Hi everyone! Many thanks for all your comments!! I need to just verify something - I had received wrong information about the fact that Inktense Blocks are being discontinued - Derwent have contacted me after reading my comment below and confirmed that they are NOT going to discontinue Inktense Blocks, and have never planned to! Just don't want this false information to spread! I'm very pleased! A year has passed after I wrote about lightfastness and I have noticed that my daughters cushions (in the video) are slightly faded. To answer some of the other questions. How do you stop it bleeding - well as you can see I use a lot of water in the video so bleeding wasn't a problem for me - however do check out my other Inktense video where I use Inktense pencils and fabric medium to dissolve the colour instead of water. Not quite as watercoloury but it works. There is also a GOLDEN medium called Airbrush medium which is much thinner - that I'm sure could be used instead of Fabric medium which is quite thick. Using Airbrush medium may well cause the colours to be more lightfast too instead of water.
Thank you everyone for your lovely comments - I'm sorry some of you have waited such a long time for me to answer, I've only just seen them all...!Now to answer your questions.:Clara - regarding lightfastness with Inktense - it's true that on paper, they are not very lightfast. However if you use some fabric medium - I've used Liquitex Fabric Medium, you put a layer of acrylic on top which does protect the colours somewhat. My daughter owns the cushions, and has not noticed any fading yet (almost a year since I gave them to her). Sadly I have heard that the Inktense blocks are being discontinued. I live in Sweden and I phoned Derwent in UK to check if this was true, and they confirmed it. I was NOT pleased. Inktense pencils however are still on the market!Adelaide-delvi - I didn't fix with heat. Inktense are permanent in themselves, and fabric medium doesn't need to be heat sealed. ChiRho - I haven't actually used Inktense for faces on fabric, they are transparent and very strong pigment-wise so I'm sure you could if you watered them down. I suggest that you use either sandpaper or a fine mess grater and literally grate them into a poolof fabric medium making your own "paint". The fabric medium will thin the colour down. You also could try working directly with the pencils or blocks onto a wet surface like I did and then "scrub" the colour out so as to avoid streaks. The best colours for caucasian skin are Baked Earth, Willow, Tan. I would paint a thin wash of fabric medium over it all once it has dried to "fix" it.Hope this helps! Again, thanks everyone for your patience in waiting for a reply!
They are still quite available here in the States. I just bought the 12 set. In 3 weeks, I am getting 72 more! I am in love with them and will stok on Blocks for awhile if needed and buy the pencils later-saving for the largest set. I think pehaps by outcry they may have changed their minds- though I now find them a bit more affordable all the time.
Absolutely Gorgeous! I have a friend who loves fabric and I am going to make her a special gift for Christmas this year! She will absolutely LOVE it! I subbed you, thank you so much for the inspiration!
Thank you!!! You lose a little of the colour but the important thing is to make sure that you have dissolved all the colour with liquid (water, or a fabric medium) and let them dry thoroughly, and iron before washing.
I found another artist that was working with these blocks and mentioned about their light fastness. The more water you add the less it has. With you using these on fabric and then in pillows I was wondering how they were holding up. My ultimate goal is also to use this as a watercolor technique on fabric. But lightfastness is a concern. Did you do anything to your fabric afterwards other than heat set to help with this? Have you noticed any fading?
Clara I would love to know if you had any response to your question. I tried drawing on silk and Ironed it and then washed it and all the color came out.
Yes I'm sure that's correct - they have now faded slightly, not so that they are ugly but I can see a difference. The other cushion I did (the rooster) on another video has held up much better and I used Fabric Medium instead of water to dissolve the colour.
I love this. I have other types of block pastels (Mango). Does it have to be intense block? Also, what do you use under the fabric canvas to collect/absorb the water.
I haven't used MANGO but these are not pastels as such, they are morelike highly pigmented coloured pencils in block form. And are made to dry permanently
Thanks for sharing this. I am new to Inktense pencils and blocks. Did you use fixative at all? Is ironing enough to fix the colours for when you want to wash what you have done?
I would say, don't use Inktense on things that are going to need to be laundered often, cushions and tote-bags are great. I didn't use fixative, but you could try using a fabric medium instead of water - see my comment further up!
Absolutely love this!! I was wondering if you need to let the Golden Fluid dry on the fabric after applying before proceeding with your painting? Thank you so much for your videos!!
I didn't stop them in this case - but using a hairdryer would do the trick. It's the water that transports the colour out into the threads of the fabric. You could use anothermedium like fabric medium or GOLDEN Airbrush medium instead of water to gain control.
Hi Jacqui, what a treat that was! Ive never been into Inktense but you might have just piqued my interest. I'm assuming your cushion fabric is cotton or something similar? Have you ever tried them on silk? Or even coloured fabric? May I ask how you stretched out the fabric to remain taut during the whole process? Thanks for your help.
Thanks! I used ordinary fine cotton fabric, I haven't worked on silk but there are so videos on Derwent's website I think where they work on silk, so my advice is give it a try!!
Hi! Thank you so much for your videos using Inktense! Great art! I love your roosters!!! I was wondering if you have ever used the Inktense to paint drawn faces/people on fabric? If you have, could you advise what colors you used to do skin? If you have not, could you create a video like what I just asked? Thank you. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! God Bless! :o) ~Denise
preciosa técnica! Vivo en Colombia y me gustaría saber cómo consigo las cartolas que utilizan para pintar. Si es posible me escriben a mirna619@hotmail.com. gracias
I believe it does, though I haven't tried myself - have a look at Derwent's videos on their website, I believe there is a video there using blocks on Silk
Thank you! I used ordinary fine cotton but I have also worked on both canvas and linen. Linen is very absorbent and the colours spread with water, so you could add some fabric medium
Hi everyone! Many thanks for all your comments!! I need to just verify something - I had received wrong information about the fact that Inktense Blocks are being discontinued - Derwent have contacted me after reading my comment below and confirmed that they are NOT going to discontinue Inktense Blocks, and have never planned to! Just don't want this false information to spread! I'm very pleased!
A year has passed after I wrote about lightfastness and I have noticed that my daughters cushions (in the video) are slightly faded. To answer some of the other questions. How do you stop it bleeding - well as you can see I use a lot of water in the video so bleeding wasn't a problem for me - however do check out my other Inktense video where I use Inktense pencils and fabric medium to dissolve the colour instead of water. Not quite as watercoloury but it works. There is also a GOLDEN medium called Airbrush medium which is much thinner - that I'm sure could be used instead of Fabric medium which is quite thick. Using Airbrush medium may well cause the colours to be more lightfast too instead of water.
Thank you everyone for your lovely comments - I'm sorry some of you have waited such a long time for me to answer, I've only just seen them all...!Now to answer your questions.:Clara - regarding lightfastness with Inktense - it's true that on paper, they are not very lightfast. However if you use some fabric medium - I've used Liquitex Fabric Medium, you put a layer of acrylic on top which does protect the colours somewhat. My daughter owns the cushions, and has not noticed any fading yet (almost a year since I gave them to her). Sadly I have heard that the Inktense blocks are being discontinued. I live in Sweden and I phoned Derwent in UK to check if this was true, and they confirmed it. I was NOT pleased. Inktense pencils however are still on the market!Adelaide-delvi - I didn't fix with heat. Inktense are permanent in themselves, and fabric medium doesn't need to be heat sealed. ChiRho - I haven't actually used Inktense for faces on fabric, they are transparent and very strong pigment-wise so I'm sure you could if you watered them down. I suggest that you use either sandpaper or a fine mess grater and literally grate them into a poolof fabric medium making your own "paint". The fabric medium will thin the colour down. You also could try working directly with the pencils or blocks onto a wet surface like I did and then "scrub" the colour out so as to avoid streaks. The best colours for caucasian skin are Baked Earth, Willow, Tan. I would paint a thin wash of fabric medium over it all once it has dried to "fix" it.Hope this helps! Again, thanks everyone for your patience in waiting for a reply!
They are still quite available here in the States. I just bought the 12 set. In 3 weeks, I am getting 72 more! I am in love with them and will stok on Blocks for awhile if needed and buy the pencils later-saving for the largest set. I think pehaps by outcry they may have changed their minds- though I now find them a bit more affordable all the time.
Gorgeous!
Thank you so much. I love your style!
Thank you!!!
Thank you for sharing this. I absolutely love your work and the cushions are fabulous. What a joy to have such a talent.
Thank you so much!
Absolutely gorgeous! Love your loose style...
Thanks so much Paula!
This style really works, you're a natural artist.
Oh wow, thanks!!
Wow! Love it. Seeing you do this is very helpful to me. Thank you :-)
Oh thank you!
Gorgeous! Such wonderful talent you have!
Oh thank you!!!!
Thank you so much I love ❤️ you're beautiful work. Superb!!!!!!
Thanks Mags!!! So kind!!
Wow! ❤️ Amazing. 💚
Thanks!!!
Beautiful! Thank you.
Thakn you!
Absolutely Gorgeous! I have a friend who loves fabric and I am going to make her a special gift for Christmas this year! She will absolutely LOVE it! I subbed you, thank you so much for the inspiration!
Thank you so much!!!!
how fantastic and inspiring, thank you
Thank you!!
Fabulous and beautiful thank you so much 😊
Thank YOU!
BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
Thanks so much!
Absolutely lovely
Thank you!!
Stunning! tyfs!
Thanks!
How do you cure the color on the fabric?
What kind of fabric are you using?
Hi, What kind of a fabric is this you"re using?
Beautiful work, and relaxing to watch, i wonder if they fade away or get washed out when you clean them.
Thank you!!! You lose a little of the colour but the important thing is to make sure that you have dissolved all the colour with liquid (water, or a fabric medium) and let them dry thoroughly, and iron before washing.
I found another artist that was working with these blocks and mentioned about their light fastness. The more water you add the less it has. With you using these on fabric and then in pillows I was wondering how they were holding up. My ultimate goal is also to use this as a watercolor technique on fabric. But lightfastness is a concern. Did you do anything to your fabric afterwards other than heat set to help with this? Have you noticed any fading?
Clara I would love to know if you had any response to your question. I tried drawing on silk and Ironed it and then washed it and all the color came out.
Yes I'm sure that's correct - they have now faded slightly, not so that they are ugly but I can see a difference. The other cushion I did (the rooster) on another video has held up much better and I used Fabric Medium instead of water to dissolve the colour.
Enjoyed this video very much. Did you spray a fixative onto the fabric since it was being used as a cushion? Thank you!
Hi Sharon! No I didn't. I'm wondering if some kind of Scotchguard spray might help. I live in Sweden and I can't find it here.
I love this. I have other types of block pastels (Mango). Does it have to be intense block? Also, what do you use under the fabric canvas to collect/absorb the water.
I haven't used MANGO but these are not pastels as such, they are morelike highly pigmented coloured pencils in block form. And are made to dry permanently
Thanks for sharing this. I am new to Inktense pencils and blocks. Did you use fixative at all? Is ironing enough to fix the colours for when you want to wash what you have done?
I would say, don't use Inktense on things that are going to need to be laundered often, cushions and tote-bags are great. I didn't use fixative, but you could try using a fabric medium instead of water - see my comment further up!
Absolutely love this!! I was wondering if you need to let the Golden Fluid dry on the fabric after applying before proceeding with your painting? Thank you so much for your videos!!
Hi Kathy! Do you man the gesso at the beginning? Yes let it dry before starting with the blocks :)
Sorry I mean GOLDEN fluid acrylic, not gesso!!
how did you get them to stop bleeding and bleeding.
Did you hairdry or drop in dryer,
I didn't stop them in this case - but using a hairdryer would do the trick. It's the water that transports the colour out into the threads of the fabric. You could use anothermedium like fabric medium or GOLDEN Airbrush medium instead of water to gain control.
Hi Jacqui, what a treat that was! Ive never been into Inktense but you might have just piqued my interest. I'm assuming your cushion fabric is cotton or something similar? Have you ever tried them on silk? Or even coloured fabric? May I ask how you stretched out the fabric to remain taut during the whole process? Thanks for your help.
Thanks! I used ordinary fine cotton fabric, I haven't worked on silk but there are so videos on Derwent's website I think where they work on silk, so my advice is give it a try!!
Hi! Thank you so much for your videos using Inktense! Great art! I love your roosters!!! I was wondering if you have ever used the Inktense to paint drawn faces/people on fabric? If you have, could you advise what colors you used to do skin? If you have not, could you create a video like what I just asked? Thank you. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! God Bless! :o)
~Denise
preciosa técnica! Vivo en Colombia y me gustaría saber cómo consigo las cartolas que utilizan para pintar. Si es posible me escriben a mirna619@hotmail.com. gracias
does it work with silk dear? beautiful!
I believe it does, though I haven't tried myself - have a look at Derwent's videos on their website, I believe there is a video there using blocks on Silk
Jacqui, Have you used the Intense blocks or pencils on Silk?
No I haven't Helene, but I must try!
That is amazing, it would also work as a wall hanging, what fabric do you use please, canvas or even weave etc?
Thank you! I used ordinary fine cotton but I have also worked on both canvas and linen. Linen is very absorbent and the colours spread with water, so you could add some fabric medium