A bit of a change from the usual Dylusion entry for Art Journal Journey and the challenge set by Mia which is Butterflies. This is a stamp from PaperArtsy, designed by my friend Tracy Scott. Tracy is a very talented artist whom I first met when I attended one of her workshops at Dyan's shop, Art from the Heart.
The background was an old one on this page, done many moons ago when I was trying to improve my brayering technique. I did not know what to use on this background and so I set to with these two sets of stamps from PaperArtsy.
I used my watercolour pencils (Inktense) to colour the images sticking to blues and greens. with orange, the complimentary colour to blue, as contrast. Inktense pencils are made by Derwent which originated in Keswick in the Lake District. The first pencil factory opened in 1832 in Keswick. The second and current factory was started in the 1920's and completed in the 1950's. It closed in 2007 when the owners moved it 30 miles away to Workington.
- Graphite was first discovered in the Borrowdale Valley in the mid 1500's.
- Keswick first recorded entry making pencils by Banks, Foster & Co
- The Cumberland Pencil Company was established in 1916
- The Derwent brand was established in 1938, named after Derwent Water, a lake on the edge of Keswick where the factory was founded.
Most of us understand the grading of pencils - B being 'Black' and H 'Hard', with HB being between the two - but did you know there are 9 grades each way - 1-9 B and 1-9 HB? And did you know that the casing of the pencils made by Derwent are from Californian Cedars.
The information regarding Derwent Pencils is most interesting and you can read more about them at
https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/the-uks-oldest-only-pencil-factory-demand-quality-colour-255906
Whilst I am writing this post I am actually sitting about 30 miles south of Keswick which houses the Derwent pencil Museum - a lovely place to visit. Here is my Journal page:
