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When Do You Throw A Pen Away?
When do you throw a pen away? Evidently I don’t do it often enough! I love the way some disposable ink pens get a thin dry line as they run out of in, but lately it’s ridiculous. I need to put out some new pens!
I Test the Ultra-fine Tipped Pentel Artists Brush Sign Pen
This ultra-fine brush tipped pen from Pentel—I don’t know what it’s called…The barrel reads: “Brush Sign Pen Artist.” It’s one of their Sign Pens in that it has dye-based, fugitive, water-soluble ink, but unlike their other “sign pen” it doesn’t have a solid fiber tip—it has an ultra thin, ultra fine, brush with individual […]
I Test the COLOR Ink Tombow Fudensuke Pens
In November an email blast from Jet Pens mentioned Tombow Fudenosuke pens were available in COLORS!!!! I ordered a set of 10 (which includes a black—you can see the list of colors on my test page at the right. Click on the image and you can cycle through enlargements.) I’ve done several sketches […]
Fun with Watercolor: Sometimes It’s Best To Use as Little Water as Possible
To finish today’s sketch I used as little water as possible with my watercolors on a non-wet-media paper. This post shows you the ink sketch, the painted face, and then my decision to paint a background of color behind the face. What this post can’t really show you is how much fun I […]
The Piecemeal Portrait Tutorial That Wasn’t
To keep myself drawing while I’m working out what my post-cataract eyesight will be I’ve been videotaping my sketching sessions. I find that the resultant videos allow me to look again at my process and ask myself questions about the progress I’m making with my eyesight. It also takes the focus off of whether or […]
Some Dog Sketches on Canson 180
What better way to test a paper than with some dog sketches on Canson 180? In the sketches today I used a Sailor Fude Fountain pen (containing Platinum Carbon Black ink) and watercolor to make quick sketches from dogs on the Sktchy App. The scans show paper buckling caused by the wet […]
Working on Canson 180
Today I look at working with watercolor on a not-wet-media paper. In May I shared with you how I started working in a Canson 180 sketchbook given to me by a friend. Because recovery from cataract surgery has been protracted I’ve been rather cooped up, unable to drive, get to life drawing, etc. One […]
In Context: Looking at the Arteza Watercolor Book Part 5
On this page of my Arteza Watercolor Book I was testing fountain pens—using my Sailor Fude Fountain pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink. The pen moves well on the slightly textured paper. The ink settles quickly and doesn’t bleed when you add your washes. (I go in pretty quickly with my washes so I […]
In Context: Looking at the Arteza Watercolor Book Part 2
Key Points This is part two of my in context review of the Arteza Watercolor Book. (You can find them on Amazon and the link is in the first post in this series.) Use the navigation at the bottom of this post to go back to the first post in this series. There’s no text […]
Project Friday: Go Ahead, Paint on Lightweight Drawing Paper
If there is one thing I would like to communicate to blog readers it’s that you need to go ahead and paint on whatever paper you have at hand. Simply because in the process of making the paint stick to paper that isn’t meant to have wet media on it you learn something about the […]