing. You just eased my worries; we are allowed to learn! Isn't this amazing! Cheers🎉🎉🎉
So true! Everyone fails and learns from their mistakes, its all about respecting the learning process 😊 Although I'm teaching with Inktense now, I'm also still learning with it 😁
Thank you for sharing your insights. As a long time watercolorist, I purchased Inktense pencils and blocks because after testing a small set on fabric with good results, I invested in full sets of blocks and pencils. Despite my successful tests before forking out the big bucks for both sets, I found that even when set following the manufacturers instructions, they do not hold up to laundering despite claims to the contrary. This dashed my hopes of creating custom textiles I could confidently sell. I mean really, who wants a garment or home decor piece that cannot be cleaned?
So as not to waste my investment after the failed textile debacle, I then attempted to use Inktense on paper. I found everything you've covered to be a challenge so this expensive supply now languishes unused. I don't have patience for the slow process of laying down a color and wetting it only to see uneven marks and garish colors. Why bother when I can get the desired results from my watercolor paints?
Thanks for the video and thanks for confirming that there's nothing about this product I don't already know. Seeing that it took you 3 years to master how to lay down the pencil marks to avoid streaks, and seeing the lack of subtly in the colors you've achieved confirmed for me how useless this product is for the type of art I do.
Hi, thanks for your interesting comment! I can't really say much about using Inktense on fabric, I have never tried it as it is not really my area. If you feel willing to give Inktense another shot, maybe check out my most recent video. It explains a few techniques to avoid uneven marks and overloading pigment (garish colours). I am not sure I agree with what you've taken from this video though - your comment is an example of confirmation bias to me, as I see it all so much more positively. I want to point out that in this sketchbook I always used the Inktense pencils straight on the page and was often outside and working quickly and more expressively. As a result, the images are quite bold. That isn't really a failing of the product but an outcome of the method I was using and because I was still learning myself. I also paint botanical studies (a proper tour of my botanical sketchbook is coming) and other more watercolour-like work using this medium. The difference is, I draw the pencils out onto a paper palette and then wash the colours down to make subtle work. So, it is perfectly possible to use this product and make it look like watercolour if you want to. Thing is though, you might *not* want to as you are a watercolourist as it is. I came to these pencils as a coloured pencil artist, and found them a wonderful way to use paint but keep coloured-pencil-like layering techniques. Thanks for your thought provoking comment though, and best of luck with whatever you choose to use in your art.
I've recently started using Derwent Intense pencils and blocks. Seeing your progress over the last few years gave me a vast amount of information on ways to use them and get the results I'm hoping to achieve. I really like how you did your colour swatches. Thank you Alex for sharing your sketchbooks. 👍
Excellent, glad you found this useful! I recently uploaded an Inktense tips video too, so do check that one out if you haven't seen it 😁 Good luck with your practicing 😊😊
Love your video. Your sketches are beautiful. I recently got these for Christmas and found your video very informative. I find them difficult to blend. Still practicing. I use a white or clear plastic cutting board from the dollar store as a palette to blend the pencil. I try using them more like watercolor than pencil, only because I still need to practice and play with them more.
Great idea RE plastic palette, I have one that I will review in a later video. Hope you enjoy practicing with the inktense pencils more 😊
Love this! Thanks for sharing
You are so welcome!
Very helpful demo..thankyou
You're welcome 🙂
Thanks for the video. I feel like these aren’t the easiest medium to use…appreciate the tip about the paper too!
Thanks, I think they are quite easy to use once you know how to layer them and/or know the colours well enough to be able to draw them on dry and then wet the paper and know what colour will come out. I think, like anything else, it's just practice. I use them in my teaching a lot because I think with a bit of guidance they can produce nice work by beginners faster than when they use watercolours 😊
Congrats for such a precious, detailed work, Alex!! I've been following you for some time on Instagram and I already got inspired by your sketches in daily life. I'm an Art Teacher and I always emphasized to my students how important a sketchbook is for registers, findings, tests... Your videos give a complete view of this and I admire your talent!! May God bless and keep it even more inspiring and creative :)
Thank you so much!! Yeah, I think it took me far to long to realise how priceless a sketchbook or art journal is - I am glad you are telling your students as much as you can 😊
Inspiring! Your progress is very obvious. You must be very pleased
Thank you 😊 Always still learning and loving both using and teaching with these pencils!
Excellent sketchbook review. Loving my inktense pencils! Had I not done some colored pencil work in the past I probably would have been lost. For me, success is dependent on pencil pressure. Light pressure prevents unwanted pencil marks with inktense and wax or oil based colored pencils. You can always use them as a wet medium by scrubbing the pigment on a textured plastic board and adding water to that for great results. I got my board at the dollar store. Great job with this video. Blessings to you!
Glad it was helpful! Absolutely, they behave so much like coloured pencils - much mroe like coloured pencils than like watercolours. I use the textured plastic board as a palette sometimes, but other times just use paper as I like to see what colour I am getting clearly before it goes onto my work. It all depends on the style, a lot of the ones in this video were just pencil straight onto the paper and then water on and having less control. Also very fun!
Thanks, this is so helpful.
You're welcome!
i realy realy liked it, thank you!!
You're welcome 😊
Art has always been something I was good at without a lot of effort and most mediums I try, I take to like a duck to water. But what that means is I never really mastered any one medium. I have a whole set of inktense that I got for Christmas last year, I have used it maybe twice, because it didn’t come naturally. You have really inspired me to sit down and try to learn something. It sounds ridiculous, but it really never clicked in my head that I just need to practice. I was blaming the materials and it’s been me the whole time. Thank you. I’m going to check out your channel in hopes you have some inktense tutorials.
Thanks very much. I used to be much the same, and still like experimenting with different things from time to time. But I do think it's worth focusing in on things too, to really explore what's possible. The next video I'm making is actually all about Inktense common mistakes, so keep an eye out. I've also got a whole Inktense course available on my website 😊 Good luck exploring 😀
@@AlexBoonArt I just completed a small piece using inktense pencils and a couple of Pitt pens, it turned out better than I expected, and I credit that to what I learned in this video. I think I might do a whole series of this image, it turned out so well. Thank you for inspiring me! And I will keep my eyes open for that video.
That's great, so happy to hear it 😁😀
So interesting. Thank you
You're welcome 🙂
I love this.
Thanks 🙂
Alex
Thanks for this inspirational video.
I'm now off to blow the dust off my tin of Inktense pencils and make more use of them.
Have fun! 😊
Great to see your journey and progress. Did you do a video showing how you achieved blending, not seeing marks, etc?
Ahh, well those topics are going to be covered in my new course: Painting Nature in Derwent Inktense 😊 I am filming it now and it'll be on Patreon and my website very soon. I've also got an Inktense video about colour recommendations coming to RUclips at the end of the month 🙂
I especially love your trees and all the double page spreads. I think you sound a bit hard on yourself for not getting a handle on how to use the Derwent Inktense pencils. Since their pigments are really bright, perhaps they were made for comic book artists or some other type of illustration. Either way, you always do an amazing job with your art. Beautiful work! 🌳🌼🦆🦡
Thank you 😊 Oh no, Derwent Inktense can be very subtle, and I now do create very subtle work with them. It is just a learning curve to know how to use them in this way. I do believe there is a difference between being hard on yourself (negative self talk) and being critical for the purposes of development. I am very interested in the distinction between those ways of talking to ourselves about our art, and will make a video on it soon. Thanks for the reminder 😁
Hello have you tried to layer your pictures using 2, 3 or more layers to create depth and mixing your pigment like watercolour paint in a palet you can use more water to get a softer effect like for skies great sharing by the way
Hi, actually I mention this in the video I think. Either this one or my previous Q&A one in the Inktense segment. I do both of these things, and they are a major factor in what I learnt about this medium over the years 😊
Wow, this was slightly terrifying. I watched this video and tried to copy one of your landscapes. Only my third try with Inktense. So intense. Intensely colorful. So, if I use one color and wet this layer, it will stay, and another color can be overlaid. But if I mix colors together, the. Wet and distribute, the colors mix. So far so good. But, so very bright. You talked about visible pencil lines, that means you used color sparingly. I sort of did what I would do for dry color pencils, tried to color very thoroughly. That became too “intense with inktense.” But I love the Khadi Paper.
Actually, now that I can breathe again, I rather enjoy this journey. I only have 12 colors, plus ten browns and greens that I bought piece by piece. I need more blues. Thank you for showing the whole sketchbook. I will practice until this works for me. During daylight though. It is getting dark outside and colors become more difficult to judge. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💚
Thank you, glad you're getting the hang of Inktense. I'm working on an Inktense course right now that would be of use to you, I am going into a lot more detail about what I've learnt about using Inktense, with specific exercises to help you get the best from them. My next video on the channel here is also all about Inktense so keep an eye out for that 😃
I am surprised at the depth of your interest in these pencils. The outcome is really nice. Worth the study.
Haha, I am a bit like that. Will work at something until I'm happy 😁 Thank you 😊
Netflix & color swatch? Thanks for showing your progress. There's hope for the rest of us.
Oh yeah exactly, need a bit of background blab to break up the day 😁😁 I think having Netflix/the telly on in the background when working on art is fine as long as you aren't watching it too hard 🤣
A + you are learning.
Hehe, thanks 🙂
Thank you so much. I have just bought my first inktense pencils and feel inspired. do you draw with pencil or fine pen?
Great! I do both, sometimes pencil first and then pen, sometimes just pen straight away 😊
Your title sucked me in: "Honest Sketchbook Tour" We see so many "perfect sketchbooks" but learn little. As you when though your sketchbook I learned a great deal because you were able to articulate what did and didn't work. I could see your gradual improvement. Great job!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Hope to make more videos like this to show further learning 😊