Acorn & Cone sketch in Derwent Inktense pencils

Welcome Back

Today I’d like to share a picture of a sketch I created using Derwent Inktense Pencils. These wonderful pencils are water-soluble but vibrant colours, once the pigment has been washed out in the image, it sets fast further re-wetting doesn’t disturb the earlier colours. This means you need to think ahead a bit for colour blending but also has a big advantage, I found overlaying colours with traditional water-soluble pencils disturbed earlier layers, so personally I adore these pencils and you will see a lot of projects with them here.

Just to prove I can draw something other than roses, today’s picture features an acorn and a cone, kindly sent to me by Garden Pinks.

Acorn & Cone sketch, in Derwent Inktense pencils

This has inspired a whole new train of thought for my drawing and I have been putting together what I call a forage box. Autumn is such a colourful time of year, making it a great time to get photographing the wonderful scenes around us as the trees change colour. The idea of the forage box came from the fact that I take forever to draw things, and sometimes in the case of flowers, in particular, they don’t always last as long as I need them too. Things like leaves and twigs however seem to last lots longer so they are ideal subjects for those of us who like to take a while to draw & sketch them.

Ten minute sketches are really great for focusing the eye into subjects and getting the most essential things down. I have also re-discovered a love of Teasels. I found one on a walk at a bird reserve recently and left it on the table next to me, if you have something that you want to draw, leaving it in your workspace for a while really gets you looking at it in more detail. The more you look at it the more you see. Then when you come to draw it you feel you have a better understanding of the item in question. This along with LOTS of practice has made a big difference to my drawing this year.

Hope you like the picture, more on the way. Off to get Christmas crafting

Best wishes

Billie

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Mixed Media Rose Sketch

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Today I’d like to share a sketch of a rose that I created using a selection of Derwent pencils.

Mixed media Rose sketch

The main image was created using Artist Pencils and finer details were added with Studio pencils. Have had these pencil sets for YEARS and at last I’m beginning to get the hang of them.

Hope you like it, I’m pleased with how it turned out. I’ve a lot to learn but this was the best coloured pencil blending I’ve managed so far.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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New Knitting Project: Slippers

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Today I’d like to share a picture of my latest knitting project; created from a pattern available on Ravelry. Non Felted Slippers by Yuko Nakamura. I used my favorite James Brett Marble Chunky yarn and am really pleased with how they turned out.

Cozy Knitted Slippers

I’m going to try the pattern again and adapt it to try for a boot version by adding some extra rows above the top edge.

Hope you like them and will give them a try, the pattern isn’t too hard. Stitches needed: Knit, Purl, Knit 1, Knit 2 together, Pass slip stitch over. They are knitted flat and sewn together at the end.

I know it’s a little early in the year to post a picture of cozy slippers, but due to dexterity issues, I have to make the most of the good weather to knit. Once the weather is cold n wet my hands don’t work so well.

How about you, what are you knitting right now?

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Rose Sketch with Derwent Inktense pencils

Welcome Back

Today I’d like to share a picture of a sketch that I drew using Derwent Inktense pencils.

Rose in Derwent; Inktense pencils

This was my first sketch using these pencils, other than random scribbling, and I was really impressed with them. The idea behind them is that although you can use them like regular coloured pencils, they are water soluble so the colour can be washed out to give a watercolour like effect.

I have a habbit of A. Overworking pictures and B taking FOREVER to draw/paint them. So to help me get over this and to try a looser style of working I tried for a 3 minute sketch. I admit I didn’t complete this whole thing in three minutes but I used commercial breaks between a film I was watching to sketch in the main image, go back with extra colours for shading and finally to add water to blend areas out. The only ‘fiddling’ was to touch in areas here and there once the paint had dried to put a little detail in. Here is a close up of the picture

Rose in Derwent; Inktense pencils

The best thing about these pencils over other watersoluble pencils is that once the pigment has been washed out with water, the effect is permanent. You can go back over that area, once its dry with more colours and the earlier colours won’t move. Brilliant, I adore my Faber Castell Abrecth Durer watersoluble pencils but you have to think ahead and make sure you don’t over work an area or risk lifting colour out rather than adding it. Once I found out that the inktense pencils were permenent, after they dry again, they were top of my list to try.

Love the vibrancy of the colour, you need to plan ahead to blend colours by laying the various tones you want to mix n blend down in the same layer. This takes a little practice to perfect but a waterbrush is definately your best friend here as it doesn’t dry out on you.

Rose leaf in Derwent; Inktense pencils

I’m having a lot of fun experimenting with these pencils and there will be a full review of them coming soon.

Getting photographs of sketches is proving difficult as the dark wet days aren’t making it easy. I do take the pictures into Photoshop to help with lack of lighting but this can throw off the original colours of the painting. For comparison, here is a picture of the same sketch without the lighting enhancement from Photoshop.

Rose in Derwent: Inktence pencils. Quick sketch

Last week I posted a review of the Inktense pencils, which included links to where to buy them and Derwent’s tutorials using them too. I know funds are tight just now, but treat youself to just one of these pencils in your favorite colour, they are amazing and I’d love to hear what you think of them too.

Links

• Inktense Pencils. My review of Inktense pencils (Will be published on friday, will add link)
• Derwent Pencils Manufacturers website, colour charts, product lists, tutorials and so much more. Check it out!
• Derwent on You Tube Tutorials on a selection of their products and previews of the DVDs
• Inktense pencils Manfacturers page about the Inktense pencil range, and link to PDF colour chart.

Suppliers

Great places to buy your Inktense pencils

• Jackson’s Art Supply
• Society of All Artists also known as the SAA. They sell art materials, books and DVDs

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Samballa inspired Book Tie

Welcome Back

After watching the recent Docrafts & Beaders Companion shows where they demo’d Shamballa style bracelets, I was inspired to have a try myself. Wanting to add my own spin to the concept I created a book tie.

Shamballa inspired Book Tie

Materials Used

• Waxed cotton cord 2mm thick
• Note book is a Daler Rowney sketch book

I find book ties helpful in keeping a page, like a book mark. For keeping a book closed, and for holding pages in place while you are sketching on location.

In place of beads I tied Chinese Button knots on the ends of the cords.

Hope you like it, it was quick to make and perhaps I’ll make some of these for Christmas gifts.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Mud or Masterpiece? Painting outside the box

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Today I’d like to share a couple of very different photos with you. On friday I shared a tutorial with you for how to create this first one.

Embossed stone book

I liked the effect so much I decided to make a tied cover for my loose sketches. I bound some mat board, embossed some cardstock and made the error of trying to copy what I’d done before. For my mixed media art, it tends to be much more organic, more a case of throw things on the paper and see if I like the results. I’m still very new to acrylic paints, so although I’m used to creating texture and aged effects with ink, it’s all very new with paint. So far I’ve been replicating the techniques I use with inks with paint, following my nose you might say. It’s all very experimental, which is fun but often unpredictable.

It doesn’t always go to plan though, when I have a plan, an agenda I have a tendency to ‘try’ rather than just letting things happen. On this new piece, I put too much texture paste on, and lost some of the embossing detail, then over did some of the colours and didn’t have the skills to hide or alter it. Refusing to give up and having recently learnt the power of a unifying wash (see my dark wood book & video) I decided to put a wash of colour over the whole piece and ‘save it’. It was going fine, until I tried adding some gold to try to lift the colour a bit, then didn’t like it and ‘tried’ to scrub it off BUT the blue wash wasn’t totally dry and I lost the last of the white background and it looks dark again

The card was saying ‘Just let me be, stop ‘helping’! so I did and this is what I have

Grunged version of embossed stone

I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. Sometimes when you are working on the edge of your comfort zone and things go a bit off plan, you have to just put them away for a few days, and look at them again. Or just leave them on your desk and see how they look in different lights. I couldn’t decide if I had made mud or a master piece. OK a master piece is a bit optimistic, but it was a new level of layers and grunge and it was kinda good but new!

I let the piece dry, then had it sitting on the desk next to me. In the morning sun the blues really shine, later in the lower light of the afternoon the colour changes and the browns come out. I think I like it, I like things that you find new things each time you look at it. I have toyed with adding more metallic or white areas to lift the piece, but I think its time to let it be I can make another, another day and change the colours and patterns and I’ll get a totally new piece. I like art that takes you on a bit of a journey, when a piece shows you more the more time you spend with it, rather than a bright brash piece that is in your face. Personal taste and all that.

Mud or Masterpiece?

How about you, what do you do when you get a Mud or Masterpiece moment? Do you battle on and keep ‘bothering’ it till it looks the way you hoped? Or accept whats there and start a new piece with what the first one taught you.

Each book I bind teaches me something, that I need to cut more thread next time, how to join extra thread so I can finish a project, how to measure how much thread a book took to make so I’ll know next time. Instead of seeing things that go ‘off route’ as failures I try to see them as the projects teaching me things, that will help me for next time. Its only failed if you give up and never create again.

Would love to hear what you do when faced with a mud or master piece moment, do leave me a comment and let me know. I still prefer the clean design at the top as the texture is easier to see, but I love the depth and tone with the second one. What do you think?

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Embossed Stone Folder

Welcome Back

Today I’d like to share a picture of a folder I created to store my sketches in. The cover features an embossed stone texture panel, which I’ll be sharing a video tutorial for, very soon.

Embossed stone book

The cover is made from mount board and has a book-cloth covered spine. This project has been quite a journey, which you will hear more about in the coming posts. I’m really pleased with how this piece turned out though.

Hope you like it too.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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