WOYWW #384: Derwent XL, a mini journal and two pages

Hello again on this somewhat overcast autumn morning. Didn't we have gorgeous sunshine yesterday? That's the kind of sunshine I can appreciate. We caved in and turned the central heating on, after all three of us came down with colds last week. I'm all cushed up in front of the computer (my spell checker tells me "cushed up" is not a valid word, but it darn well should be, as in 'feeling cushy')! So here I am, taking part in this week's WOYWW blog hop showing you my latest projects and purchases.

As you can see, my desk is staged as I had to clear it for last night's meal. Believe me, it didn't look this tidy just a few days ago! I'm glad to see some of the paint stains are coming back! Once we move (who knows when?) this is going to be my art table, so I'm not worried about messing it up.

You can see my Wanderlust journal in the top left corner. Underneath is a mini journal I made out of a cheap notebook. Next to that are my new Derwent XL charcoal and graphite blocks, which I just couldn't resist! I'll show you all these items a bit closer.

I saw a video of these Derwent XL blocks and just had to have them! They're both watersoluble and you can even  mix the charcoal with the graphite. I made this page playing with them (the pink comes from an inktense pencil, as all the colours are more earth toned in these two sets). 

I made another page in this journal for the Wanderlust October challenge with the theme "something I want to achieve by the end of the year". I'm not going to disclose the exact terms of the challenge as it might ruin it for others, but suffice to say, there's a clever twist in the conditions, which I didn't see coming!

The last project for today is this mini journal I made from one of those notebooks I showed you last week. I think it was Shaz (Silverwolf) who asked me how I use these cheap notebooks for art journalling. I remove half the pages and stick two and two of the remaining pages together with gel medium to make them sturdier. You can then gesso the pages or paint on them directly. I'm not bothered by the lines as they give me extra texture. I ended up with 25 pages for this journal. You can decorate the cover any way you like. Here's how mine turned out:

If anyone's still in doubt about the meaning of the phrase 'cushed up', here's a visual representation:

That's it for today!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

The sun is peeking through the clouds as I type this -

perhaps I can put the laundry out, after all.

edit: I'm #22 three weeks running!

Derwent Watersoluble Metallic Pencils X 12

I've just bought a box of 12 Derwent metallic pencils. I couldn't find much information about these on the Internet, so I thought I'd write a review. These exact same pencils are also available in packs of 6, one pack containing the traditional metallic range (silver, pewter, gold, antique gold, copper and bronze) and the other the coloured ones (yellow, red, purple, pink, green and blue).

If you check the ratings on the traditional range on Amazon, you'll see that they are very poor and I understand why. First of all, these pencils are not really metallic. They may come in 'metallic' colours, but they lack the sheen of true metallic pencils. Secondly, four of the colours (gold, antique gold, copper and bronze) are virtually identical. Some of these pencils are also quite hard and it takes considerable effort to transfer them onto the paper, and once water is applied there's not much pigment left behind.

The saving grace for the larger set are the six coloured variants, though these are not very metallic either (if at all, to be honest). However, they are strongly pigmented and dissolve well with water, retaining the vivid hues. Compared to the other six pencils, they are almost like a completely different product. Indeed, they more than a little remind me of Derwent's Inktense pencils. Another thing I like about the 12-set Derwent metallic pencils is the tin. It looks really nice and shiny and definitely has the wow factor for me.

Take a look at the results of my experiments below. The first column shows the pencils applied and burnished. This gives them a bit more metallic sheen, but not much. The second column shows how the pencils dissolve when water is added (dark wash). The third column shows the amount of pigment picked up by the brush in the second column (light wash).

UPDATE: 26 July 2014>>>>> Having obtained some black paper today, I've had a chance to test these pencils on a dark background as well. I must say, they perform much better and look more metallic, especially the traditional set. However, they lose most of their shine and strength when water is applied, so I would recommend using them dry. I've added a photo showing the Derwent metallic pencils on a dark background below. They would be really good for drawing peacock feathers! So, I'm glad to report that I haven't wasted my money after all.