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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 […]
“Revamped” Magnani Portofino Watercolor Paper Part 2
Today here’s another portrait I painted on a piece of Magnani Portofino Watercolor paper. I’m not one to give up a fight easily. With so many quality art paper mills being bought up by non-paper making conglomerates who evidently don’t understand what watercolor artists want to do with their papers, I have to push […]
Looking at the “Revamped” Magnani Portofino Watercolor Paper
This week I’m going to be showing examples of work done on a new block of Magnani’s Portofino, a 100 percent cotton, 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper. In the downsizing I came across a block of this paper when emptying my flat file. I’ve had blocks of this paper that I’ve worked from […]
Getting Some Sketching Practice In
The other day I was writing about a friend alerting me to the fact that Amazon Prime is now carrying some of the seasons of “Portrait Artist of the Year.” I have loved this show from the moment I heard about it from one of my English friends. Here are a couple sketches I made […]
Testing the Twone Sketchbook with Kraft Cardstock Covers
Do I actively seek out the most obscure commercially bound books containing non-art paper to test? No, it simply seems like that sometimes. I grew up with a small weekly allowance paid after the completion of standard house and family chores. That allowance had to stretch from candy to art materials. Let’s just say I […]
Testing Langton-Prestige Watercolor Paper
I have just started testing Daler-Rowney’s Langton-Prestige Cold Press Watercolor paper. In the above video you can see my first experiments with it and my first thoughts. If the video doesn’t play you can view it on Vimeo at this link. Normally in my demonstration videos I include any photo reference or still life […]
Television Recommendation—Dead Still
I’ve been meaning to recommend “Dead Still” for over a year. This show popped up on Acorn. It’s about a postmortem photographer working in the late 19th century in Ireland. There are some very interesting characters, a mystery about the man’s past which runs through the whole season, and incredible set decoration, wardrobe, and hairstyles. […]
Review: New Toned Watercolor Paper Sketchbooks From Hahnemühle
Spoiler Alert, I really enjoyed working on this paper. If that’s all you need to know I understand that Wet Paint has received a shipment. Contact them to purchase a book. (I’m going to go buy my copies at curbside tomorrow! Call them at 651-698-6431 and they’ll explain all that to you.) In the video […]
Review: Clairefontaine Watercolor Sketchbook
Background on the Testing of This Sketchbook Earlier this year a Clairfontaine representative wrote and asked if I would like to test one of their new watercolor sketchbooks. Typically I buy all materials that I test and review on my website. This time, because I use many Clairfontaine notebooks and love them all I […]
In Context: Looking at the Arteza Watercolor Book Part 8
Again I didn’t write anything on this journal page, so it’s a bit weird for “In Context” but it’s one more in my series of mini review comments on the Arteza Watercolor Book. What I enjoyed on this spread was the manner in which I could get some delicate wash techniques. I was using a […]