Using Inktense on Wood

Today's blog is about using Derwent's Inktense on wood. I know you will think me silly for even attempting this, but I found myself in a tight spot recently. You see, I had decided to show you how great Inktense was when used on fabric. You can read all about this here. When I was done, I liked the project so much that I did not want to condemn it to an album, but decided that I could much more easily use it in a panel for one of my Art Bags. I naturally painted a second one and had all but made up my mind to paint the handles with acrylic paint when it dawned on me that I might very well be able to use the Inktense itself to paint the handles as well. This would have the advantage of colours and techniques matching automatically. I simply had to give it a try.

The best assurance you have that a medium will stick to a surface, is to treat the surface with gesso before you start. I apply the gesso with a wide flat brush and allow it to dry before I continue. Gesso dries very quickly and you seldom need to wait longer than the time required to wash the brush.

I use the outliner from the Inktense pencil set to draw the design on the handles.

I use tangerine to fill in the centres of the flowers by hatching and cross-hatching strokes.

I paint the centres with water, using the Pentel Aquash brush with a water reservoir in the handle.

I wait for the paint to dry before I continue. Inktense colours are set once dry and you won't be able to pick them up again, unlike other water-soluble products.

I outline my flowers and fill in the areas closest to the centres randomly with Poppy Red, Sun Yellow and Shiraz.

I paint these colours and wait for it to dry.

I now fill in the tops of my flowers by adding Fuchsia to the Poppy Red, Baked Earth to the Sun Yellow and Violet to the Shiraz.

Again it is painted with water.

Once the flowers are dry, I colour the background with Leaf Green from the Inktense bars. The only reason I use the bars is because they will fill more space in less time. Don't put down so much colour that you will have to wipe it away. Inktense has very intense colours and will go a long way.

I paint the Leaf Green with an angle brush dipped in water.

Wait for everything to dry thoroughly before continuing.

I use acrylic Ivory Black to paint the edges of the handle. I small flat brush works best here.

I again wait for the paint to dry before coating everything with Acrylic Gel Medium. This will seal the paint to make it last longer. I apply the Gel Medium with a wide flat brush.

I think these will look very pretty in a handbag, don't you?

For more crafty ideas and great products, visit APrettyTalent.com.

Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.

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