Not so Wordless Wednesday, Art change People and People change the World....Create Every Day....raw materials & sketchbooks
 |
| Jan 1st Watercolor and ink in a Moleskine Art Plus Watercolor Album |
A note about Moleskines. I like them, the paper is Timex. In other words, the paper will take a beating and still flatten out. I can work very wet and not bat an eye. The downside is that I don't always want to paint in a landscape format and I'm not sure I like the color of the paper. It's too warm for me. The paper also isn't a smooth, more like cold press, when I want to use fountain pens. Sometimes the tip will catch and spray ink.
It was my first choice to take sketching on the beach. It worked perfectly with my setup. Sketching and/or painting on Galveston's shore can be a PITA with all the wind coming off the Gulf. The smaller size of 5x8.25 will fit in my camera backpack with a mini sketch kit.
 |
| Jan 2nd Testing out Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pens Filled with Koh-I-Noor Universal Rapidograph Waterproof Ink In a Fabriano Venezia Art Book.
Just a little note about Fabriano Venezia Art Books. They are my favorite sketchbook of all time but...they have limitations. They don't take very wet media well and the paper is very absorbent. Some inks will feather and bleed though. For me, that's OK because I love the size...the smoothness of the paper is fabulous for ink washes and drawing....the number of pages is 48. When I mean 48 pages, I mean that's 48 2-page spreads or I can use 96 1-pagers. Since I do a lot of quick ink drawings with fountain pens, it's great for me.
|
 |
| Jan 3rd Da Vinci watercolor testing with ink in a Fabriano Venezia Art Book.
A little note about Da Vinci watercolor. I normally use either Goldens QoR watercolor or Daniel Smith. I branched out with Da Vinci after getting a small sample from the company and reading about the paint on Jane Blundell's blog. If you have never gone to Jane's blog, go. Her color testing and mixing sure opened my eyes. It's really worth a read.
|
 |
| Jan 4th Ink and watercolor on kraft paper envelopes. I don't remember where I got the envelopes, I found them in my studio while I was looking for something else. The best white inks that I've found is the following: I changed out the nib to Brause 361 Steno Blue Pumpkin Calligraphy Pen Nib. It's cheap and works the best for my style of sketching and it's a smooth glide with FW inks. It's a winning pair for me. Uni-ball Signo Broad UM-153 Gel Pen is one that I buy by the box. It's my to go to pen in my sketch kit and on my desk. It's a white-white ink that doesn't skip and has a bold ink flow. I prefer to use a nib pen but those are a PITA to take out of the studio. |
 |
| Jan 5th Testing out an idea with a palette knife and watercolor.
Working with a palette knife is very kewl but after trying it in a sketchbook, I would suggest a loose piece of watercolor paper. At least until you get the hang of it. It's messy and hard to manage in a sketchbook, at least it was for me. If you want to use a palette knife, it works better if you use tubed paint. I used to use a butcher tray until I found some white porcelain sushi plates. You can use anything flat, I just like these because they are an easy clean up and in a size that works for me. The butcher tray that I had was humped in the middle and I never did get the hang of working with it.
|
 |
| Jan 6th Ink and watercolor on kraft paper envelopes. Above has the info about the raw materials.
I'm going to check out my studio to see if it's warm enough to paint today. If not, I'll start another project. I've been wanting to try my hand out with some applique & embroidery. This is the longest I've had a home studio. Here locally I've had studios in Stutz, Art Sanctuary, and the Murphy. There's pros and cons to a home studio, I prefer to be outside and paint but that also has limitations as well. There's nothing perfect and if one waits for the 'perfect' to happen, nothing will ever happen. If you don't think you have the time to create, either make the time or don't. Creativity and art are a personal choice in life. Either it's part of you or it's not. If you do make the time, it changes how you see the world. The way that I see it is that art changes people and people change the world.
Laters....
~Moon
|