Product test: Inktense pencils by Derwent

Inktense pencils by Derwent are watersoluble pencils with brillant colours that give ink like effects. The colours are translucent and blendable.

The range includes 71 colours. I tested a selection of 24 pencils. The box also contained a non-soluble outliner. You can draw with it outlines that are permanent, even when water is applied.

You can use Inktense pencils on paper like watercolour pencils.  They can also be used on fabric and I tested them on cotton. One advantage is that after you apply water onto the pigments, the colour is permanent once dry.

The process is simple, with a number of variations:

• The first method consists in applying the colour first and then adding water on the colour with a soft brush. This is similar to the technique used with watercolour pencils. Depending on the colour, the result will look like a watercolour wash or some pencil marks will remain visible.

• For the second method, you put the water first with a clean brush on the fabric and then apply the pencil. This is interesting because the colour fuses in the fabric in the same way watercolour fuses when you employ a wet on wet technique. In addition, the water makes the colours come to life and you see immediately what the final colour will be. When the fabric is wet, the pencil glides on it.

• Third method consists in using a fabric gel medium to wet the fabric where you want to apply the colour. By contrast with the previous method, the colour does not fuse. This works well for details.

You can layer colours one on top of the other. You can also use water to blend together colours after then have been laid on the support.

One difficulty when you start working with these pencils: it is sometimes hard to identify the colour of the dark pigment pencils without reading the name printed on the pencil. In addition, for certain shades, the coulour of the lead won’t tell you much about the brillance of the colour once washed with water. It would be a good idea to make a colour chart showing each colour dry and then washed with water.

In conclusion, these pencils are interesting to work with for bright and luminous colours. The fact that you can use them on fabric without the need for any special fixative is a definite plus. Derwent also sells Inktense sticks (looking like square dry pastels) for work on larger formats.

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On neuroscience, telephone poles and accurate drawing

What is the common point between neuroscience, telephone poles and accurate drawing?

I was listening to a fascinating podcast, The Brain Science Podcast. In Episode 73, Doctor Ginger Campbell was interviewing Doctor Shapiro, Professor of Philosophy and author of the book “Embodied Cognition (New Problems of Philosophy)"

A discussion around the end of the podcast caught my ears.

Source: MorgueFile [Image URL]

Dr. Shapiro gave an example on how problems that seem complicated can sometimes get resolved easily by focussing on one parametre.

Dr. Shapiro: “Yes. Gibson has lots of examples of what appear to be computationally onerous tasks, but it turns out that there are very simple solutions that rely on picking up certain information in the environment. So, here’s a neat example: If you have two telephone poles that are the same height—50 feet tall, let’s say—and one of them is behind the other, the question is: how do you figure out which one is closer and which one is further. No, sorry; the question is: are they the same height—let’s make that the question. And in order to answer that, it seems like a computational problem: you have to figure out how far they are from you, and then certain trigonometric relationships will tell you whether they’re the same height.

But what Gibson realized was that objects at the same height will have the same proportion of themselves below the horizon and above the horizon. So, two telephone poles that are 50 feet tall, if one is 100 feet away and the other is 50 feet away, they’ll still be cut by the horizon with the same proportion beneath the horizon and above the horizon. And that tells you that they’re the same height.


You don’t have to do any sort of computations.”

You can reverse the statement made in the paragraph I highlighted in bold: If you are drawing telephone poles along a road vanishing towards the horizon their size will get smaller, but they will be cut by the horizon with the same proportion beneath the horizon and above the horizon (because you know they are the same height).

Knowing this principle can be useful when drawing a vanishing series of posts or lamposts.

 Brain Science Podcast Doctor Ginger Campbell Doctor Shapiro perspective drawing

The artist’s inprint in all parts of his work - Rodin

This quote was first published in my newsletter "Notes From My French Easel" – March 2011. 

Oil painting, "Praying Hands" by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) – Source Wikimedia

" And the mind of the great artist is so active, so profound, that it shows itself in any subject. It does not even need a whole figure to express it. Take any fragment of a masterpiece, you will recognize the character of the creator in it. Compare, if you will, the hands painted in two portraits by Titian and Rembrandt. The hands by Titian will be masterful; those by Rembrandt will be modest and courageous. In these limited bits of painting all the ideals of these masters are contained."

Auguste Rodin (in “Art” translated from the French into English by Paul Gsell)

Flora (detail) by Titian – Source: Wikimedia

Related resource

• “Art” by Auguste Rodin by translated from the French into English by Paul Gsell is available as a free eBook from the Internet Archive.
• On being true – Rodin’s Artistic Testament
• On beauty – Rodin’s artistic Testament
• Art is not always about beauty
The impossible task of writing about art

 Auguste Rodin art quote art book Titian Rembrandt originality

‘Seed’ sculpture by Peter Randall

The Seed is a 70 tonne granite sculpture that was quarried and carved in De Lank Quarry on Bodmin Moor by Peter Randall and then transported from there to the Eden Project. The artist patiently carved out 1,800 nodules into the granite surface over a period of two years.

The sculpture is totally integrated into the building, nested into a white chamber at the heart of the Core education centre. This work is remarkable by its size and the putiry of the design (based on the Fibonacci sequence, which is recurrent in nature).

This sculpture, like many other by the same artist is influenced by organic forms and patterns.

Peter Randall-Page was born in the UK in 1954 and he studied sculpture at Bath Academy of Art from 1973 to 1977.


Related articles and resources

• Eden Project - ‘Seed’, by Peter Randall-Page
• Peter Randall website
• The Eden Project website
• Eden Project – outside sculptures

Technorati Tags : Eden Project Sculpture Seed sculpture Peter Randall Fibonacci

Queen's Park stairs - oil painting

Queen's Park stairs - oil painting (10" x 14") by  Benoit Philippe

With spring, it's time to go outside to do some plein air painting. First one of the season. The weather is still uncertain in England, so you have to pick the right time.