I am really excited to do a watercolor demo for the NorthStar Watermedia society on Oct 15th. I am creating this blog for back up information on the materials I use and other things mentioned during the demo.
I understand they have put the previous demos from DVD to a YouTube channel. How cool is that?
Here is the finished video!
These images below are the “Final” product of shown in the demo video. I did three paintings. The cup is the warm up. Then I alternated between the other two as the paint dried.
Everyone asks about materials, especially the paint outside crowd. Here is what I carry and my current - ever evolving - paint palette.
My Sketch Bag - have gone through several and love this bag. My one critique is that it AAALLLLMMMOOOSSTTT zips up with my IPAD Pro (that I also use for drawing and for filming).
My Water color kit. I have tried, and am continually trying so many travel kits, but I keep coming back to this one. This particular kit is several years old and has been to Switzerland and Germany. I wonder how much paint has gone through this thing. It is getting time to repaint the white metal portions.
My current color palette - it is ever changing and a long story covered in other blogs. (or future blogs). I am currently rethinking my reds. I carry a second kit with experimental colors. I was supposed to go to Italy this year so it is currently filled in anticipation of that trip.
My at home set up - storage idea stolen from Liz Steele (look her up - amazing teaching artist and architect doing work similar to mine. I have borrowed heavily from her shared knowledge and color palette.
My Pens and pencils. Starting with pencils…I don’t have a strong opinion…mostly whatever I have in my hand. Pens though….. I have a lot of pens and go through phases.
Fountain pens - I go through phases. I am currently NOT in a fountain pen phase though I am thinking about it again. EXCEPT for these two Sailor Fude japanese caligraphy pens. I love love love these bent nib cheap pens. So much line variation and they are as fuss free as a fountain pen comes. Amazon has them, I don’t know if Wet Paint (my favorite store) carries them.
My other go to pens are Noodlers Ahab and Lami Safari. If you want to try a fountain pen for sketching pick up a Lami safari or Allstar (same pen, one has a metal back half of the body) for around 35$. Wet Paint certainly has these. I also love Noodlers Ahab pens. These are adjustable flex nib pens that are great once you get them dialed in, but they are also easy to completely disassemble.
I like these pens because I can carry two of each kind. In one I put non waterproof ink and the other I put in water proof ink. Sometimes a red ink or a walnut ink. It is fun to experiment.
INKS - so many inks to choose from. These are my go to inks. Carbon Black (waterproof), Noodlers Black (waterproof), Lami ink (not waterproof and kicks off yellows and blues when used as inkwash), Noodlers Cayenne (not water proof and super fun in an inkwash), walnut ink (both store bought and homemade)
(pictures of my inks)
Sketchbooks - I have gone through so many of these but the last few years have settled on these two.
Hand book - many sizes. Lightweight watercolor paper but they do very well. A lot of pages at a good price.
Etcher Studio - Just came out and all cotton. This is my current favorite. Not the cheapest but the quality is so nice.
NEW SKETCH BOOK PROCESS - Carrying cut sheets. A sketch book carries a conundrum. Do I tear out the paintings to sell them or frame them or are they part of a group? As I frame more and more of my stuff or put it in my studio I ahve started to carry an archive cardboard box with precut sheets of high quality paper cut down from sheets and rolls with standard frame and matte sizes already drawn on them. The smaller 5 x 7 can tuck into my etcher sketch book.
(Picture of the box)
BRUSHES - I carry both water pens and a few travel brushes. The photo below is my current carry. I am realizing how much detail I could go into each one. (Future blog posts I suppose)
Hope that is helpful and the Demo went well! I love sharing the stories of the materials and the paintings. Please visit us at the Northrup King Building. Haecceity Studio at Dock 5. We share space with 10 artist and many are NorthStar Watermedia Members. (Most notably Susan Fryer Voigt)
This image is one wall of my portion of the studio. Check out the Northrup King page for open dates or my events page on this site for events and also future classes.
