Over the years, I have learned that keeping the words working means doing stuff that makes the muse happy. Last year I didn’t get to knit much at all due to the vertigo and hurting my wrist (skillz, I have them), so the muse has been missing her colour fix. My muse likes colours, I don’t know why. Lately, it seems, that the muse wants paper and ink and colour. I’m doing a watercolour class in March and an art journalling class and in May, some calligraphy (I can now hear all my friends who have to read my handwriting falling to the ground and laughing hysterically as my penmanship is not the most comprehensible in the world these days). I’ve been reaching for notebooks and fountain pens and discovered a new object of lust aka the Derwent pencil 120 box. When I was a kid they came in boxes of 72 which I always wanted but only managed to acquire the 36 tin and some individual ones.

But while I’m saving up for the 120 box (it WILL be mine), I discovered that Derwent also make pastel pencils now and, something called Inktense pencils which are a version of a watercolour pencil, only ink, so it’s permanent when dry. I was wandering past my local art store the other weekend and they were having a spend $40 get $40 off, so I scored a set of the Inktense for 1/2 price (yippeee) and some pastel pencils as well.

Tonight, I was thought I should probably swatch the Inktense pencils. Turns out my house is lacking in paint brushes (I would’ve sworn I had some but apparently not). I did find one very dodgy synthetic bristly odd brush, so that and diving into my stash of Moleskine’s to unearth a teeny watercolour notebook, meant I could swatch. And man, they are beeyoootiful. Lovely intense colours, that dry fast and that you can layer other things over once they’re dry (unlike watercolour which reactivates with more liquid being applied). I look forward to further experimentation.

Here are the swatches (Pencil at the top, then what happens when water is applied…which would probably be better with a decent brush).

For contrast, here are some swatches of my watercolour pencils. I do not know what brand they are, I bought them ages ago and don’t have the box anymore and the powers of Google fu do not reveal any more when I type in the info on the pencil (there’s a pic at the end in case anyone is a watercolour pencil identification guru).

Much less intense but still pretty. So writer friends, any weird demands from the muse. And non-writers, what are the hobbies that make you happy?