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A vibrant watercolor triad

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DS Phthalo green (PG7)

DS Quinacridone lilac (PR122)

QoR Green Gold (PY129) (this should be DS rich green gold, but I don’t have that)

Even my trash is pretty with this bright triad of colors:

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I mentioned this group of colors in a previous post, and am still astounded by it. None of these are on my “every day” palette (or, any of my palettes) But I will be playing around with them a bit more, and seeing if I come up with other groups I love.  I’ve included the pigment numbers, because you don’t have to use these brands. You may have this triad in your arsenal already!

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Look at these colors!!!!

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Does this bright vivid palette amaze you, like it does me? Let us know in the comments. Do you have another triad you love, that you’d like me to try out?

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Thursday 2/7/19 Pentel Pigment ink brush pen

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I love the pentel pocket brush pen SO MUCH, but “meow meow kapow” on youtube tested this pen and liked it a little better than the pocket pen, so I’m going to try it out. Both are real brush pens, with waterproof ink. I think this one is disposable, and the pocket pen has cartridges. This one is longer, too (if length matters as far as travel or storage)

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I love drawing my supplies SO MUCH. I wonder how weird that is? Like, scale of one to ten. Not THAT weird, right? Like maybe just a 2 or 3? Let me know what you like to draw. (Or if you have tried either of these pens… is there a waterproof brush pen you like?)

I used davinci watercolors, but mixed a little white gouache in for the gray.

Pentel Pigment Ink Brush Pen, extra fine, on Amazon here $6.50 right now… I am an Amazon Associate, and a Prime member, and I do most of my shopping on Amazon… I do get a few cents back if you order through a link here, but you still pay the same price… I always suggest you check around (but usually I find my best prices on Amazon). I will always tell you if I’ve found something less expensive elsewhere!

Meow meow kapow’s brush pen comparison (there are two parts)

Tuesday 2/5/19 mini Pentel water brush

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Yes! Finally some water brushes I can use. Sort of. Well, not really… I still have a LOT of trouble controlling the flow of water. Give me a sable brush ANY day.

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But I recognize that water brushes can be extremely convenient when you don’t want to use cups of water, for example in an airplane, a deli, on location really anywhere. Or even in your own studio. Sometimes it is just simpler not to use a cup of water. Honestly… sometimes I am too darn lazy to go find clean water. A filled water brush makes me happy then. I follow several artists on youtube who swear by them. These Pentel brushes are easier to use than some I’ve tried in the past. Or really, maybe they just seem easier to me because “Meow Meow Kapow” on youtube told me they were.  It’s hard to be sure. But I do like them and am having fun playing.  I’ll see if I can get the hang of them over the next few days.

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I used only the mini brush today, but I got a set of 4, with three larger brushes in a fine, medium, and large tip. The fine looks particularly intriguing to me.

Here is the set of 4 pentel water brushes on Amazon, currently $14.99, and here is the single mini brush,  for $3.38, if you just want the tiniest one. It is 5 inches long, and does NOT get smaller, the way it is, although I know one person who cut the lid to make it fit into her travel set. It is the second smallest water brush I have. (My smallest is 3 1/2 inches long, found here on Amazon in a set with a cute little extra water reservoir… it works pretty well, too, as far as my limited experience with water brushes tells me, although isn’t as fine a tip) If you like water brushes you might like these, but the jury is still out as far as I’m concerned. I’m going to try them and I’ll let you know what I think in a future blog if I end up loving them.
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Friday 2/1/19 Urban Sketching: The Blue Star Diner

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I met a couple members of the Hampton Roads Urban Sketchers in the parking lot of The Blue Diner, in Newport News, Virginia. The diner’s claim to (historic) fame is that it is one of the last remaining diners built in a factory. (?) Apparently, also, it was moved from Woodstock to Newport News in 1963.

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I know my husband’s family has many fond memories of eating there decades ago, with their grandparents. (They lived just behind it, in historic Hilton Village.) In July of 2015, the city decided to demolish the diner, but then plans were brought forward to renovate the kitchen, and that renovation was supposed to take place in 2017. There were lights on inside the building while we were there, but the place definitely feels deserted, and looks run down… the no trespassing and no parking signs completed the feeling. It’s really a piece of Hilton Village, a place I love, and I hope it does get renovated and opened again soon. If it does, you’ll find me there!

 

I’m the worst at seeing what to leave out, and it shows here.

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The sign was incredible and I wanted to include it even if it was in a different place on the page. If they ever do reopen, I hope they fix the sign but don’t change it.

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I used EEM paints, for the most part, with one Daniel Smith exception, in my Moleskine watercolor journal. (not my favorite paper, although the book is very well made… don’t get one.) I also had a chance to use my Etchr Slate Mini art travel bag. It works like an easel for field sketching, as well as holding the supplies. If you haven’t taken a look, do check them out! It isn’t a cheap bag, but is a really nice tool.

(We went to Indulge Bakery in Hilton Village for lunch… the cake wasn’t lunch. Exactly. But yummy, after the chicken salad croissant, which was also yummy. I haven’t finished this page, but thought I’d better include it now anyway.)

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Thursday 1/31/19: EEM watercolor

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I know technically today is Friday… I’m just a day behind posting. This is Thursday’s journal page. No, this does not have ANYTHING to do with my day. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to paint, but then I thought… I’ll just play!

I used EEM handmade watercolors (Eventually, Everything Mixes)… go check out her site! You’ll have to watch for watercolors for sale, and grab them quickly when you find new colors. I really like them. They rewet easily, have little (to no?) color shift… and they smell nice!

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Monday 1/28/19: sketchbox!

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My Sketchbox mail contained some supplies completely foreign to me: oil pastels. And at first glance the color selection kind of stymied me.

For some reason, it’s hard for me to try DIFFERENT media supplies. Ridiculous, I know.

My fears:

-I’ll stink

-they’ll be too messy for me (I get very messy with little effort)

-I’ll be too stupid to figure them out

I don’t think any of these are valid. I may stink, who cares, if I enjoy it??? Plenty of famous artists stink and don’t care. 😉 Turns out these are not at all messy, at least not in the small quantity I used. And indeed I am already figuring them out, so Yay, Me!

First I just colored a swatch page. Then I just played with them on a second page:

Not impressive, I know. But I did learn some things about their properties while doing this small sketch.

So I tried again:

Better, right? I can see improvement! I’ll youtube some ideas, and see where I can get.

So, I think I might be an oil pastel fan!

Saturday 1/26/19 Omar’s Carriage House

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I had to finish up some loose ends with work today, and henna’d my hair (so now I’m bright orange. 🙂 Then we took my youngest son out to a really nice restaurant, Omar’s Carriage House, for his birthday. (I don’t know when they grew up, but I miss them all.)

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I painted the candle my older son gave me for Christmas, because two of my EEM samples were the perfect colors, Alt-Rosa and Pikadina. Beautiful colors!

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Today’s Tools:

EEM watercolor paint (Eventually, Everything Mixes), Moleskine watercolor journal (it’s well constructed, but there are other brands whose paper I prefer), W&N watercolor brush, Uniball Deluxe Micro tip pen, .5mm,  (the only pen I really use for drawing in my journals, if I’m going to paint over it), Pilot colato pencil, 3mm, (and the 5mm lead and eraser linked here, pen body here, … I adore this item!! The ink is not waterproof but I still love everything (else) about it. I’ve linked it here, and I get a few cents from Amazon when people purchase anything through this link… but before you check prices through the link at Amazon , check http://www.jetpens.com. Some items were more expensive there, but some were less. The full set of 15 color refills is less at Amazon, but individual pieces were less at Jetpens.)