Derwent Inktense Blocks 72 Tin, Set of 72, 8mm Block, Soft Texture, Watersoluble, Ideal for Watercolor, Drawing, Coloring, Crafts and Painting on Paper and Fabric, Professional Quality (2301980)

As an Art Quilter I am always looking for new ways to make my quilts unique. I'd heard about Derwent Inktense Pencils and Inktense Blocks but when I saw the prices in the Art Store I passed them by. Luckily I am a Prime Member on Amazon and as I was looking for some supplies I needed I found this box of of the complete set of the Derwent Inktense Blocks for an unbelievably low price and bought them immediately. I am so glad I did and I am doubly glad I am smart enough to be an Amazon Prime member! The learning curve for these blocks is much easier than for the pencils (at least that's what I've heard). I watched some videos on YouTube, found a couple that pertained to quilting and that was all I needed to get me started. These blocks are amazing when used on silk. Usually coloring silk can be very iffy, depending on whether you use paint or dye. Nothing could be easier than coloring silk with these blocks. If you dye silk you have to steam it to set the dye, try setting it in a microwave, use a product that might or might not set it completely, or try something called batching. If you use textile paint you can't just paint it on the table top, the silk must be raised up on a frame using pins made especially for painting silk. Also, it has to be heat set, something that's hard to do on silk because the amount of heat needed to set the paint can be be too high for silk. Not so with these wonderful blocks. They are permanent once the fabric is dry and the colors are stunning on silk. They are great on cotton too, but on silk they are amazing! I am lucky enough to have a wonderful stock of silk that I hadn't gotten around to dyeing yet and now I don't ever have to bother with dyeing any of my silk again. I will use these blocks in the future. The makers of the blocks sell a grater that allows you to mix the colors with water but I found that device didn't get the particles small enough. So I followed the advice on one of the videos I saw and used what's used in a Pharmacy to grind drugs into powder. It's called a morter and pestal (and I know I've spelled it incorrectly) but however it's spelled it worked like a dream to get the bits of block extremely fine so they mix with the water without any little bits getting on the fabric. I found some small bottles with eyedroppers for tops and put the mixture into them and either used the eyedroppers or a small brush to put the color on the silk. So easy and such wonderful results. These products are made in the UK and some friends I have over there can't afford to buy them because they are very pricey. Once I use up all my blocks I will be in the same boat unless Amazon has another sale, but until then I am having such a wonderful time coloring my silk. However, with 72 colors to use up it will be a long time before I have to worry about restocking. Besides, since I am an experienced fabric dyer I know which colors to mix together to get the color I want so some of the colors I would normally never use will be mixed with another one to make something beautiful. Because I saved so much on this set of blocks I might even try the pencils. I just wish these had been invented ages ago when I was using dye to color my silks. At least I don't ever have to go through that agony again!

I do also love the Intense blocks. when wet your colors come out amazing.. I use it mostly on silk. Dries fast and you can heat set the iron and no steaming, so you can use right away.. and its permananet.. this set and the Derwent Instense Blocks are very good for traveling. I travel alot so I need something that I do not need to use color dyes with that have easy access to do on the plane or at my destination but still have the control to play or draw whenever the mood sends me. Highly recommend this product... When I got it from you all.. the box came in pieces but its ok, if you break some off you can make them into liquid dyes.. I like it better, it was i guess not prepared to be sent to us, well.. so like the pencils was. Never the less I used them anyways... There are so many ways you can use this product. As I said above I travel so these are replacements for my liquid dyes, but they will Never take the replacement of my liquid dyes. They work differently. With Intense blocks, when I use it solely with Silk Only, these dyes work well with blending.. once you put it down on silk its permanent you can not remove it, its done. You can blend other colors with them but thats about it.. if you want intense look to it do not add water to it.. but you MUST HEAT SET IT... this is where this heat set adheres to the fabric. you can use any fabric for this, I prefer Silk . Lighter to carry and I keep around 50 of them in my suitcase when I travel. I can work on the plane when I travel and go to anywheres with this product. unlike my liquid dyes its not the same, with liquid dyes you have to Heat steam them first then heat set with the iron, with this you just heat set it No steam. And you can eventually wear it, sell it and also wash it in cool bath of water, I used Only Distilled water to wash and lightly set iron on light heat. Nothing else. I noticed when using this product that on silk the products come out a bit stiff, but I guess its because I did not wash it afterwards. I wash mine with sythropol I get mine from Dharma Trading they have products there even the intense but you are not going to get it less than amazon. I know I tried. I also noticed that some of the products on amazon are a bit older so if your intense blocks are a bit white on top after you buy it, send them back they maybe very old and the warehouse got hot and the products are going bad. These blocks should be soft and not so runny... also do NOT keep them in heat, or too cold... Keep them in the containers take out pieces you need, I chose to take the ones that are pieces put them in little cups with lids you can get them from resturant supply places.. and the rest in a cool dry place in your house Never the garage too hot. Keep away from pets,kids and flames. Although non toxic but you never know. Then I would take the other pieces and blend with water in little cups the lighter you want it give it more water. I chose to make my drawing first, blend it with water... then I can also do this, take the silk products on a loom. or a frame, wet the entire silk, take your intense blocks with a small piece, these do have a tendecy to get on your hands, and then make your design while its still wet, you will see the colors blend... its a knock out.. then you can bleed the colors if you would like or not. but if you have anymore questions on this product Please do ask me I love the product, especially I can take it on a cruise ship with me to keep me relaxed I enjoy what I do and I do this for a living. I do sell my scarfs and other silk products. just ask for the prices. thank you enjoy!

I bought these specifically for use in my art journal, where I do a variety of mixed media projects for fun and relaxation. The blocks come in 12 different colors (from bottom to the top) - Sun Yellow, Tangerine, Poppy Red, Fuchsia, Deep Indigo, Sea Blue, Teal Green, Apple Green, Leaf Green, Baked Earth, Bark, and Ink Black. At the time of my purchase, these blocks were $13.09 (w/o shipping and handling), so ea. block cost about $1.09 if I did my math right. Long story short - I really, really love these blocks, and they have become a staple supply for my art journaling right alongside my acrylic paints and stencils. You don't have to lay down a lot of color to get intense results, but if you do they are very opaque and rich. They are quite versatile in use, too - you can use them like crayons and scribble on your page/canvas/etc... and then take a wet paintbrush or mister and apply water on them to help the color come out. You can take a wet paintbrush and take color off the block itself, take an old credit card, exacto knife, or painter's knife and scrap some of of the block off in a pile then add water, or you can also lay down a stencil and draw through them with the blocks, then use a small paintbrush to color in the resulting pattern. My favorite thing about these blocks is that they dry quickly, and once dry, are permanent. This is bad if you like going back and reactivating your paints with water, but I'm not a big fan of traditional watercolors, so these are perfect for me. I've found they work great being layered on the top or bottom of acrylic paints, and when mixed together blend nicely. They can also tint gesso and texture/modeling paste great, too, although the colors will lighten (obviously) if added to white. I also found them easy to clean from my paintbrushes, merely swishing them in water until no more color comes out seems to work just fine. In comparison/contrast with the pencil version of these blocks, they're more-or-less equal, one being in a pencil format, the other being in blocks. If you wanted to paint extremely small areas, the pencils have a slight advantage, but you could still use a small paintbrush and take color from the blocks and still get a similar effect. Another big plus for me is that you can buy the blocks individually ($1.59/block on DickBlicks) which will be helpful as I slowly start to collect all the colors. All in all, this is a fantastic product. Blocks came undamaged, and the shipping/delivery was fast and without issue.

Fabulous to work with and so much fun! There are tons of YouTube demos and ideas as well. I purchased them for dyeing small scraps of fabric for my fiber art pieces. I am delighted with the results. No more vats of tie dying liquid! A bit pricey but worth every penny.

I purchased this set of ink blocks because the smaller sets didn't have the colors I needed---red and purple. This set of 36 has plenty of colors, so I was satisfied in that regard. I'm an artist, but I didn't buy these ink blocks for painting. I actually bought them because I was told they were a suitable replacement for rayon lace dye. I recently ordered a set of dyes online, but instead of the pre-mixed dye kit I was led to believe I was purchasing, I received a set of ink blocks and a grater. Apparently, I was expected to create my own dyes! I was sorely vexed, especially because the small set of 12 ink blocks I received didn't have all the necessary colors. The next size up (24) didn't have the necessary colors, either. I had to order the more-expensive set of 36 ink blocks in order to get the colors I needed. (I'm teaching a class on how to dye lace, so it was important for me to have all the basic colors.) For the most part, I'm satisfied with these ink sticks. You get plenty of different colors, not just primary colors, but secondary and tertiary colors, and even some neutrals and flesh-tones. The only thing is, I can't vouch for how colorfast the ink is. Supposedly, once it dries and you heat-set it by pressing the lace with a warm iron, it's good to go, but I haven't tested that theory. Likewise, I don't know how well it holds up when you paint with it. The ink is a lot more watery than the dye I used previously, which means the colors are more washed out. In order to build up vibrant colors, you have to reapply the ink several times, allowing it to dry between each session. This means it's going to take hours, or even days to dye a multi-colored lace applique. Even with several applications, I never achieved a vibrant red, which was disappointing, since I'd bought the larger set of ink blocks specifically for the red ink stick, which wasn't available in the smaller sets.. The color it produced was faded, even after I applied several layers of dye. To get started, you're going to need Derwent's Grate 'n' Shake grater , which is sold separately. (I suppose you could use a small cheese grater or lemon zester, if you don't want to spend the money on the official grater. Just don't use it for food afterwards!) I also ordered a set of Derwent's rubber Grippers , so I wouldn't get my fingers covered with dye. To store the blended dyes, I bought some Plastic Dropper Bottles . And to transfer the dye to the dropper bottles, I ordered a package of Plastic Pipettes . These also worked well for adding water to the dye when mixing colors. (Previously, I used a regular drinking straw, which isn't very precise.) To create dye or ink, grate a small amount (1/8" to 1/4" of the stick, depending on how much dye you need) into a plastic container, then add warm water. Shake or stir thoroughly to dissolve the ink. Use a pipette to transfer the ink into a dropper bottle and stir in a little more water. When you're ready to use the ink, put several drops in a watercolor palette. Add whichever other inks you need to mix the color you're trying to achieve. (Tip: Adding a drop or two of a color's complementary will tone it down, making it into a more "realistic" color, as opposed to the ultra-bright, vibrant colors that you get straight out of the package. For example, if you have ten drops of bright yellow, adding one or two drops of purple will transform it into more of a subdued gold color.) Use a toothpick to stir the dye, then add a dropper full of water, so the palette cup is about 3/4 full. Here's another tip: Make sure you mix plenty of dye, because if you run out partway through your project, you won't be able to mix exactly the same color again! Use a damp paintbrush to apply the dye to your lace or fabric---or to your paper, if you're using it for painting. You'll need to stir the dye every few minutes as you work, because the heavier dye particles tend to settle at the bottom of the palette, meaning the top of the dye is watery, and once you reach the bottom, the color will be a lot more concentrated. The same thing happens with the dropper bottles, so if you store bottles of dye for later use, make sure you shake them well before using. I'm only giving these ink blocks four stars because I experienced some uneven coloration while working with them, especially when dyeing cotton lace. With the pre-mixed dyes I'd used previously, the dye spread throughout the lace, producing a smooth, even color tone. With the ink dyes, however, I had some splotching---areas where the color is noticeably darker or lighter. This drags the quality of the lace down several notches, so I'm deducting a star for that. Otherwise, they seem to work pretty well. I'm sure they would produce vibrant watercolor-like paintings, if you're more into painting than lace-dyeing. P.S.: I'm attaching three photos. One is of a blue and red floral applique, so you can see how hard it is to produce a true, vibrant red. The second is of a purple and cream applique, where the purple splotched quite badly. The third is of the uneven results I had when I tried to dye a piece of antique lace. It seems all the cotton lace I tried dyeing ended up with poor results, so if you want to attempt lace dyeing, I'd suggest sticking with rayon lace.

I really like that these behave a lot like watercolors and they dry permanent. No smearing when you go over them with another color or with glazes or water washes. A couple of the sticks had a hairline crack but it doesn't affect usability since I like to use these like I would use watercolor pan paints, dipping a wet brush onto the sticks, rather than using them as drawing sticks. But these can be used for drawing or for applying to large areas then wetting, but some of the drawing marks will remain. I prefer the more even color and smooth texture of applying them wet onto wet with a brush. Very versatile with lots of colors to use as-is or to blend into numerous new pigments. One thing I noticed is, to prevent oversaturation of pigment on my paper in one area leaving a darker spot that's almost impossible to remove or reduce, it's best to wet the area of the paper first, then apply inktense with a brush, or mix up the inktense in a palette ahead of time and apply in more dilute layers. Watercolors are much more forgiving as they are more easily lifted even when applied almost full strength to dry paper. Inktense are difficult to lift once dried, or even sometimes while wet. The pigments are very strong and staining, some moreso than others, and a little goes a long way. I expect these to last a long time. Plus each stick looks to be equivalent to 3 or 4 half pans worth of watercolor paint. From that standpoint, this set of 36 is a great value. When I ordered I was concerned about all the reviews about dented tins and broken sticks contaminated with other pigments, but, mine arrived in great condition, both tin and sticks. They must have improved packaging as my tin arrived undamaged, with the exception of a couple of the sticks having hairline cracks that you don't even notice until you try to lift them from the tray. The sticks are fragile, sort of like chalk would be. So was not surprised to see a couple of the sticks with cracks. Frankly I would have expected there to be many more cracked, but glad they weren't! I'm thinking of breaking off small chunks of some of my favorite stick colors and putting into empty 1/2 pans in a spare palette for portability, as the tin of 36 is quite large! Definitely not something you want to cart around with you.

I use this set every week and absolutely love it! The colors are vibrant, smooth, and blend beautifully with water for watercolor effects. The blocks are soft but sturdy, easy to use for both detailed work and broad coverage. I’ve tried them on paper and fabric, and they perform wonderfully on both. The tin keeps everything organized, and the 24-color range offers so much versatility for drawing, painting, and mixed media projects. Professional quality at a great price — highly recommend for any artist or crafter!

Excellant must have when working on a underpainting for intense color

Premetto che non sono un'artista ma faccio card. Cercavo un prodotto per fare sfondi e colorare le parti in rilievo delle card dopo il passaggio nell'embossing folder. PERFETTI! I colori che ho provato finora sono luminosi e coprenti, attenzione a prelevarne poco per volta perchè sono molto pigmentati. Consiglio di farsi una cartella colori fai da te. Ottimi anche per l'effetto goccia/schizzo. Un paio di pezzi sono arrivati rotti ma questo non ne pregiudica l'utilizzo.

I use derwent inktense blocks on fabric and loved them since they dry permanent all I had to do was heat set it and that's it ... planning on adding more to my collection ...I would like to mention that the packing was very poor and probably due to this 14 of the blocks were broken but I'm very happy with the product and the delivery and of course the price ....overall I'll say go for it ...its definitely worth your money I've posted some photos of the products I made using these blocks

la caja compacta es muy conveniente para transportarla. combina los beneficios de la tinta indeleble y las barras tradicionales de acuarela.

I attend an Art Group in the Hathersage area and as we all paint in different media and styles, it seemed a very good opportunity to take the Inktense Blocks with me. They caused great interest, so much so that a friend had a go with them too and as the blocks snapped in half easily, it didn't cause any problems sharing the Inktense Blocks. My friend painted a lovely cockerel and I had a great time painting a landscape. We were highly enthusiastic with them, and as I had also taken my set of Inktense Pencils with me I was able to mix the two together on my picture. My friend thoroughly enjoyed her day, especially as initially, she had been a bit stuck for ideas. She said she was definitely going to send off for a set too. We both liked the way they were so flexible in use, in that they could be used wet or dry, made very interesting marks, and seemed to work well on different surfaces.. Also, having the 36 Pack gave us a very good range of colour choice and would be much easier and less messier than taking watercolours on holiday. All in all a very good product and we can thoroughly recommend it.

I love the range of this product for safely layering colour washes without 'muddying' previous layers. You can achieve a luminous effect easily. The versatility of this product is that you can draw with the blocks and activate with water or you can use it as a 'watercolour' pan. The colours are vibrant and crisp or soft and dreamy according to use.