One of my favourite things about the Inktense product range is the vibrancy of colour and the versatility of it being permanent once it's dry so I can work back over and over until I’m happy. I can also use it on any surface!

I’d had a picture in my head for a very long time; it was based around a favourite quote of mine by Marilyn Monroe and I wanted to make it into a canvas to hang in my studio but I couldn’t find the right medium. I’m not a watercolour fan; paint seemed too heavy and then I thought of Inktense – just right! So I finally got around to making that canvas and I’m super happy with the result!

I used the Inktense blocks with a water spray bottle and my fingers (I’m a very messy artist!) to achieve the background effect, building up three layers to get the exact effect I wanted, letting the lighter colours shine through from underneath. I then used a mixture of Inktense blocks and pencils to draw in the details and highlights.

I finished it with a 3D glaze over the balloon and added the quote with an ink pen.

Thanks so much for looking, we’d love you to come and share your Inktense projects over on the Derwent Facebook page! I’ll be back soon with another project.

Sarah x

www.sarahhurley.com

This month, I’m giving you a sneaky peek into my illustration process. Most of my work is digital (although I hand draw everything first) but once a year my work goes off to be shown at the Bologna book fair and for that I like to show the full range of things that I can do, so there will be some digital, some collage / mixed media work and some hand drawn and painted work – you never know what people will be looking for! Here is the process of one of my Bologna illustrations using Derwent Coloursoft pencils (my faves!)

First I start with an idea. I love pictures with houses and ‘Home’ themed projects, so this year I thought I would do a whimsical house. I start to sketch some ideas in pencil; everything is a bit messy at this stage as I fight to get all of my ideas on paper before they drift off again! No-one usually ever sees this part so I feel free to be messy and make notes onto my picture, cross things out, draw over things – as long as I know what I mean, it’s OK!

Once I’m happy with a composition and ironed out any problems.Sometimes I discover I can’t draw what I want in my picture particularly well, so I’ll do a few studies of it from reference material until I’ve perfected it or I might need to practice the perspective and proportions of things until I’m happy.

I then draw it out very lightly onto my paper – I keep the strokes very light so they blend more easily, especially around light areas.

At this point I’ll start adding areas of colour, keeping everything very soft so I can still work over it and adding shading and highlights or even erase something if I think it doesn’t work. This is the hardest stage for me; the colours look quite flat and it can be disheartening because it doesn’t look like the picture in my head yet – at this point I want to abandon it and start over! But instead I usually put it away for an hour and come back to it with fresh eyes (and newly sharpened pencils!)

Once I’m happy with the colour balance I start adding shading. I love to blend lots of colours together; I still work lightly or the surface of the colouring can become shiny too quickly and it can be difficult to add more colour.

Finally, I use a pen to add details over the top. I occasionally use a black fine liner but mostly I use a grey or brown brush pen as you can get finer detail and the finish isn’t so harsh. It really depends on the piece – here I’ve used a grey brush pen to pick out the details such as blades of grass, birds' feet and eyes, leaves on the trees and other little bits and pieces – just make sure not to smudge the ink before it has time to dry!

Thanks so much for popping by to take a sneak peek into my illustration process and share my sketchbook secrets – I hope you’ll come and share yours over on the Derwent Facebook page; we’d love to take a look.

I’ll be back soon!
Sarah x

www.sarahhurley.com

One of my favourite crafts is Scrapbooking; not only is it a chance to be creative but it’s a great way to preserve your family history, memories and photos – as well as reliving all the great times as you work on your pages!

Scrapbooking is most commonly done on 12”x12” acid free papers, although some people scrap on 8”11.5”, 8”x8” and 6”x6” as well as mini books – so there is lots of variety for anyone wanting to start out with this craft – if you are already a card maker or paper crafter you probably have most of the materials you need already!

Today I’m showing you how you can incorporate colouring pencils into your scrapbooking. Quite recently crafters have started experimenting more with different mediums on their pages and I wanted to show that your colouring pencils are not limited to just colouring in stamped images to use on your page, there are lots of other uses too. So here is my step-by step scrapbook page…

Supply List – Derwent Coloursoft Pencils, White 12”x12” cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, die cutting machine or punches, adhesive, piercing tool, embroidery thread and needle, black journaling pen, embellishments and a photograph.

First, I cut a piece of Kraft paper to 11” x 5.5”, then using my Cricut Expression (die cutting machine) I  cut some bunting, butterflies and flowers. I’m actually going to be colouring the negative shapes but I kept hold of the die cut butterflies to add to the layout (you could also use punches if you don’t have a die cutting machine.)

Using a piercing tool and ruler I made holes 0.5cm apart all around the Kraft paper and stitched round with 2 strands of coral embroidery thread.

I then rounded the corners using a corner rounder punch and adhered about an inch from the bottom of my white 12x12” sheet of cardstock, I also rounded two of the corners of my photo and adhered next to the die cut area.

Using my Coloursoft pencils I blended the colour carefully through the die cut areas (use a blending stump to get into the small areas) I kept the colours quite fresh, using only one or two colours in each area and blending as I went.

I then coloured in the die cut Kraft paper butterflies, also with Coloursoft pencils and stuck to my layout with glossy accents (by curling the wings up slightly first and sticking just the middle down it gives a great 3D effect to your layout which will also flatten down when you want to pop the layout in your album.)

Using a black journaling pen I doodled over the top of my colouring to add lots of details.  I also added some white gel pen and glitter to small areas to add highlights. One of the great things about Coloursoft pencils is you can draw back over the top of them with a black pen to add details etc…!)

A few finishing touches, embellishments and a journaling card to tell the story behind the picture and my layout was complete!

You could also try…

• Doodling onto your page
• Journaling in rainbow colours
• Stamping and colouring a repeat background to create your own patterned paper

Thanks so much for looking, I hope this inspires you to try colouring pencils in your scrapbooking projects – please do share you links here or on the Derwent Facebook page, we’d love to see them!

I’ll be back soon with more crafty projects!

Sarah x

www.sarahhurley.com

We love crafting here at Derwent, so who better to show us some great techniques and projects than super-crafter Sarah Hurley? Sarah will be bringing us lots of fun and colourful ways to craft using Derwent products so keep your eyes peeled... take it away Sarah!

Today I’m sharing with you a Valentine’s card using Inktense pencils and blocks. They are so versatile and have such bright vibrant colours; I just love using them in my crafting!

I’ll be showing you how to stamp and colour with Inktense…

Supply List – Inktense Blocks, Inktense Pencils, Watercolour Paper, Waterbrush – Derwent, Jar Stamps – Little Musings, Cloud Stamp – Hero Arts, Valentine Stamps – Pink Paislee, Once Upon a Princess Cartridge (Cricut Expression) – Provocraft, Staz-on Ink Pad, Kraft Card, Water Spray Bottle 

Firstly I stamped two jars (in case of a mistake or smudge!) using a Staz-on ink pad (this is a solvent based waterproof ink so won’t run and spoil my image once I start to add colour) onto watercolour paper. Using the Inktense pencils, I added some Bright Blue to the edges and bottom of the jar and some Teal Green to the inside of the jar (very lightly) then, using a water brush I blended the colour out using lots of water as I wanted the colour to be very feint to give the effect of glass.

Once this was dry I added some Black to the edges of the lid and some White in the centre and blended with a water brush. While the lid was still wet I added more White to highlight and blended (the colours are more intense when used on wet paper.)

While the jars were drying I cut a piece of watercolour paper to 13 x 9.5cms, using the Inktense blocks dry I coloured the cloud stamp with two shades of blue (you can add colour to a dry stamp but it won’t stamp until you wet the stamp or stamp onto wet paper) I then misted lightly with water using a spray bottle and stamped onto the watercolour paper – set aside to dry.

I then cut a piece of Kraft card to 14 x 10cms and using my Cricut Expression I cut a heart shape in the middle. I then rounded the corners and used a red pen to doodle stitching round the heart and the edge of the paper.

When the cloud image was dry I mounted it onto a card blank using double sided tape, then using 3D foam I added the Kraft card over the top, allowing the stamped clouds to peek through the heart.

Once the jar was dry I stamped the hearts inside the jar using the same technique with the Inktense blocks – using them dry onto the stamp and then misting with water. If you miss any parts out (i.e. if too much water goes on one area and dilutes / washes away the colour) you can just touch up the area with your Inktense pencils or a corner of the Inktense block.

I then added the jar to the front of the card with 3D foam, and a stamped greeting to the top left corner.

Some of my Top Tips! 

• Using the Inktense blocks directly onto your stamp is a great technique to achieve a watercolour effect for backgrounds etc
• For more precision you can use Inktense pencils onto specific areas of the stamp
• The more water you add, the more blurred and painterly your image will be when you stamp
• Bear in mind as you flip the stamp over some water will run, mixing the colours; if you want to avoid this look then wet the paper instead of the stamp, this will also make your colours brighter.
• For a more intense colour, wet your stamp with the mister first and then add colour to the stamp.

I love discovering new things with these pencils & blocks. They are so versatile, I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of my experiments popping up here soon!

www.sarahhurley.com