Currently Browsing: art materials 91 articles
Super Granulating Watercolors from Schmincke
I’ve looked and looked and can’t find that I’ve posted HERE on RozWoundUp about these Schmincke super granulating watercolors. (I still haven’t reconstructed my digital database so I can’t search through it!) You will have seen a quick speed through of this demonstration on my Instagram. But I find the vertical format and the short, […]
The Kakimori Brass Pen Nib
This spring a friend told me about a new sort of dip pen: The Kakimori Brass Pen Nib. It’s shaped like a bullet. Channels all around the nib feed the ink to the point. (See the product photo at the left.) I thought it might be interesting to try it out because you can […]
In Context: More Watercolor Sketching on Drawing Paper
Rounding the week out with another short post to balance Monday’s. Here’s another brush pen and watercolor sketch in my last Hahnemühle Travel Journal. I was patient this time and there was no paper pilling. This is an actor from one of my favorite shows “Brokenwood Mysteries.” I sketch “Frodo” a lot. There is […]
In Context: Painting on Drawing Paper
After Monday’s long post, just a short post, with another painting on drawing paper. I just finished the journal with this quick sketch and now I get to start a new one! It’s sitting on the drawing table waiting. Below is a detail of the scan showing an area at the temple on the […]
Color Pencil Loves Watercolor
Color pencil loves watercolor (and gouache) because they dry to a surface that still allows the application of color pencil. And when you use the color pencil with light pressure on top of dry watercolor passages on a slightly textured paper you get a lovely broken color effect. (You can see that in the […]
Two Portraits, Two Different Pens
I am always amazed at the different line qualities different pens give the same hand. And how even the same pen dried out will render results so different from the first use of a non-refillable pen, or any tool that gets worn. In this page spread I warmed up with a sketch from one […]
Thinking about Ink Wash
Last week I started another one of these notebooks with printed ink lines. I always have a book like this near the TV so I can sketch if the mood takes me. This sketch is from spring 2021. It seems a lifetime ago. Back then Niji water brushes were what I was used to when […]
Derwent Shade and Tone Set
Manufacturers of art materials are always looking for new ways to bring existing products to more people, often in different forms. The Derwent Shade and Tone Set is a recent example of that. I’m not testing a lot of stuff right now (downsizing, blah, blah, blah; and a lot of paint I want to use […]
The Fun of a Bold Brush Line
A new pigment brush pen and a fresh page in a smooth-surfaced lined paper journal: what could be better than that? This is one of my sketches of actor Alun Armstrong. I did a project where I drew him (multiple times) every day in March last year. (#MarchIsSketchAlunArmstrongMonth; look it up, a couple other people […]
Review: Kuretake Ultra Fine Pigmented Water-based Brush Pen
I love brush pens and I’m always looking for a brush pen with ink that will withstand watercolor washes and not bleed. Additionally the brush pen has to be water-based ink because solvents (and even alcohol pens) give me headaches. I was excited to try the Kuretake Ultra Fine brush pen with pigmented, water-based ink. […]