A 365 day art project… one drawing a day
My name begins with H, but I’ve never liked that letter. (my name I like, the initial just isn’t pretty…) so I thought I’d google some different ways to write the letter. And, yeah…. they’re pretty cute, really. Lots of creative people out there!
Derwent Inktense Watercolor Travel Set (12 colors, $24.49 on Amazon) This journal entry is the only thing I have painted with this set, so I can’t say yet what I really think of it. But the paints/inks are thick and bright, and rewet easily, and the palette box is really nice. It comes with a waterbrush and a sponge… but I’m finding I really prefer a real honest-to-goodness brush over a water brush. So far anyway. (Isn’t that teensy little travel brush cute??? It’s a Da Vinci mini travel brush, size 4, (link) though it seems smaller than a four to me. It is a lovely size for fitting into a travel palette but has no cover, which is sad. I don’t want to point to get messed up!) I did use the included water brush as well, and found I had a little better control with it than with the brush I used yesterday.
One of my resolutions this year is to try to get out of my house weekly to draw or paint. I thought the abandoned Toys R Us would be interesting… once so full of fun, now so lonely. The trash cans are overflowing, the cover of the “o” has fallen out of the sign, etc.
I brought as little as I possibly could today… including my new etchr slate mini bag, and the little tin I decorated last week, filled with only six handmade watercolors (from EEM (Eventually, Everything Mixes) and Dr Oto Kano), a pencil, and a water brush and blotter.
I attached the paint tin to my journal with a magnetic clip (thanks for the tip, Mandy!)
I loved the paints. I used a water brush, which is new to me, and had trouble with it. Super convenient, yes, but I had so much trouble doing… well, doing pretty much everything with it! I meant to fix it up a bit when I got home and then just decided to leave it. I’d forgotten my pen today, too, trying to really keep my supplies to a minimum.
Some perspective errors (my weakness!!!), some color errors, whatever else… It’s good enough. I’ll get better!! 🙂 And I did enjoy myself!
I did not get a picture of my pork tacos tonight at the Colley Cantina, and why-oh-why not??? They were SOOOOO good. I guess I just ate them too quickly. Next time!!! I gotta start thinking more “draw-your-day-ish”!
I spent some time tonight trying to find out if inktense products are lightfast or not. Older blogs and discussions suggest they were not at that time, but newer ones say they have good to excellent lightfast ratings. I’m going with what they say for now, but if any of you have other information, please link it!
Click here to see the Inktense block lightfast chart. I tried to save a copy to post here but couldn’t figure out how. I thought it was the Derwent site, but it isn’t, so I don’t know how accurate it is.
We spent Sunday putting away Christmas decorations… and pared down our collections a LITTLE. Then we took the dogs to Williamsburg for a walk (uh… after bathing Clara, who dipped half her furry body into a HUGE deep mud puddle of her own creation. A newfie bath is not a small challenge) We had trouble in W-burg finding a place to seat us outside. This was odd because it was warm, like 65 degrees, and several restaurants offer seating for people with their dogs. But the crazy restrictions they were suddenly presenting us with!! We ended up frustrated, and just having pizza at home.
Not much of a sketch, but that’s about all I could handle by pm.
Monday’s most important activity didn’t get recorded in pictures… Emmett and Clara were groomed!! (this doesn’t sound like such a big deal… but last time I took Clara she bulldogged on us and they called me back after 30 minutes to come get her. Bulldogging is our term for when our humongous fur babies decide not to move. What are we gonna do, pick them up? We CAN’T physically do that. So mostly if they decide not to move, they don’t move. (Mark can always get them to move, but I’m sometimes at a loss, and I can’t blame the tiny girls at the doggy place) They also passed their assessments and could then play with all the other dogs for a few hours in group play. They suffered through the grooming and came home happy, clean, and tired. Clara was already missing one new hair bow when we arrived to pick her up. THAT’S what I should have drawn.
But I didn’t. Monday’s sketch is of the video I watched on youtube on Dr Oto Kano’s channel, comparing 11 different ultramarine watercolors. She always presents some well researched ideas. I really enjoy what I learn from her, and if you are interested in technical aspects of watercolors, beyond “how to paint” videos, you should check out her channel. I’d like one day to have a youtube channel myself! If I ever come up with anything unique to express.
Finally, no rain!
Today was warm (61 degrees???!) but so cloudy. And then rainy. At least it WAS warm, though… it would have been miserable twenty degrees cooler! (I was mid-gripe just now, when that thought struck me!) Really my only complaint with the rain is that each hole Clara dug in the backyard has filled with water. Why doesn’t this water seep back into the earth?? I remember as a child trying to fill holes with water to make dolly swimming pools, and it never worked. Newfies have the magic touch, I guess. Maybe the depth is the secret, as any of my dolls would have drowned in these newfie sized pools.
Back to the subject at hand… I altered a tiny mint tin from Cracker Barrel just a bit with washi tape and mod podge. (The base of the tin was already a stunning green. That’s why I bought it! The mints, however, were gross.) I coated the interior with “DecoArt multi surface satin white paint” I found cheap at my local art supply store, to give myself a tiny white mixing surface. Why am I so addicted to little travel paint tins??? It came out ADORABLE, so became the subject of today’s journal entry, along with one of the ceramic cow planters from work.
I used my new DaVinci watercolor paint palette, which I’ll talk about in more detail another day. These are affordable paints that I’m starting to ADORE.
I’ll give the cow planter another shot, another day. I see what he needs, I’m just tired! My first LONG day out since being sick. And I’m back to art journaling! Any entry is better than NONE. I’ve missed it, but I’d gotten so lazy.
I have been saving these leaves and finally thought, it’s about time I clean off my work space. Very little effort applied. 😦 But at least I did journal.
I had planned to fill both pages with watercolor leaves, and frankly just wasn’t feeling it. So… Mira Byler suggested this in the youtube video I watched tonight. She tried it with ink first, which didn’t take to the leaves well, so I tried watercolor. Both had marginal success. She’s right, the gouache works better. Basically, a lazy artist’s page, but I’m sticking with the idea that I was EXPERIMENTING. Anyway, slapping gouache onto leaves is relaxing and fun.
Hectic holidays, poor planning, and no art! (what??!) But 2019 is here, and one goal is to put daily art back as a priority. (Following the “Draw Your Day” book I was using in 2018 as a guide!) Today a friend invited me out for some urban sketching… and this met several of my new year’s resolutions, (including both daily art, and weekly urban/plein air sketching practice) so I happily joined her at The Virginia Living Museum.
We had a lovely grown-up-ish play date!
I ordered the Scratchmade Journal set of DaVinci watercolors. I’ve watched several youtube artists review them, discussing their quality and their (relatively speaking) affordable prices. I like the selection Scratchmade Journal chose for this set (if you haven’t checked out Scratchmade Journal’s blog, here’s the link) … they look like really useful colors, especially if someone is starting out and wondering which colors to start with. I think this palette at DaVinci paints was $79. That may sound like an investment, but it’s quite a deal for 18 artist grade colors.
I LOVE the dark gray metal palette. And the semi clear paint pans, 6 full and 12 half. AND DaVinci included a really nice set of sample dots, with three rows of 8 or 9 dots in reds, yellows, and blues, so the artist can find a primary set they love. Having searched primaries all year, I love this idea. But mostly, I am really happy with the paint, so far. They rewet very VERY easily, are extremely vivid, and I’ve seen little (to no) color shift while drying.
Best of all, the DaVinci red included in the set is my idea of a perfect primary red (warm), so bright and bold. I have (seriously) been trying to find the perfect red all year. I learned the pigment used in this red is the same pigment Ferrari uses for “ferrari red.”
I sketched a quick Curious George for a card swap I’m doing. Other than a too small head, he’s great (and that was because I was too lazy to get a pencil before jumping right in with ink)
I’d have to add this to the list of supplies I’d suggest as a great Christmas gift, even though it wouldn’t arrive in time. You could wrap a photo of them. 🙂
ThreeSixFiveArt 