As always, Becky, a good review and as always, you made me smile with your presentation - straight, to the point, as it is. It's really refreshing. Thank you1 I ended up googling the Australian tree frog, and it is amazing - in all the photos, it looks as though it has a a happy smile. The freshness and use of colour in your painting also leaves me with a happy smile. Thank you!
Thank you so much for posting this, exactly what I needed to see! I was given a set of these for my birthday and you did a great job showing them in action - great video and lesson, thank you, thank you!
Thank you very much for posting this. I've learned a little trick with the mica at the bottom of the India that is iridescent shake it sideways from left to right not up and down but I've learned that if there's Micah and the bottom you must shake it sideways from left to right or right to left for that matter and hold the bottle upright while you're shaking it that way the Micah does not get into the dropper and clogged it I've had problems with the iridescent ones clogging the dropper so I thought I'd give a little tip for everyone. I love your reviews of products I just watched the one between the eco line and the dr. PH Martin's watercolor liquid watercolor it's a great resource. Thank you so much!
Store anything with Mica or pearlescent added on its side. So much easier to disperse as it's a larger surface area to break up. Side to side shaking is then much faster if they are stored this way. Regards Kate
I've always been fascinated with the PhMartin inks, but I don't happen to own any, so it was fun to see you use them. Your frog is cute, and I hope your paper cooperates better in the next piece. Yikes. Makes me think I should get out my Etchr sketchbooks and use them as quickly as possible before that happens. 😬
It is just around the edges but it looks like my A5 book is doing the same thing, and I have other paper which is old and doing it too, so I am going to try not to buy more paper until I have used my stash! Panic, lol!
You have a really charming and engaging way of chatting to us - it's a real art, and so many UA-camrs simply can't do it - you seem to do it naturally. I coach people how to present engagingly for a (part of my) living and you are a really good example of How To Do It. Just thought I'd share my observation in case no-one's told you that before. 😄 Also, I love my Dr PH Martin's inks. I've salivated over them for years and finally splashed out last Winter. I saw an 'Soap' ink mixer only recently - used by pro calligraphers. It's electric and seems to save lots of shaking about. 😆
UPDATE: I've just gone and sniffed my Red Violet and my Teal and they smell identical to me - a kind of light 'plastic-y' scent. Mine are dated May 2021, so maybe they've changed the formula since you made your video?
Your frogs 🐸 eyes are so bright, they look really nice. I have written and drawn with ink but have never painted with it. Just got Sumi ink too so will have to have a go.
Hi, thanks for posting this wonderful review, thorough and charming :) Could you please let me know the difference between PH Martin Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor and PH Martin inks you have reviewed. Thanks once again :)
Hi there, thank you for your kind comment! The Hydrus are liquid watercolours (which I haven't tried yet), and so will rewet once dried. The ones I have here are India inks so they will mix with water but once dry they are waterproof, like acrylic paints. I hope that helps 🙂
Great review, Becky. I have been considering these inks for a few years. I am still on the fence. I love my watercolors. I wonder how well they would work with the Derwent Inktense products.
They do work a bit differently to watercolours, and more like the Inktense pencils. I've never used them both together and I think I will have to try this now! 😁
I like set 2 to be honest as it's autumn colours but I would have moved the 2 blues to set 1 and have the brown and black in set 2. I love the magenta in set 1. The metallic are just gorgeous. Thank you for showing us. Definitely have to have them now. So bright and vibrant.
I am not a fan of Drwent and on the fence about the inktence . so I was looking at this video ......As you know i just use coloring books .. Lovely Video happy swatching xxxxx
@@bethmegansmith4642 I like them, but once again for colouring books the less water used the better. One of my friends uses them a lot and she gets some nice results.
Thank you for the informative video. I have a question: How can you use this type of inks in calligraphy: are they safe to use with fountain pens or only with dip-pens, if any?
These can only be used with dip pens and brushes, and not for fountain pens. If you’re looking for a waterproof ink for fountain pens, De Atramentis document inks are great! 😊
Becky I was wondering what the advantage is to using inks over watercolor. Also could you use them with watercolors. Thanks for your lovely frog demo as well.
I don't know if it's an advantage as such, but maybe the main one is their permanence and inability to lift, which means they layer really well. Also if you use them without water, they dry with a glossy finish, and they will stick to slicker surfaces like Yupo paper more easily. I guess think of them like really transparent liquid acrylics if that helps. I am sure they would work with watercolours, being that they both dilute in water, and for the most part they behave in a similar way. Except when they dry on a palette and don't come off with water, lol. Oh and they're very bright!
Thank you for this review. I have seen these inks on Etsy and was curious about the quality before placing an order as they would be coming from the UK to Australia.
Yes, it should work in pretty much the same way since the inks will mix with water and be quite similar to watercolou while they're wet. I just always recommend not leaving masking fluid on the paper for longer than necessary. I think if it's left too long (many days or weeks) that it can become more difficult to remove, like tape on paper.
I think most people say not to put them in water brushes because once India ink dries, it will completely clog the brushes up and render them useless. Dye based inks and watercolours work well in the pens though! They aren't as lightfast but they rewet easily so are much better, and they don't have the particles of pigment and india inks which cause all the problems. I guess you could use India ink if you washed the brush tip out straight after doing an artwork though. Just don't leave it in the pen long term to dry! 😁
Wow, most of those colors on the swatch are so vibrant and beautiful! Although I wish some of those earthy tones in set 2 weren’t so clumpy - I imagine they’d look great if they were consistent with the other colors. The tree frog also came out very cute and you managed to intensify that shadow! I’m very intrigued with these inks, but I’ve never even tried inktense or anything similar besides alcohol markers so I’m not sure I’d even know what I’m doing with these!😂
Thank you! Yeah the earth ones aren't great by comparison to the other transparent colours. I'm at the opposite end where I don't really know much about using alcohol markers, haha!
Thank you! They don't dry immediately but one does have to hurry a little, as they do the same thing as Inktense pencils and dry in hard lines. Fun times! 😂
I wished you had choose a drawing whit more colours. But thats me. The dr Martins bombay inkt is beautifull colourfull. Beautifull drawing of the green frog
Thank you. I'll think about another picture and go for something with more colours. The frog was what inspired me at the time, but I will pick something more rainbow in the future. A rainbow frog, even! 😂
Thank you so mutch for replying my question. Hahaha yeah a rain bow frog would be asome. But maby a character or a female,male or a animal. 😀👍🏼😁 of you want. No need to feel presure 😁👍🏼
I love these inks this Inktober, they dry really fast so they demand you to work fast which is good for a daily art challenge. There's some nice new colours in your review here that I don't have, I have the top set. I've found the white ink needs at least 3-4 layers to be completely opaque but you can get there, just need a hair dryer to speed things up and it's great because it won't reactivate after that like you mentioned. The bleed proof white - does that reactivate? Judging from the name it probably doesn't? I could really use a more opaque white, but I need it to not reactivate (I've done the mistake of using gouache and gel pen a few times).
The bleedproof doesn't activate once it's dry...it's like a really thick acrylic ink and it's suuuuper opaque, the most opaque ink I've ever used. Definitely worth buying!
Nice review! Have you noticed any weird odour with these inks? All of mine smell like a fresh/strong paint, it gives me a bad headache after painting with them for an hour. Also, mine has separated quite badly after three years and ik you said the terra cotta is weird but is it supposed to be slimy in texture too? Mine also had a lot of bubbles that wouldn’t pop no matter what I did.
I haven't noticed any smell on mine except maybe a couple of the earthy colours. The terracotta I think is one which is slimy for me too, like it refuses to combine with the binder and does the bubble thing too. That one is gross! 🤢
Oh it's super annoying when they go out of stock! Sometimes if it's on your wishlist they notify you by email when it comes back in. Not sure if there is an option where you can click 'notify me'. I know some websites do! Hopefully it won't be long before they come back in.
Hooray!!! There are no mistakes, just happy little accidents. I thought the grid set up was on purpose and looked very professional before you pointed out it was a boo boo. ^_^ No worries, it looks great!
Yes, they mix well together. I drip them into a palette well to mix them, or even directly onto the paper. And you can thin them down with water as well. They work like watercolours but once they dry then they are like acrylics and won't rewet. I clean my palettes immediately after use. Glass or porcelain/ceramic is much easier to scrape off dried ink than plastic. 😁
I have the first set in the small bottles without the pipette, which now Im kind of wishing I had got the bigger bottles but I wasnt sure I was gonna like them, since at the time I hadnt painted with india ink before. Anyway, Love your painting! Is that your Etchr sketchbook? If so, how long have you had it? I ask bc i bought a set of the Etchr perfect sketchbooks about a year ago and havent even started on them yet...I hope they dont break down already...I probably wont even get to painting in them for another half year to year😟 Anyway, great video. Thanks for sharing❤
I know it's possible to get little glass or plastic pipettes which you can use with the little bottles; I have quite a few and they've been very useful, even for adding clear water to ink in a palette to dilute the colours. I bought my Etchr sketchbooks when they released them during the Kickstarter...that was a couple of years ago now? The book I used in this video is definitely deteriorating, though I'm not sure if it is because I've used so much water throughout the book. I have some unused ones too so I also hope they will be fine! It's mainly just around the edges of the pages.
If you want an opaque white ink…as a real out the box alternative…use a professional tattoo ink. Far superior and washes with water well because the pigment is insane
TYFS I subscribed 🙃 I just bought these and like yours, many are funky or bad. I contacted Dr PH Martin customer service and got a man who told me it was all my fault. Improper storage on my part. I have had them 1 week, stored in original round packaging in my desk drawer. Set 2 are particularly awful as yours are 😖 I'm stuck with them ! I will never buy another product of Dr PH Martin because of this mans attitude. In fact, I returned the acrylics sets unopened to store for a refund they cost over $200 USD. I paid US $60 for inks, it's alot for trash! Hugs Kate in New York 😘
You're kidding me, they said that?!?! 😱 Wow that's the worst thing ever! I've found a few years later that the colours are still fine but the earth tones are pretty much hopeless and have remained in a gluggy state. How do they want us to store them? On the ceiling? In a hyperbaric chamber? Gosh I'm so sorry you had such a bad customer service experience. 😭😭
@@BeckyTregear 🤣🤣🤣🤣 yep they said that and more! The nicer i was with that man, the ruder he got to me.....I just choked on my coffee at your comments BTW. ❣️
i was in a weird bad mood but your accent and the emotion in your hands is so nice it cheered me right up hehe
Yay, I'm glad! 😆💜
Your channel is so underrated, I love the way you review different mediums. The frog looks amazing
Thank you so much! I try to switch things up - it keeps me more interested as well, lol.
As always, Becky, a good review and as always, you made me smile with your presentation - straight, to the point, as it is. It's really refreshing. Thank you1
I ended up googling the Australian tree frog, and it is amazing - in all the photos, it looks as though it has a a happy smile. The freshness and use of colour in your painting also leaves me with a happy smile. Thank you!
Thank you so much for posting this, exactly what I needed to see! I was given a set of these for my birthday and you did a great job showing them in action - great video and lesson, thank you, thank you!
Oh I'm so glad! That's a lovely birthday present, I hope you're enjoying them (and happy birthday)! 😆
Thank you very much for posting this. I've learned a little trick with the mica at the bottom of the India that is iridescent shake it sideways from left to right not up and down but I've learned that if there's Micah and the bottom you must shake it sideways from left to right or right to left for that matter and hold the bottle upright while you're shaking it that way the Micah does not get into the dropper and clogged it I've had problems with the iridescent ones clogging the dropper so I thought I'd give a little tip for everyone. I love your reviews of products I just watched the one between the eco line and the dr. PH Martin's watercolor liquid watercolor it's a great resource. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for the helpful tip! 💜
Store anything with Mica or pearlescent added on its side. So much easier to disperse as it's a larger surface area to break up. Side to side shaking is then much faster if they are stored this way. Regards Kate
GREAT video!! Very informative! you are a great artist and teacher!!! Thank you!!
Thank you, I am glad my video was helpful! 😊
So helpful! Thanks Becky!
The shadow came out good!
Oh I like the natural FRAME that you got in the top it looks great
Thank you!😊
The colours are so vibrant. I can see lots of potential with these. Really great video :)
Thank you ☺️
A beautiful frog. I really like the way you handle colour!
Thank you! ☺️
I love bright bold colors too❤❤❤❤❤ I love your channel!! I have been binge watching your videos 😊😅
Thank you, I appreciate it! 🙂
Love this picture!
Thank you!
I've always been fascinated with the PhMartin inks, but I don't happen to own any, so it was fun to see you use them. Your frog is cute, and I hope your paper cooperates better in the next piece. Yikes. Makes me think I should get out my Etchr sketchbooks and use them as quickly as possible before that happens. 😬
It is just around the edges but it looks like my A5 book is doing the same thing, and I have other paper which is old and doing it too, so I am going to try not to buy more paper until I have used my stash! Panic, lol!
@@BeckyTregear oh, no! It's hard to use up all of our paper, but it sure could be fun trying. Good luck, lol!
You have a really charming and engaging way of chatting to us - it's a real art, and so many UA-camrs simply can't do it - you seem to do it naturally. I coach people how to present engagingly for a (part of my) living and you are a really good example of How To Do It. Just thought I'd share my observation in case no-one's told you that before. 😄
Also, I love my Dr PH Martin's inks. I've salivated over them for years and finally splashed out last Winter. I saw an 'Soap' ink mixer only recently - used by pro calligraphers. It's electric and seems to save lots of shaking about. 😆
UPDATE: I've just gone and sniffed my Red Violet and my Teal and they smell identical to me - a kind of light 'plastic-y' scent. Mine are dated May 2021, so maybe they've changed the formula since you made your video?
It's possible, companies do change their formulas from time to time. Or I just got a particularly smelly ink for some reason. 😂
Your frogs 🐸 eyes are so bright, they look really nice. I have written and drawn with ink but have never painted with it. Just got Sumi ink too so will have to have a go.
I originally got them to do Inktober in 2017 and they work well with dip pens too, which I completely forgot to mention in this video, oops! 🤭
these colors they are very transparent, and very vibrant. I'd have to stop myself from ordering all these things you're reviewing lol.
I know that feeling, watching product videos can be very expensive, lol!
@@BeckyTregear true that!
Such a juicy painting I love how colorful it is :D
Hi, thanks for posting this wonderful review, thorough and charming :) Could you please let me know the difference between PH Martin Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor and PH Martin inks you have reviewed. Thanks once again :)
Hi there, thank you for your kind comment! The Hydrus are liquid watercolours (which I haven't tried yet), and so will rewet once dried. The ones I have here are India inks so they will mix with water but once dry they are waterproof, like acrylic paints. I hope that helps 🙂
@@BeckyTregear Thanks for your prompt and valuable reply :) Great knowledge :)
Great review, Becky. I have been considering these inks for a few years. I am still on the fence. I love my watercolors. I wonder how well they would work with the Derwent Inktense products.
They do work a bit differently to watercolours, and more like the Inktense pencils. I've never used them both together and I think I will have to try this now! 😁
I like set 2 to be honest as it's autumn colours but I would have moved the 2 blues to set 1 and have the brown and black in set 2. I love the magenta in set 1. The metallic are just gorgeous. Thank you for showing us. Definitely have to have them now. So bright and vibrant.
Set two definitely has some excellent colours and is a much warmer palette for sure. Both sets together is most ideal but also expensive, haha!
I am not a fan of Drwent and on the fence about the inktence . so I was looking at this video ......As you know i just use coloring books .. Lovely Video happy swatching xxxxx
These sorts of inks sit well in colouring books, as long as you don't add too much water!
@@BeckyTregearwhay are the inktence pencils like ?
@@bethmegansmith4642 I like them, but once again for colouring books the less water used the better. One of my friends uses them a lot and she gets some nice results.
@@BeckyTregear thanks Becky xxxx
Dear Becky: Do the inks wash of that ceramic palette ? KAREN From Canada
They come off ceramic more easily than plastic palettes. A bit of scrubbing may be needed! 😁
Thank you for the informative video. I have a question: How can you use this type of inks in calligraphy: are they safe to use with fountain pens or only with dip-pens, if any?
These can only be used with dip pens and brushes, and not for fountain pens. If you’re looking for a waterproof ink for fountain pens, De Atramentis document inks are great! 😊
Thank you for your quick response! I will use this ink with dip pens then! 👍
Becky I was wondering what the advantage is to using inks over watercolor. Also could you use them with watercolors. Thanks for your lovely frog demo as well.
I don't know if it's an advantage as such, but maybe the main one is their permanence and inability to lift, which means they layer really well. Also if you use them without water, they dry with a glossy finish, and they will stick to slicker surfaces like Yupo paper more easily. I guess think of them like really transparent liquid acrylics if that helps. I am sure they would work with watercolours, being that they both dilute in water, and for the most part they behave in a similar way. Except when they dry on a palette and don't come off with water, lol. Oh and they're very bright!
@@BeckyTregear Thanks I did try watercolor on yuppo and it works as well :) Might stick to them for now. Cheers
Thank you for this review. I have seen these inks on Etsy and was curious about the quality before placing an order as they would be coming from the UK to Australia.
I wish they were easier to get here! 💜
Can we use masking fluid with these colored ink like we use it with watercolor?
Yes, it should work in pretty much the same way since the inks will mix with water and be quite similar to watercolou while they're wet. I just always recommend not leaving masking fluid on the paper for longer than necessary. I think if it's left too long (many days or weeks) that it can become more difficult to remove, like tape on paper.
@@BeckyTregear OK
Very helpful, thank you 😊
Awesome video! I have a question. Can you put the ink inside water tank pens? Where you fill them up with water but inside with ink! Thanks!!!
I think most people say not to put them in water brushes because once India ink dries, it will completely clog the brushes up and render them useless. Dye based inks and watercolours work well in the pens though! They aren't as lightfast but they rewet easily so are much better, and they don't have the particles of pigment and india inks which cause all the problems. I guess you could use India ink if you washed the brush tip out straight after doing an artwork though. Just don't leave it in the pen long term to dry! 😁
Wow, most of those colors on the swatch are so vibrant and beautiful! Although I wish some of those earthy tones in set 2 weren’t so clumpy - I imagine they’d look great if they were consistent with the other colors. The tree frog also came out very cute and you managed to intensify that shadow! I’m very intrigued with these inks, but I’ve never even tried inktense or anything similar besides alcohol markers so I’m not sure I’d even know what I’m doing with these!😂
Thank you! Yeah the earth ones aren't great by comparison to the other transparent colours. I'm at the opposite end where I don't really know much about using alcohol markers, haha!
I like the idea of painting with inks, but the fast drying time scares me.These are beautiful colors, and your frog piece looks great.
Thank you! They don't dry immediately but one does have to hurry a little, as they do the same thing as Inktense pencils and dry in hard lines. Fun times! 😂
I wished you had choose a drawing whit more colours. But thats me. The dr Martins bombay inkt is beautifull colourfull. Beautifull drawing of the green frog
Thank you. I'll think about another picture and go for something with more colours. The frog was what inspired me at the time, but I will pick something more rainbow in the future. A rainbow frog, even! 😂
Thank you so mutch for replying my question. Hahaha yeah a rain bow frog would be asome. But maby a character or a female,male or a animal. 😀👍🏼😁 of you want. No need to feel presure 😁👍🏼
@@lifeismusicparnadonkers thank you for your feedback and ideas, it helps me plan for future videos. 😁
Becky Tregear Art glad i could be of help. Good luck whit you,re future drawings and you,re UA-cam video,s🥰👍🏼👋🏼
I love these inks this Inktober, they dry really fast so they demand you to work fast which is good for a daily art challenge. There's some nice new colours in your review here that I don't have, I have the top set.
I've found the white ink needs at least 3-4 layers to be completely opaque but you can get there, just need a hair dryer to speed things up and it's great because it won't reactivate after that like you mentioned. The bleed proof white - does that reactivate? Judging from the name it probably doesn't? I could really use a more opaque white, but I need it to not reactivate (I've done the mistake of using gouache and gel pen a few times).
The bleedproof doesn't activate once it's dry...it's like a really thick acrylic ink and it's suuuuper opaque, the most opaque ink I've ever used. Definitely worth buying!
Nice review! Have you noticed any weird odour with these inks? All of mine smell like a fresh/strong paint, it gives me a bad headache after painting with them for an hour. Also, mine has separated quite badly after three years and ik you said the terra cotta is weird but is it supposed to be slimy in texture too? Mine also had a lot of bubbles that wouldn’t pop no matter what I did.
I haven't noticed any smell on mine except maybe a couple of the earthy colours. The terracotta I think is one which is slimy for me too, like it refuses to combine with the binder and does the bubble thing too. That one is gross! 🤢
You’re hard on yourself - great job
Thank you 😊
I want it too buy set 2 but its out of stock. Now i am sad cause set 2 of the bombay inkt looks amazing. I bought set 1
Oh it's super annoying when they go out of stock! Sometimes if it's on your wishlist they notify you by email when it comes back in. Not sure if there is an option where you can click 'notify me'. I know some websites do! Hopefully it won't be long before they come back in.
Yeah tell me about it. Thank you so mutch for the advice. I,ll put it on my wish list. 😀👍🏼
Hooray!!! There are no mistakes, just happy little accidents. I thought the grid set up was on purpose and looked very professional before you pointed out it was a boo boo. ^_^ No worries, it looks great!
Haha thank you!
Do they sell individual colors?
I think so...I've seen them around as singles in the past anyway.
Can you mix the inks together?
Yes, they mix well together. I drip them into a palette well to mix them, or even directly onto the paper. And you can thin them down with water as well. They work like watercolours but once they dry then they are like acrylics and won't rewet. I clean my palettes immediately after use. Glass or porcelain/ceramic is much easier to scrape off dried ink than plastic. 😁
Thank you Becky Tregear Art
I have the first set in the small bottles without the pipette, which now Im kind of wishing I had got the bigger bottles but I wasnt sure I was gonna like them, since at the time I hadnt painted with india ink before. Anyway, Love your painting! Is that your Etchr sketchbook? If so, how long have you had it? I ask bc i bought a set of the Etchr perfect sketchbooks about a year ago and havent even started on them yet...I hope they dont break down already...I probably wont even get to painting in them for another half year to year😟
Anyway, great video. Thanks for sharing❤
I know it's possible to get little glass or plastic pipettes which you can use with the little bottles; I have quite a few and they've been very useful, even for adding clear water to ink in a palette to dilute the colours. I bought my Etchr sketchbooks when they released them during the Kickstarter...that was a couple of years ago now? The book I used in this video is definitely deteriorating, though I'm not sure if it is because I've used so much water throughout the book. I have some unused ones too so I also hope they will be fine! It's mainly just around the edges of the pages.
Nice video thank you
If you want an opaque white ink…as a real out the box alternative…use a professional tattoo ink. Far superior and washes with water well because the pigment is insane
Interesting suggestion, I'll do some research on tattoo ink, thank you!
TYFS I subscribed 🙃 I just bought these and like yours, many are funky or bad. I contacted Dr PH Martin customer service and got a man who told me it was all my fault. Improper storage on my part. I have had them 1 week, stored in original round packaging in my desk drawer. Set 2 are particularly awful as yours are 😖 I'm stuck with them ! I will never buy another product of Dr PH Martin because of this mans attitude. In fact, I returned the acrylics sets unopened to store for a refund they cost over $200 USD. I paid US $60 for inks, it's alot for trash! Hugs Kate in New York 😘
You're kidding me, they said that?!?! 😱 Wow that's the worst thing ever! I've found a few years later that the colours are still fine but the earth tones are pretty much hopeless and have remained in a gluggy state. How do they want us to store them? On the ceiling? In a hyperbaric chamber? Gosh I'm so sorry you had such a bad customer service experience. 😭😭
@@BeckyTregear 🤣🤣🤣🤣 yep they said that and more! The nicer i was with that man, the ruder he got to me.....I just choked on my coffee at your comments BTW. ❣️
Huh wish the sepia was lighter in color
I guess you could mix some in with water to dilute it and get a lighter wash.
😍 🐸