I just recently received a sample pack of Inktense blocks, it's a 6 pack but it was most welcomed. I am a big fan of the pencils and when I heard about these I desperately wanted to try them out. I was jumping up and down when I got the packet - my son giving me his amused look, he regularly sees me get excited about art materials and books. Wasting no time to try them I started with a quick drawing treasuring each block.
You can used them in a variety of ways, directly as the block, there are special applicators you can use so your hands don’t get dirty, you can improvise as see fit or whatever goes on your hands you incorporate in your shading. The colours are rich and vibrant, just like the pencils.
You can use them as a paint and either apply the brush directly on to the block or you can use a knife to shave some off into your palette. Derwent have devised a mini grater that you can use, and this is a great way of just using what you need. When you use a palette, if the paint dries you just add water and you can use it again, nothing goes to waste!
I also tried the blocks on fabric. I’ve been looking at how we recycle fabric and found my son’s old school trousers then covered it in Gesso, it was a really great surface to work on - I will show you the process in another post.
This piece was painted with the ink blocks after being primed with Gesso and then ironed, the ink is permanent. I can then decide what I am going to use the piece for.
All in all Inktense blocks are gorgeous to use. They are creamy, vibrant, permanent and have a multitude of uses and they maintain their vibrancy. If you are able to get yourself a set I definitely encourage you to try them out.
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