Product Review: Derwent Graphik Line Painters

HAPPY SATURDAY, PEOPLE!!

Have we all had an epic weekend so far? Hopefully we're all looking forward to either a fun night out or an equally enjoyable relaxing night in. For today's post I have a product review for you. It's been a while - I've been neglectful! The product under scrutiny is the Derwent Graphik Line Painter range of watercolour medium pens -

This range is a fairly new release from one of my favourite manufacturers so it was fairy inevitable that I'd buy some. The pens ship in sets of five pens tucked into a fancy wallet.

I got quite excited and bid on four sets on ebay - and won two of them, which was cool.

 

 I only bid low and teeny amounts - money's not exactly an abundant commodity - so I was very lucky to pick these up for less than a quarter of the suggested retail price. They seem to sell between £12.95 and £15.95 per set here in the UK, which is pricey, but I think they've used the gimmicky nature of the design to pile on the £££s.

Before I do the pros and cons, you might find it useful to watch the promo video on Youtube -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EONlnE-kOgk

 ...and here's a link to the Derwent site and the relevant product information :

http://www.pencils.co.uk/en/gb/6130/graphik-line-painter-pens

So.... Firstly, although these are called 'paint pens' they contain a water soluble acrylic type ink, VERY similar to the Magic Color acrylic inks.

They're fairly quick drying, and once they're completely dry, they won't dissolve if you then add water or another wet medium, so you can layer them easily and with a good result, given that the ink is quite sticky and thick and holds its colour well.

The pigment also stays true when diluted - however it does dry slightly darker than the initial brighter application  in common with many other acrylic or watercolour products. When water is added, the ink changes from opaque to translucent to virtually transparent depending on how much it's diluted. The colours stay true even when applied in layers (as long as you allow the ink to dry between colour applications) and when used as a blendable wet medium, the colours also mix as well as any other acrylic ink.

Like I said, these are marketed in a very gimmicky way....they're cool 'trick' pens. They're designed to produce a good number of impressive effects - and they do. HOWEVER - for the first time EVER, I'm not 100% happy with a Derwent product! Sorry, Derwent! These pens collect a number of excellent ideas, attractive to really any artist, but I feel like, somewhere along the line, quality has almost taken a back seat in order to push the product out before the niggly problems have been effectively ironed out. And I'm not even being picky here... it's just practicality.

Firstly, in order to get the ink to pool around the nib in order to achieve the blobby and spattery effects it's essential to press down on the nib and hold it until the ink collects. This DOES work, BUT it seems that some pens need to be angled very slightly to achieve the desired pooling and the nibs, though sturdy, WILL bend as a result. Once bent, they can't be fixed and it affects the ink flow and control and puts paid to using them as advertised. This doesn't happen to EVERY pen, but two out of ten of mine have done this and I know I'm a careful person with things like this. Not awesome.

Nextlyness, once the ink is flowing well, some pens seem to lose the facility to moderate the flow which means that those pens can no longer be used for fine lines or small designs as the ink will basically just 'blob' randomly onto the page. That really shouldn't happen. Four out of my ten pens have been like this right from the first use and two others are following suit. That's not good odds.

Lastly, there's not a massive amount of ink in the pen and SO far there's no indication of whether they can be refilled. This would not be an issue if the pens were cheaper BUT the price to content ratio seems disproportionate in my opinion. I can pick up a bottle of Magic Color ink for between £3 and £4....and there's a LOT of ink in those things. They go a looooong way. If Derwent brought out similarly priced refill bottles then THAT would make the pens a better investment, so long as they sort out the nib glitches and flow control.

To sum up, I do like these pens AND the ink. The colours are vibrant and they do produce cool effects. BUT - they're VERY expensive for a flawed product, and the number of glitches make the price even more unrealistic. I picked my sets up cheaply - and if I had a few pennies spare and won a cheap auction I'd probably take a punt and pick them up again, just for fun, but as an investment at full price they're simply not worth it as the design stands.

I have loved using inks for years and the idea of having them in convenient pen form is still tempting, but in all honesty there's nothing I can do with these pens that I can't do equally well - or better - using my bottled inks, brushes and nib pens.....more reliable and more cost effective. Actually - probably more versatile if I think about it.

I like to end a review on a positive note, so what I WILL say is that this particular ink formula is super when creating attractive layered backgrounds. There's a distinct difference in the dried surface of undiluted ink and the diluted. One is slightly shiny and looks almost dimensional and the watery effect produces a more matte finish. The combinatiom does give the illusion of depth and is a definite plus! The fact that the ink dries permanently means that it accepts the application of other layers exceptionally well, and the bright colours can be a boon when working with translucent media.

I had a play - I couldn't do a review without having a play now, could I? Huh? VOILA!

The background is entirely done using the Graphik pens - with a few black indian ink splatters. The birds are drawn with my Deleter nib pen -

and Jacksons indian ink -

The birds are coloured with my Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons -

It was fun just to play with the colours. I did a couple of these sketchy colourful testers in my sketchbook and thoroughly enjoyed it despite the pens being a little unreliable. The translucent effect of both the inks and the Neocolor IIs is more apparent in the next one -

 I did make use of my Uni Ball gel pen here but again the background is all Graphik pen and the bird is Neocolor IIs. Watering both mediums down allowed the text to peek through, which I like lots!

This is my third and final play with these colourful things of loveliness -

Same combination again, but I used my white Magic Color acrylic ink to add the highlights and featheryness. ( I do apologise for the iffy balance on some of the scans - tech issues persist!)

I think that the effects the pens produce are excellent - as long as the pens work properly - but I stick to my statement that these are a great product IF you can pick them up at a BARGAIN price and IF you can work WITH the flaws. Keep an eye out on ebay or Amazon and hopefully the art fairies will work their magic.

I hope that was helpful? I've added links to the pics where relevant so that you can possibly source some of the listed products. If you have any questions just leave them in the comment section and I'll reply asap - or just stop by to say 'hi!'  Thank you for visiting and being awesomely YOU! Sending love and hugs from Shroo :) xxx

The Gelato/Neocolor II War!

Hello Gorgeous!

PHEW! Well - better late than never, eh? A hectic but fulfilling weekend with much to do - including some lovely conversations with fellow bloggers and arty people, which was a welcome diversion. I'm working on some new projects, completing others and I've FINALLY figured out how to go about blogging 'art supplies'. Probably.

Yes, I know there's always a lot of interest in what art and craft supplies people use and how we all store them. I'm one of many who, when a new product comes to my attention heads straight to Youtube to see what reviews are posted, and often I find them invaluable. Initially, I'd planned a quick 'top ten' of my favourite art supplies, and sat down with a cuppa, pen and paper to make a list - oooo I love a list - and realised I was in trouble when I reached number thirty -five with no sign of stopping. Allow me to to demonstrate the problem with pretty pictures...(I'd offer up some interpretive dance but I feel that there's a largely redundant element to that...also it would distress my cat). There's paper:

That's a small selection. Notice how I've subtly added only three sheets of designer papers, thereby inferring that I have some level of hoarding restraint. This is a clever misdirection! Don't, whatever you do, look at the enormous brooding collection just slowly taking over the world from a very full bookshelf. Or two. And a drawer unit. And a few extra storage files and folders....Shhhh.....tell no one! LOOK IN THE COMPLETELY OPPOSITE DIRECTION - A BIG BEAR ON A UNICYCLE!  Excellent. That could NOT have gone better.....

Then there's a representative selection of art supplies and yummy smooshy stuff....

Hmmmmmm....... yeeeeaaaaahh......... Err. Here I set about to choose one of each brand or...thing... (my word-brain-face is on strike, bear with me....BEAR!) to represent a set, collection, hoard, whatever.... I got this far and ran out of space in the photo. The bear is now juggling.....look at the bear, look at the bear...

Then there's the textiles stuff, and felting supplies and lovely:

In fairness - I de-stashed magnificently when I had to move house. And some more since. But still....and now I feel that there's a de-stashed void....that could be filled with lovely fabrics...... But then if I did that I would have to consider perhaps balancing things out by thinning the herd of beads and jewellery supplies...

...which would be blatantly insane because these are soooooooooo pprrreeeeeeettttyyyyyyy!

Hmmmmm... It was at this point, having spent some time setting up the photos....teaching the Distraction-Bear to unicycle....and juggle.... that I figured I should maybe slow the whole thing down, breathe and possibly seek therapy..!  (The bear is wearing a Sombrero. Look at the bear. Dammit). It has to be said that my supplies have taken YEARS to collect and I'm VERY good at rooting out a bargain! Otherwise by now, I'd not only have sold my own kidneys, but would have been forced to go out, lurk in dark alleyways and harvest other peoples' as well!

So. Yes. SO, I've decided to break the 'favourite supplies' thing down to something -hopefully- more useful, starting with a comparison of soluble wax crayons. I can't possibly make comparisons all-inclusive as I don't own EVERY brand of everything, rather it'll be an honest opinion of brands I use and why I use them, giving little demonstrations or tutorials along the way. Is that good? I hope so! Here goes then!

Soluble Wax Crayons - Gelatos vs Neocolor II

 

There're a LOT of comparisons of Gelatos (from Faber Castell) and Neocolor II soluble wax pastels (from Caran D'Ache) - this is my take on the whole thing! When using them direct to the page they are two quite different mediums, for one simple reason: Gelatos, with their soft, creamy texture blend very well as a dry medium product whereas Neocolor IIs don't - they only blend when water is added. HOWEVER - once you use them BOTH as a wet medium, then similarities become apparent. I actually love them both. I use the two brands ALL the time and enjoy different properties and effects from each of them. It's worth noting that both products are ideal for mixed media work as they combine beautifully with pretty much any wet medium.

As with all mediums, you need to play and get to know them (girl-chat, Pictionary, watch a box-set, that sort of thing). They behave entirely differently on porous and non-porous surfaces (as you'd expect) and on a non-porous surface they will stay soluble until a fixative is added, something which is necessary if you want to add pen, or other detail medium on top of them.

Neocolor IIs are probably the biggest initial financial investment if you're buying a tin assortment. However, they're incredibly long-lasting, and their versatility means that they're a true asset to mixed media work:

This is my set. I've had them for over two years or so and use them regularly - as you can see, they last pretty well! More colours are available, which is fabulous, and they CAN be purchased individually from art shops. They're heavily pigmented so the colour stays true even when water is added. They have a high opacity and good coverage, blend easily and are lightfast. And gorgeous, don't forget gorgeous!

Gelatos, from Faber Castell are ALSO highly pigmented and are an equally superb product - it's Faber, they don't do crap. This is my collection, in various stages of use -

Again, more colours ARE available, shipping in sets only. The larger sized crayons are called 'Double Scoops' (aaawww) and can be purchased individually. I suspect that these are so popular because the sets are far cheaper than a big tin of Neocolors. However - crayon-to-crayon, the Gelatos ARE more expensive and although they do stand up to a LOT of use, they have nothing near the longevity of Neocolor IIs. They blend well directly onto the page without water. They have a lipstick-like consistency, whereas Neocolors are far more like a traditional but quite creamy wax crayon to use. When water's added to Gelatos, they become quite transparent, especially on a non-porous surface. The colours can be altered, blended and moved until fixative is added although they take a little more work than Neocolors, (which can actually be quite useful).

Other brands are available - the ones I have are Staedtler Gel Crayons and Pilot Gel Pens. The Staedtlers are VERY buttery and have good opacity, but have quite a muted tone once water's added.

Equally, the Pilots are very VERY creamy - slightly greasy looking - and again become muted when watered down. Here's a quick comparison of all four brands -

Gelatos and Neocolor IIs both transfer smoothly (the others leave lumpy bits which have to be smooshed down) and hold their bright pigmented colours best when diluted.  Note that only the Neocolor IIs DON'T allow dry blending.

When it comes to wet-blending any of them, the value of a quality, highly pigmented crayon becomes apparent. I chose two colours that clash horribly, but I had them in all four brands and it shows pretty well that again, the Gelatos and the Neocolor IIs hold the colours, retaing elements of orange and green when diluted, unlike the more muddly Staedtlers and the fairly raw Pilots.

The Gelatos and the Neocolors ARE an investment, but although the other cheaper brands can be fun, the quality of these two products makes them well worth every penny. If you like the look of them then I'd recommend buying maybe just a small set of each until you know which you prefer. I love them both and I'm glad I have them. So far, the Neocolor IIs at least are in my top 10 arty products!

To compare the two brands a little better - I think - here's a quick little project: a double-page spread using Gelatos on the LEFT page and Neocolor IIs on the Right page so that you can see the similarity in results. I chose a useful art journal, some old scrappy book pages, and a sheet of that designer paper, which I crumpled because I love that texture and adhered to the page using matte gel medium paste (Claudine Hellmuth 'Studio')

A bit of rippy-teary paperness....I like it! I cut some wibbly easy, slightly random shapes out of the book pages and went glue-crazy with the matte medium again, pasting the pieces down then sealing them over the top with a thin layer of the same gel.....a quick and easy collage:

Speeding up the drying with my trusty hairdryer. Just look at the STATE of it! I still use that to dry my hair with! Ah well.....farewell, shreds of dignity..... I chose colours from both brands that matched each other as closely as possible:

One of them's a bit stumpy - doesn't bother me as the other half's still in the tin! I coloured each side in crayony scribbles - nice quick, messy fun!

The left, Gelato side is more buttery looking whereas the right Neocolor II side is more like a traditional wax crayon. I added a little (just a little) water and dried the pages. I then used my fingers and a small brush to gently move around the areas of colour until I was happy with the result:

It was a lot easier to remove the Neocolor II colour from the page surface, which was made non-porous by using the gel medium. It took only the tinest amount of water and a light brush touch to almost completely remove colour from selected areas, whereas the Gelatos required a little more effort.

Once this was done, I added more colour. This isn't always possible to do by using the crayons directly onto the page. The previous layer acts like a slippery resist so it's better to either make a little 'palette' by colouring a small amount of crayon onto a spare piece of paper, or your craft sheet...

...or alternatively simply taking colour straight from the crayon -

I added brighter colour and some more definition, also removing excess colour in some areas as I went along to allow for contrast and to allow book text and paper patterns to show through.

When I was happy with the colour detail, I made more palette squares to my spare paper and added a little more water which created an ideal constituency for the making of splatterage....heh heh heh....

This is the Gelato page:

aaaaand this is the Neocolor II page-

There's not a great deal of diffence is there? I think the Gelatos are actually slightly more vivid, but not a lot. To add further detail, I needed to add a good layer of fixitive, as pens and such simply skid across - or through! - the waxy colour. My 'fixatif de choix', as it very much were, is Chestnut 'satin acrylic lacquer' -

- it's just my preference. It has a good, clean finish and doesn't dissolve water-based/soluble media. A good spray of that and I could add text and detail using my Uni Ball gel pens....  Left Gelato side:

and right Neocolor II side-

"Life doesn't always offer up calm moments...

sometimes you need to close your eyes and make your own"

So that's that then. A quick and easy journal page using Faber Castell Gelatos and Caran D'Ache Neocolor II soluble wax pastels. They are very different mediums to work with but the result when adding water is a remarkable similarity in appearance.There's a better colour coverage with the Neocolor IIs thanks to their opacity, but visually, that's about it I think. I reckon the Neocolor IIs are generally more versatile and better value for money in the long run, but the Gelatos are excellent fun - I find I tend to grab them first when my arty muse is off on a wander. Quick, easy, blendable, soluble - top notch stuff!  If you have a few spare pennies or have a birthday coming up, I'd recommend that these products hit your wishlist - I think you'll enjoy them.

Ok- that's it for this post. I need to clear away all the stuff I photographed - I've made a mess again! - and pay the juggling Distraction-Bear his wages or he'll get grumpy and eat me. Has this been helpful? Let me know and say hi in the comments - it's AWESOME to hear from you! It's 1:30 am on Monday (ugh) here as I type this and head off to proof-read my ramblings and I'll be back in no time with journal-type stuff for you. May your day be fabulous, may the sun shine, your feet be warm and may something beautiful and wonderful bring an unexpected smile to your face! See you soon - big hugs from Shroo :) xxx

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My Grandparents and li'l baby me with stripey socks on asunny day at the park. My poor Grandmother looks juuuust a little uncomfortable perched up on that tree stump!

A Pheasant Day Out! -Challenge Response Journal Page

Iiiiiiiiiit's Friday!!

Another weekend peeking just around the corner AND the first day of December nearly here too!  I guess it's time to haul out those decorations and make our houses twinkly again!

Speaking of twinkly (awesome segue there), I had the awesome opportunity for a lovely day out with mum this week. What with her being poorly and me STILL trying to beat my agoraphobia it's not an everyday occurrence that we both get outside the house for long. We had a fabulous day at a local garden centre (which is ENORMOUS) looking at all the shiny decorations and festive displays. We had a yummy meal in their restaurant, and bought some homemade jam and treats from their farm shop. It was dark when we left, and the centre have decorated ALL the trees thereabouts with flickering lights - so pretty! Stupid me hadn't taken my camera - I will next time though!

The roads to the garden centre are surrounded by beautiful English countryside, which was blazing with the colours of autumn. Incredible shades of orange, yellow and red against a turquoise sky and bright greens of lasting leaves fluttering in the breeze. Driving along the lanes, it struck me just how lucky I am to be able to enjoy this view, these colours ... the brightness of the sun and the chill of the pre-winter winds and the variety of wildlife, out finding food to help them survive the worst of the winter to come, all in the company of my mum competely and epically awesome.

The challenge this week on Inspiration Avenue is to express 'gratitude' through art. It's hard sometimes, when life sends constant avalanches of lemons to remember how good lemonade really is... There's so much I'm grateful for - family, friends, my kitty cat, music, colour, art and life - it's hard to choose just one image to express it all. But traveling down those roads, surrounded by the colours and bounty of nature...well, that's a feeling that sums it all up for me, so I chose to represent the view as my answer to the challenge.

This time around I remembered to take some process pictures to show you - I hope you find them useful!

I wanted to draw a pheasant standing in bracken - an image that encapsulates the colours and the overall feel of this time of year in the place where I live. Because I wanted the colours to be extra bold, I selected my Derwent Inktense pencils for the task as they're so heavily pigmented with bright, bright inks that they really POP when water's added. I sketched the rough shapes of the pheasant and the surrounding bracken and added some colours roughly just to block the areas in nicely:

There's very little pencil used. Inktense are inCREDible - they're available as pencils or just bars of pigment, and both are exceptional. I added a few layers of colour, but didn't blend them as the water would do that for me.

Ta-dah!  You can see how, by just adding water the colours become incredibly bold and dramatic.  I used the pencil tips like a paint palette (just dabbing them with the brush to transfer colour) to add a little depth in areas and just alter colours here and there to achieve the strong image I had in mind.

Inktense colour sets fast once it dries so it's important to work quickly. It does, however, allow the artist to add colour in layers, which I like a lot. Now, to add some more colour detail, I broke out the Neocolor II solluble wax pastels. They combine BEAUTIFULLY with practically ANY medium and are gorgeous to use with Inktense. Again, I used them like a palette, transferring colour using my brush, rather than using the pastels directly on the paper. This allows for greater precision and also stops drawing lines from marking the paper. I also added some layers of bracken, working in light colours first, then incrementally darker - representations of the leaf shapes rather than detailed botanical illustration, because I want the pheasant to stand out more than the surroundings.

To add more colour and texture I used my Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze, both by painting it onto the green/blue areas around the bird (colours:Waterfall & Wicked), then by splattering it over the bracken surround (colours: Mellow Yellow & Orange Crush). I heat dried the glaze to make it bubble as I wanted to really build up a texture that would represent the rough look and feel of the foliage.

Once that was done I wanted to add some definition and detail with my gel pens. Because Neocolor II's are wax-based pastels, they're a little tough to draw over, so I added a layer of satin lacquer as a fixitive, which had the added bonus of making the colours slightly brighter. Also - it's handy if I mess up or change my mind as the pen can be wiped off easily with a baby wipe without affecting the image beneath. It's a personal preference, but I really like the feel of the page once the lacquer's added as well. Yummy.

I added detail first with a Uni Ball 0.38 gel pen, then a 1.0 white gel pen, then when I was done I highlighted the lumps and bumps in the glaze with Treasure Gold gilding wax, adding more at the edges of the page to reflect light as the sun had done when we'd driven down that country road.  I also added a couple of lines of poetry which I felt were ideal for the page. You can see the wonderful texture of the bubbles -

You can also see the BEAUTIFUL depth of colour that Inktense pencils and Neocolors can provide:

I'm really happy with the finished page - it will always remind me of a really lovely day out - I really enjoyed painting it too:

I'm linking this post to the challenge at Inspiration Avenue. The people there are both talented AND lovely - very welcoming and encouraging. Head on over and have a look at some of the amazing art that's linked to the challenges - you'll LOVE the blogs you find as a result, I promise!

As always - thank you so much for visiting! Please leave a comment if you would like to, and if there's anything you'd like me to blog about - techniques, products, inspirations...- just let me know.  Thank you to all the lovely people who send encouraging and supportive comments - you're all just completely gorgeous! Here's to a great weekend for all of us! Love and hugs - Shroo :) xxx

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