Open stock Inktense

So the other week I wrote a long post on Instagram on how I discovered that I could have gotten away with getting a much smaller set of Polychromos and never missed a fair few of my 60 set. The post got a much better reception than I had anticipated, it seems I'm not the only one who doesn't think it necessary to go and get the full set of every art supply on the market. I'm not judging, honestly, if it gives you joy and you can afford it, then way to go! I love seeing poeple's haul posts! But personally I take a more practical - and tight-budgeted - approach to colouring supply purchases and look at what I actually need and will use.

Having written that post got me thinking about my next purchase. Ever since discovering Peta Hewitt's tutorials I'd wanted to use my Inktense pencils much more, but I really felt the 24 was too small. I missed some nice greens and rich yellows, among other shades. At first I was glancing at the full 72 set but upon closer inspection I realized that it, too, containted plenty of colours I couldn't see myself using, and/or shades that were very close to each other. So I started looking around the open stock pencils on offer and in the end I purchased 18 additional pencils to my 24 set. So now I have 40 colours plus the black and the outliner. And I couldn't be happier! I got exactly the colours I want the most and don't have to pay for any I won't use. I chose some beautiful cool teals, warm yellows, warm greens and rich neutrals - don't you just adore the Red Oxide and the Madder Brown especially?

Here's a swatch of my current collection.The colours are quite accurately photographed, the paper is really this cool hue drawing paper.

I decided to store the pencils tip down in a round container. At the bottom I put some sheets of paper towel so the tips will stay safe when I put them back. This way i can conveniently see both the colour coded ends and the names - a necessity since Derwent doesn't bother colour coating the entire pencil. 

Another change I made was go through my Polychromos, pick out the ones I really didn't like and put the rest in a beautiful glass container that I decorated with découpage paper and a silk ribbon. I ended up with 40-something pencils which sort of pushes the boundries of the container but I make it work because it looks so much prettier than the big ol' tin! The pencils left inside the tin I'm using for a #rarelyusedchallenge where I colour a page using those very pencils I usually avoid! If you want to challenge yourself using colours you're usually not comfortable with, go ahead and use the #rarelyusedchallenge on Instagram to display the result! The contributions are starting to come in, I will also post mine as soon as I finish at least some of the 20-ish WIPs I have going at the moment. There are no prizes or anything, it's not a contest, just a thing to try if you need a little extra challenge in your colouring!

A place to belong

Since I took up colouring I have learned about the therapeutic benefits of this lovely hobby. I myself don't have any "issues", at least not any diagnosed ones although there is something I probably should see someone about - but just to handle the day to day stress, colouring is amazing. But equally amazing is the colouring community! I have seen many forums, facebook grups et cetera but nowhere do I experience such an encouraging and loving atmosphere as in the two colouring groups that I recently joined. People are really supportive and caring towards each other and for a shy introvert such as myself to be so welcomed and reassured, it really lifts my spirit several times a day and restores faith in humanity. 

Shortly after I took up colouring I joined a Swedish group. There I had quite different experiences. (I don't think it has to do with ethnicity or nationality, it's more the culture that develops in a certain group, much depending on the direction the admins steer it to) There was hardly a week or even day without some sort of drama. Often it would be someone who got upset about other people's purchases and questioned why hauls of books/supplies were even posted in the group, claiming it was offensive to all those who at that time couldn't afford to purchase those items. But people could also be offended if someone was thought to be too "skilled" or artistic. Often there would be drama around a person complaining that their work wasn't good enough for the group and the "talented" members got too many likes. In the end the admins made the decision to ban the posting of purchases/items in again. I left the group before a ban on too pretty colouring was introduced ;) no but seriously, it just seemed that way too many people found a way to turn this relaxing and therapeutic hobby into just another source of frustration and anxiety. That felt completely wrong! 

I find both hauls and majestic images very inspiring even if I cannot afford everything and definitely am not as talented as some people out there. But the thing I love most about belonging to these Facebook communities is to see people get so much joy and relaxation from their hobby!

Major haul of books and pencils!