After 30 years of corporate illustration & design and teaching students from kids to college, my creative journey is all about peace, love & happiness - Life is way too short, and I prefer to explore, play, and discover new and wondrous things before it's over. I hope you enjoy the work I do here! Cheers and thank you for checking it out! ~ Mark
i agree, so let’s put it to the test! for 30 days im going to trace ICS lines, circles and eclipses. Then boxes and cylinders in various angles rotated in perspective. Finally, I will be tracing figures, still lifes, and organic subjects to prove if this is actually beneficial to aspiring artists or not. I will take note of the progress of four things: my line confidence, hand stability, observation and overall freehand drawing ability! Will keep the comment thread updated!
The fact that those deviders are hollow would ring alarm bells about potential unforseen problems looming if cut. Anyway I have another palette with more pans and bigger mixing lid if I need that. I will say there is no need for those pans though unless you're constantly switching around. . Just squeeze paint directly into the spaces like with a Holbein ect.
Try tightening it first. Give it a good twist like you are tightening it (but don't break it). Then, try to untighten it again and it may become loosened. If not, you can use two pairs of pliers to gently pull them apart. If that doesn't work, perhaps consider a new one. :)
Maaaaaaaaaaan, I just got one and I'm hating it! I come from traditional Sable brushes, I find these water brushes so hard to control. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I mix my colours on the palette, I try to get some colour on the bristles, but they seem to suck all the pigment in (not in the water reservoir tho), and when I put it on the paper, there is not much pigment saturation. I mix some more, and then I press to get some more water, and all the pigment suddendly comes out, so it gets too saturated and mostly ruins my paintings. What am I doing wrong?
It's hard to tell, not being there. But, for me, I always keep a folder paper towel in my kit to use with the waterbrush. It is an essential - _essential_ - tool to use with this kind of brush. The key, for me, is to ensure the brush tip is dried before pulling in color. It's not like a regular or traditional brush... it's a different "animal." It may be just that it's not your thing. However, with practice and learning how much water to use and how much NOT to use can be the key. I have several types of these and enjoy them all; however, some can drive me crazy because they're designed differently than others. The Pentel water brushes have been good. Still, in the end, there is nothing better than a traditional brush to get the best results. Just my thoughts. I hope you grow to find a technique that works for you. Keep going! Cheers! ~ Mark
It would be wonderful if they just made this the default option, particularly if you use pans that are not the W&N shape and size, which seems to be an issue for many people. The new expansion pans are a great option, but this design in combination with those expansion pans would just make it that much better.
Six years have passed since this video was posted, but I want to note that Daniel Smiths paints are considerably *less* expensive to buy in the US than European brands like Schmincke and Winsor & Newton. The opposite will be true if you live outside of the US. Of course, certain colors/series will be markedly more expensive than others (e.g., Potter's Pink, Lapis Lazuli, etc), but that's true of any brand. Da Vinci is another great US brand.
It's true. But even still, Daniel Smith are expensive even here in the US. I've built my sets over years and happy with what I have now. But, I also love the European paints as well. One of my favorites is Sennelier which I imagine are a lot less expensive in France than in the US. Here a set of 48 half pans is about $250+/-, but in France they are about $200+/-. Not a huge difference, but still. Thank you for chiming in on this, even though it's a bit of an older video. Glad it was worth your thoughts!! I appreciate that more than you know!! ~ Mark
Pigments and Arabic gom, and a drop of glycerin, voila that is watercolor paint easy to make at home , instead of spending hundreds of dollars or euro for name brands , those compagnies laugh there way to the bank .
Not sure if you knew this as you didn’t mention in your video but they make these journals with three different types of paper weight, 80 gsm, 120 gsm, and 150 gsm. Per another RU-vidr sharpies and other alcohol markers still show through, but you can paint with watercolors and using water color pencils, etc. I think the 150 may be more of a mixed media.
I planned nearly 10 years, before retirement, to puchase art/craft supplies. I'm glad I did and restrain myself purchasing more than the basics... not so easy! It's like buying cookbooks when we just want a cook... or to be them. Laughter. I live in a very, very rural area... retired here. My slow purging, as figure out what I really enjoy most, has been taken to the local post office where people leave books, sometimes food, and small misc things. I love that the bags of misc art/craft things disappear into this 'miles to your neighbor) community.
Hullo Mark! I have a special place in my heart for brushes and brush videos! I have an extensive collection of brushes that are all working brushes too. I have a set of LeMer natural hair brushes that I purchased in 1988 and they were my last natural hair brushes I purchased. I believe that they have gone out of business or have stopped selling in the USA! I have gone over to the Mimik brush brand for the different mediums I work in. I am also a fan of the Princeton synthetic brushes. The development of synthetic hairs combining different diameter of hairs has made an amazing difference in how synthetic brushes work today! I do remember when if you tried to use a synthetic brush with watercolor you would experience nothing but despair and agony! Now? They have synthetic Kolinsky Sable Brushes that are just tremendous! I cannot see nor tell the difference and I believe others that swear by natural hair brushes would have a hard time telling the difference either!! Oh Geeze I am going on, thank you for sharing your brushes with us, I really appreciate your generosity of spirit and sharing your joy with us. Have a lovely day!
really nice .. this is six years ago.. nowadays very good watercolour pencils from china are dirt cheap .. i get a twelve colour set for less than 3 euro here in bulgaria and they're awesome .. they're indistinguishabe from prismacolor watercolour pencils
Mark you always find the right topics, thank you for this wonderful and valuable video! I was having conversations about that and how we approach art and painting a few days ago. It's been so nice to hear your thoughts and your experiences. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much, my friend. I’m thrilled you enjoyed the topic and as always, I’m just so grateful for your feedback and time. Hoping all is well!! xo Mark
@@MDCampbell Hi Mark, yes, thank you! Life is just busy right now, but I'm still painting. :) Art is too beautiful to just let go and I'm glad I have wonderful people around me (online and offline) to be inspired by. You included. :) Hope all is well with you too!
Does anyone know where I can get oldstyle school dipping pen bodies, that is very slender pens that will dip inside a bottle without getting ink all up the side. I mean something no thicker than a Bic ballpen. Those curvaceous pens you see everywhere nowadays won't go through the neck of my narrowest bottles. And they won't even hold my favourite handwriting nib (elongated J by John Heath) because their grip isn't tight enough. I've looked everywhere. The only ones I have came from a joblot of 1950s/60s dipping pens and accessories from eBay. Surely someone somewhere makes them new...?
I mainly use Winsor Newton. For me that IS the expensive water color paint. When I get better I will consider spending more. I do understand that we get what we pay for. I also mainly use Arches paper. I like this piece you did for this video. Fun to watch you!
Sharpies are good people they work day and night. People don't appreciate them enough. Can we have a moment of silence for all of the sharpies thrown away prematurely. Amen
do i think tracings bad? no, do i think claiming the base as your own yea. tracing helps a lot of people by learning anatomy and basic angles etc. and many pro artist still trace basic things like hands and even their own art to save time. now theres a different thing when you claim the art as your own so just dont be an ass🤷
I have to wonder why advertising is allowed at all, we are so saturated with ads. It is absolutely predatory. It should be criminal that companies can rake in real money but not then pay those creators who do the work. And how is it allowed that without our even knowing, our information is bought and sold over and over to companies who try to profit of us too?!
Thank you for checking this one out, amyharris8177!! Typically I use 100% india ink for black, but then I started using red Higgins ink and Windsor & Newton gray ink for shading - it's really wonderful. When I'm done using a waterbrush with ink, I take the brush head off and put it on another body that is filled with water. I squeeze it and flush out the ink. When it's clean, I place it back on the ink-filled body and store it upright (with the brush head at the top). This keeps the ink away from the head until I'm ready to use it again; when I use it again, I give it a shake and test it on a swatch pad to get the flow right. It's so much fun! Best wishes! (and no, I don't dilute with water, BUT you CAN also fill the body with watercolor paint, too! Just another way to use them!) Cheers!
Has it been five years already? Wow. But you know what - they're still working like the day I bought them. Not my #1 brushes, but definitely right here next to me in my travel pouch. Bristles still form to a point, ferule still holds everything in place. Can't ask for much more!! Thank you for asking! :)
@@kaitlinnichols3268 yes, but I don't want to mislead you - I don't use them everyday or even as my go-to brushes. That said, they still work well for me and my needs. I never like to push products on others, but rather just share my impressions in the environment I work in. Again, I like them and if you decide to pick them up, I only hope you enjoy them too! ~ Mark
Great discussion! It's true that a few art influencers make it big, but for each one making money, there are thousands of tiny ones buying tons of supplies and doing reviews, trying to get the algorithm to bless them. As I'm sure you know reviews are much more promoted than tutorials, and there's a reason for that! I assume all those small creators account for a lot of the increase in the art supply market. This is not just true for art -- but also makeup, nail polish, clothing... and probably many other realms too. There's also the problem of subscription boxes and reviewing those. That is a way to end up with way too many art supplies very quickly, many of them questionable quality, a strange selection of colors (often the ones that didn't sell), duplicates and ones the recipients will never use because they don't favor that media.
It's so spot on, jennw6809. Whether it's makeup or cooking channels, the reviews are where most of the views come from. Back in 2005-2010 was when demos and tutorials were the hot topics; then, reviews took over. Companies caught onto it, too, and that's when they started pitching products to content creators in exchange for reviews. It worked early on, but eventually, creators caught on and it changed again. RU-vid is not what it used to be and most viewers don't follow content creators the way they did years ago. Since I'm a small channel, I struggle with whether it's worth it to keep posting. It's SO time consuming. And those subscription boxes... smh. I remember when they first came along and thinking, "oh, I want that!" but then seeing what was inside the boxes and thinking, "oh, I _don't_ want that!!" lol! Thank you for chiming in with such valuable points! ~ Mark
I couldn’t agree enough with making an inventory. It is valuable and sobering. I think 2020 was the start of overspending for me. I usually went to art stores physically before that. Discovering that I could order from SO many places and signing up for their emails really caused an imbalance. I was in school as an are major 10+ years ago and I made several trips to the art store to pick up paper each semester (printmaking and painting)- but they were used in no time and then I’d go back. In recent times- it became more about sets- the pretty boxes they came in etc. I NEVER needed so many pigments- I didn’t even know 25% of the WC brands existed. I do now😂😂. I’ve been slowly selling the watercolor sets I collected (it grosses me out that I was “collecting”sets) and I’m trying to have only what I’ll use. I’ve been merciless with selling them with their beautiful tins/ boxes. I hope I can reach equilibrium soon. Thanks for this video.❤
thanks for your thoughtful feedback, alicem1111. I think your word "sobering" really defines the process. I applaud you for taking stock of your supplies and managing them to your benefit. It's not easy to do, but when we do it - it makes a huge personal difference.
