Thursday 30 April 2015

Getting to Grips with Graphik

Hello and welcome to my 1st Inspiration Post for Stamps and Stencils. I'm Sharon and what a hard ask I've got, following the fantastic posts from Toni and Ruth.

I have recently discovered Derwent Graphik Pens, they are available in singles, small packs or the full collection of 20. They are the best value so I just had to have them...... They come in a handy storage box and have to be stored horizontally.


I started by drawing some lines to see how the ink flows, you can fill in with some colour they are very opaque!



You can also flood the nib, which is a good effect when you blow it to make a splatter.




Lines filled in splattered and then blending with Distress Inks over the top..


White card sprayed with Dylusions Ink Spray then black gesso applied with a piece of cut and dry through a stencil. I have written a few words to see how they reacted with the gesso. They were fine and I did not have to wait too long, it is a super nib which does not fray or split on rough surfaces.
It seems to be made of nylon.

After a bit of practice and playing I got out my new Journal the pages are craft paper. I started with covering the pages with Liquitex Gesso and then blending some Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics for the base of the background. 


When I had enough of the background covered I painted the page with Golden Fluid Matte Medium.
The reason for this was I discovered the pens will sometimes flood so if there was any accidents it was easy to remove the paint straight away....


I love to doodle and Zentangle, I find it very relaxing and it gives me time to think of my next project?
Here I quickly draw around the leaves, added some dots and lines the pens really cover over the surface well and don't get clogged up.


More doodling


Just a few of my favourite products


The completed page with a quote from a Unity Stamp by Donna Downy
"Enjoy Explore Believe"
Could not have said it better myself.


The quote is stamped using Archival Ink on a piece of ATC size watercolour paper  which is blended with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.


Extended the leaves onto the card at the top.


By the way I do have more than 1 stencil, this just happens to be my favourite at the moment.


I tried the pens over a variety of paints, pastes gesso even Panpastel with no problems at all. I can see these are going to be my favourite Journaling pens, I would just be aware of flooding the nibs but you can see it start, usually with a bubble. Hope this does not put you off trying them out. 
Going on holiday these would be great to add to your travelling kit and they will not take up too much space.



Hope I have not bored you too much, thank you for joining us at Stamps and Stencils, don't forget to press the follow us button it would be great to get to 100 followers in the 1st month.

Sharon xx




10 comments:

  1. Not bored at all, what a fab post Sharon, love your doodling. I have been resisting so far but they are moving up my list of must haves! Ruth xx

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  2. Fantastic Sharon! Love the tiles you've made and your journal page is fabulous! Like Ruth these pens have just moved up my list, possibly to the top! Sue C x

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  3. I have all these wonderful pens too Sharon including the black and sepia ones. I do find that they flood but they are not too bad. I love to use them on a variety of surfaces, they really are so fantastic and they produce the most wonderful splats! These pens will even write on modelling paste and i love them for adding accents of colour, no need to get our your paints.

    Love your examples of doodling and more, you have given them a great workout and i love your results :-) xxx

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  4. Brilliant inspiration Sharon!! Gorgeous tile and love that journal page. I don't have any of these pens either. . . . . . ! Nothing boring at all! Julia x

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  5. I wasn't the least bit bored, this is a wonderful review of those pens and it is great to see so many samples - I love your doodling too! Something else to add to my wish list I think... Anne xx

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  6. Not bored either, a super tutorial, love the fantastic journal page as well.
    Yvonne xx

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  7. Oooooooo! Fabulous work Sharon, very informative, I haven't got any of these pens but they look really versatile being able to use them on all those different surfaces. What a difference your lovely doodling makes on top of those leaves and flower shapes, makes it look like they've been embroidered. Love that effect! Toni xx

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  8. Thanks so much for trying these out for us! I love how versatile the pens are and you showed that so well, my only stopping point is that you say sometimes they flood- this would bum me out. :(
    SO glad you shared-great Post!

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    1. Maybe there's a trick to avoid the flooding, I've not had the pens long enough yet to find out how! So if I want to avoid making a mess I painted it first with matt medium and then any mistakes can be wiped away.
      And thank you for your kind comment..
      Sharon xx

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  9. Fantastic inspiration, doodles on the kraft page (very beautiful!!) and tutorial on these Derwent pens, thank you very much Sharon! Coco x

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