Derwent Inktense Blocks & Pencils

I've been meaning to write a post about Derwent's wonderful Inktense products for a while and not had a chance to put finger to keyboard, but reading one of my favourite blogs this week - Vivien Blackburn's 'Paintings, Prints & Stuff' - talking about Inktense Blocks, I thought I'd respond to Vivien's question (about others experiences) with my own thoughts...

I first heard about Inktense Blocks as they were about to be launched, I spotted a few ad's in artists magazines and was intrigued, so decided to do a little Internet research. What I found was lots of art forum posts with people scrabbling to get hold of a box. More intrigued!

After looking about the net most places seemed to be out of stock just days after launch, but my excellent local art shop (Artmedia, Inverness) were wonderful, and ordered me a box in as soon as they could. They came in right before a painting trip to Kilmartin, Argyll - so the perfect chance to have a play and see what they could do!

'Templewood Stone Circle' - Inktense Blocks and acrylic ink on watercolour paper.

My first experiments were with bold, expressive mark making. There's something about the chunky sturdiness of the blocks that makes me want to work large and bold. This field sketch of Templewood Stone Circle was done on a wet watercolour block, working the Inktense Blocks into the damp paper, then allowing to dry and creating deeper lines on the rough, dry paper. I used a little white acrylic ink on a fine brush to finish.

I wanted to do some abstracted work using patterns and motifs of pre-historic pottery from sketches I made at the fantastic Kilmartin House Museum (do visit if you find yourself that direction). So I used the Inktense Blocks to lay down blocks of colour and build layers, varying between rubbing the side of the blocks onto wet paper, and rubbing them dry and then spraying with a mist of water and allowing the ink to defuse. I also used brushed acrylic ink in this piece. I also had a little play with how they would react when heated by BBQing them - don't try this at home (although it made some interesting shading on the page and it's something I'll use again)!

'Beaker Abstract 1' - Inktense Blocks and acrylic ink on smoked paper.

This was another piece I made using similar techniques...

'Beaker Abstract II' - Inktense Blocks and acrylic ink on smoked paper.

I was so impressed with the Inktense Blocks that I decided to get a set of the Inktense Pencils (which have been around for some time longer than the blocks and seem already a very popular product amongst artists).

These work so amazingly well in tandem with the blocks, as well as in their own right. They can act very much like a good watercolour pencil, but are able to lay down very vivid marks with little pressure or water, and best of all (like the Blocks) once wet and dried any marks set permanently, allowing you to build up layer upon layer of texture and intense colour. Now layers, that's my kind of painting!

I took the Inktense Pencils out on a day trip to the West Coast of Scotland and gave them a good testing painting a seascape on the beach.

To get this one started I sketched out, in appropriate colours, a rough impression of the scene with the Inktense Pencils, then sprayed with water and worked over with a large brush to blend. I then went for a mixed media approach using also Neocolour II crayons, watercolour squeezed straight from the tube, and more Intense to build the colours and detail. I have to say using the pencils in this way felt entirely natural and flowing, and I have a feeling I'm going to be using them *a lot* for landscape sketches. I think my next landscape experiment with them will be on brown paper and perhaps finishing with a few soft pastels.

As I was getting used to both the Pencils and Blocks I started to realise the full potential they have for expressive, abstract work. This photo is a work in progress shot for another 'Beaker Abstract' - as I was working it I really started to get a feel for use the kind of spontaneous, fresh, vivid, energetic marks and shapes I could create.

I decided to just play and see where I could take them. I started a little series of abstract doodles based on the theme of 'emotions'.

Each used both Inktense Blocks and Pencils, with the addition of acrylic inks on rough watercolour paper, with a combination of working on dry and wet paper, spraying, blending with a brush, and using the Blocks as paint pans, taking colour directly off to paint with.

'Hope' - Inktense Blocks and Pencils, with acrylic ink, on watercolour paper.

'Hope' - Inktense Blocks and Pencils, with acrylic ink, on watercolour paper.

'Melancholy' - Inktense Blocks and Pencils, with acrylic ink, on watercolour paper.

Finally this is a little piece I did in the field the other day of some Cairngorm Scots Pines. I used the Inktense Pencils here, worked with a brush and a little water, and then dry over the top, with a drawing pen and black pastel pencil.

I really do like both the products in the Inktense Range. The intensity of colour excites me, but also the ability to brush or spray them out into quite subtle washes. The effects gained with a pencil or Block on wet paper are really very intense and dramatic, and excellent for expressive mark marking. The setting of the ink upon drying and ability to layer to very intense effects is just perfect for my work. I like the range of colours, on the whole, in each selection tin, on first glance some colours seem a little acidic and bright but I've found them to be versatile and a crisp starting point for blending. The tins are great for carrying around, protecting the product whilst not being too bulky, and on thier own a tin of each, large brush, watercolour block pad and a small water spray bottle is a pretty neat and versitile field sketching kit! I also really appreciate how well they work with a range of other media for mixed media work - watercolour, gouache, soft pastel, acrylic ink, drawing pen, graphite, and other pencils and crayons.

And I'm only just starting to explore the possibilities for using them on fabric - that will be a whole another blog post!

If you've not already tried Inktense, don't hesitate, give them a go!