SketchBox #9 - Intense with Inktense

The February SketchBox is here and this time the feature item is Derwent's Inktense.

As usual, I'm always happy to get any art supply that involves water media and, despite the fact that I have the full set of Inktense Pencils and Inktense Blocks, I still appreciate getting more!

So, in this month's box we have:

  • Derwent Inktense Pencils - 12 pack
  • Ecoline Liquid Watercolour Brush Pen (Burnt Sienna)
  • Sakura Pigma Brush Pen in Black
  • Prismacolor Premier Brush Pen (Brown)
  • Strathmore Toned Mixed Media Pad (5 tan, 5 gray sheets)
First, I'm a huge fan of the Inktense line and so I already knew this part of the box is going to be cool. Now, because I already have the 72 pencil set, I didn't open this one, I just used colours from my larger set that were included in this set for my sketch below.

The Ecoline watercolour brush is from Royal Talens. I don't have any of their watercolours, but reviews are generally positive for their professional and student grade options. They don't really say on the website, but given that they recommend portfolio storage of any art created with these brush markers, I'm inclined to think they're student grade.

The Sakura Pigma brush pens are really neat, but this one actually arrived in my box with the lid off and it looked like it was dead. However, a night with the cap on seems to have revived it! So, not sure how long it will last, but it came back to life and so I'm happy about that.

The Prismacolor pen is good, I have 3 others from a previous box, so the collection is kind of growing.

Finally, the Strathmore mixed media pad was basically little post card sized sheets of their 400 series (which is their best) of sturdy paper. Unlike normal watercolour paper, this is not cotton-based, but it has a nice texture that I found held up to small amounts of water quite nicely. I didn't try a big wash or anything, I don't see it doing well there, but for simple sketching with tools like the ones that came this month, it seems very well suited.

So, as mentioned, a little sketch with the supplies from the box: