Day: January 14, 2018

Stuck in a waiting room yesterday for a while, but I thought to grab a pad of watercolor paper that happened to be in my car. I wish I’d had my sketchbook instead because I really like the way this turned out. It’s a tiny spot on a large page so I’ll add more to it.

(I use this uni-ball deluxe MICRO rollerball pen, with a .5 tip, to draw with (because Peter Sheeler recommended them in some of his videos.) I had my doubts at first because I thought I needed variable tip sizes but I love it. I keep one of these in my purse for everyday writing, AND for unexpected sketching opportunities. It writes smoothly and is waterproof so I can add paint if I want to. Prices fluctuate on Amazon, so watch for a deal.)

[I am in the Amazon Associate program, so get a little store credit if you purchase through an Amazon link I add… but I always check other places for better prices, too, and will add those as well if I find them.  I love using Amazon (and also use Honey there, too, which finds me the lowest price available!) and purchase often through them, but I check other sites as well to see how prices compare.]

If you find this exact pen at a great price somewhere, please let us know in the comments! Right now they are about $3 a piece, which is pretty good, as far as I’ve seen.

I ordered 6 individual half pans, just to see how I like the WN watercolors (I don’t like using the wn cotman’s as well as some of my other paints, but they are student grade, so it isn’t a fair comparison) I tried the “jay lee” pink flower again from the youtube tutorial I showed in my last entry.

 

I purchased Quinacridone magenta, permanent alizarin crimson, transparent yellow, winsor blue green shade, winsor blue red shade, and burnt sienna. After a swatch page and this flower I can say I like them very well, so far.

I felt like the wn paints lifted more completely and worked (maybe?) with more transparency than the daniel smith or qor paints. But I’m wondering if I would have noticed that myself if I hadn’t read it somewhere?? I’ll have to watch that over time. I should be painting a lot more.

The left image is ds paints, the right is wn paints.

The more I’m painting, the more I lean toward ds as my favorite brand. The qor I enjoy in just a few particular instances when I’m not using much water with them. The wn paints are rather lovely, I’ll try them more over time. And honestly… I’m learning that all the professional grade paints might be awfully similar, for an average part-time hobbyist anyway.