Inktense on Mt Rushmore

Last year I had an image printed on cotton of Mt Rushmore.  ( I took the photo while on a road trip with my girlfriends to celebrate our 55th birthdays. ) I wasn't happy with the image, it was way too dull. 

I found the image the other day and decided to liven it up with my Inktense pencils. I haven't used my Inktense mediums much yet, so it was all play and see!!

Inktense is a dry form of ink that comes in a pencil or a block. I have both, but decided to focus on the pencils. The inks go on dry but must be activated by wwtness to penetrate the fibres of the fabric. I decided to add the wetness, (aloe Vera gel is thicker and provides less opportunity for the ink to bleed and water which allows the inks to run more) afterwards. 

I layered on dry ink colours. I have a kit of 72 colours and I used most of them. (Big mistake!). Once I had the colours on I activated them by painting on Aloe Vera gel. That seemed rather painstaking, so then I enlisted the help of a small spray bottle and wet the Inktense medium that way. 

I controlled the water and consequent bleeding of the ink by using paper towel. (That worked.)

The results. Too muddy because I used too many colours. Too dark, need less ink to allow the original printed image to shine through. 

Good news. I have two more panels of the Mt Rushmore printed fabric to play on!!