ONE WEEK of InkTober Paintings // Draw With Me! 

Stretching watercolor paper was the thing to do when I first started out (100 years ago). Once you wet the paper, you need to allow the paper time to absorb the water. The fibers will fill and expand the fiber. Then tape and let dry. Then the fibers tighten back up like a drum. Doing this removes the sizing which allows the wet layers to suck up all of the water instead of sitting on top. We gave up the stretching when we moved to higher quality (cotton, not celluose) and heavier weight paper. Sizing actually works with you and cotton watercolor paper is more forgiving. That said, your compositions are lovely. You'll have this mastered in no time.

Still watching this video (which is very cozy and relaxing!), and you might have figured it out by the end, but you're supposed to remove the masking fluid. It's actually like a rubber cement that repels water. You can peel it right off (with a bit of rubbing) to reveal the paper all pristine below!

I am rolling on the floor about your Georgia O’Keeffe remark you wrote on the video😂. I was listening to your video while working and was very stressed. The moment I heard you remark about the flower I had to take a double take and look. My day instantly got better! Thanks for lightening up my stressful day1

MARVIN. The frog should be named MARVIN. Fun video……awesome Olympiad squirrel! Thanks for sharing.

Love so many of these! Especially the dapper frog character. Also that squirrel action was fantastic 10/10

I never considered outlining watercolor with colored pencils! I always used a black felt tip marker to outline but I always thought it looked too harsh. Thanks for the idea :D

I love Bud 😚 Amazing artwork! I can't wait for more 💕

I LOVED the cemetery/ghost painting! So much that I subscribed. I’m verrrryyyy new to watercolors, so this was fascinating and enlightening to watch! 😊

Man, it's exhausting, this inktober thing. It's my first time doing it, and I'm wrecked, at only 12 days in. It's great fun, though, and lovely seeing what everyone else is doing for the prompts. Keep going, everyone!

Hello all, thank you so much for all the support on this video!! And if you have found your way here, you might be interested in my second week video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XNKzqR0K8cI.html Or last week video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eHz0p8kYPn8.html And this masking fluid doesn’t rub off. I know most masking fluids do rub off, but not this one 😭

You’re so real for roasting the dip pen LOL I had a phase where I thought they’d be my thing…. But it’s HARD! The line thickness is also so hard to control, or when the nib snags the paper and flicks ink all over 🥲 I love your art- totally subscribing! ♥️

Your art is so amazing! You don’t have nearly as much recognition as you deserve!

Ok so I just got the notification that you subscribed to my channel, (thank you so much btw!!) so I decided to check out your channel and DANG your art is so beautiful!! The amount of detailing and attention put onto each of these is outstanding and the fact that you recorded yourself doing this for all of October is mind-blowing to me. Your dedication is out of this world. So anyway, you've earned yourself a new subscribble. Very cozy video :)

Okay, I had to comment, cuz... I may know a little bit too much about squirrels. 😅 But you're actually lucky to have caught it on video! It's very spontaneous behavior and usually by the time you grab the camera, they're done with it. Yes, squirrels do get silly zoomies sometimes! But, it could also be just a random case of an intense itch they can't quite get. lol! Still, this is actually quite a common thing. 😊 Loved the cozy video! You got a new subscriber out of me. 😄 (Also, I used to live in Milwaukee 👀)

Re: stretching, there’s really 2 main factors, and I think I know which one is giving you grief. 1. Giving the paper enough moisture+time to expand It seems like you’re ok on that front because you can see a small gap around the paper under the tape, which indicates the paper was expanded when it got taped and it shrunk back after as it dried) 2. The tape having enough grip on the paper to keep it stretched until it dries fully. I think this is the one that I think is causing the bulk of your issues, because there’s minimal overlap onto the paper, and you can see a small gap where the paper has shrunk back underneath the tape. You see that kind of margin with washi tape, but that paper’s dry (so the tape sticks better) and it’s unstretched paper (so the paper isn’t pulling at the tape) Good news is it’s an easy fix; you just need to let the tape overlap more onto the paper. I like Michelle Webber’s stretching process; her rule of thumb is 1/2 the tape’s width on the paper. I don’t overlap to quite the extent that she does, but then I don’t work on the same scale she does either, so my paper doesn’t expand/shrink as far as hers. Another way to think of it is that water *activates* the tape, but *drying* is what gives the glue it’s strength. You want enough tape-to-paper contact so it can hang on until the glue dries enough to do it’s job. Kinda like sticking a Band-Aid on when you’re a bit damp; It’ll stay if it’s big enough and you keep it in place until it’s dry enough to stick by itself. Yes doing this will leave you with more white space/can feel like a waste of paper, but it’ll make sure that your paper stays flat and you’ll get better use of the rest of the paper. If the white space bothers you, you can always hide that with matting/framing, add a border afterwards, or, trim it off (I hang onto my offcuts & use them for swatching & colour matching/comparisons etc. You can play with it a bit until you find the sweet spot of white space vs. stickability that works for your tape+paper combo. You’ll be able to see/feel if it’s worked because there won’t be that thin bubble-gap under the tape; the tape will be pulled taut just like the paper. Hopefully this helps a bit/makes sense :)

This was so much fun to watch while drawing :)

Loving the RuneScape music in the background lol pairs well with your art

the frog one 😭

Glad I found your channel! Can’t wait to see more of your work!!

Awesome art! Btw, you're supposed to peel off masking fluid, and color on the white paper left beneath it. It's meant to mask a section of a painting while you do washes and leave the covered area beneath dry to be colored later. I really loved that graveyard piece regardless tho! I thought the color was awesome, and liked the foggy look in the background

Oh 🥹! You added a stopmotion! It was gorgeous! I've just found your channel ocassionally and watched your early animations. I want to repeat that I am strongly impressed by your talent!

I loved your drawings. Especially Bud and the Toad. I'm a small RU-vidr as well! Sending you good vibes and good luck! Can't wait to see what you create next.

I lighten my pencil sketch before wetting the paper. I don't actually wet my paper to "stretch" anymore. Back in the day I would soak overnight before stretching the paper. Also, better paper and better brushes make watercolor so much easier.

The toad was my favorite. Very cute and cozy. That squirrel, tho!! haha

Masking fluid should be removed when you’re done leaving pristine paper behind. Gently rubbing it with your finger or an eraser works. Your paintings are great!

Gorl: "i dont know how to watercoler" Ugh! are you joking? That blooming painting was swoonworthy!

ohmygosh this video is so cute! So glad yt reccomeneded this to me, i am instantly subscribing. I find inktober so hard just because of how vague some of the prompts are, so this was inspirational :P maybe I’ll try doing some more of the prompts cus i kinda gave up and just drew random things in ink everyday-

Super cute ☺️ If you hold a hair dryer over the tape before peeling it off, it shouldnt peel the paper. Also with your struggles of the paper peeling under the paint, it tends to happen on wood pulp paper. It generally doesnt happen on cotton paper. Cant wait to see more 🌻

I really like your style! I think the toad was my favorite but they're all really good. Also I think that squirrel had the zoomies?!

your videos are so calming to watch and follow along while sketching :)

The toad guy is absolutely wonderful. 😊 Edit: He looks like a Francis to me

I was in Milwaukee the other day and the trees were so beautiful. It looked like the city had a filter over it! And it was 70 degrees for some reason so that was nice too lol

I love Inktober! I burnt the edges of my paper this year so it took longer.

Awesomeness!!! I love bud and your work.Milwaukee looks like a nice city. Im newer to water color too, ive found that the type of paper really makes a difference, the only paper that dosen't buckle under a heavy wash is cotton. If you like drawing with a quill but don't want to keep refill get a fountain pen. They are amazing. I recently got a very nice one for under 20 dollars that will last many years. Much love ❤️ 🙏

Just sketching along with the video, and was completely thrown for a turn when you mentioned my city!! but it's so cool to know about talented people in the area!!!💕💕 Btw all of these were so amazing!!

Very lovely video. I enjoyed you and your progress a lot. I am a huge fan of your froggy - creation.😁

I love your art! (and the stop motion video 😊). You are very talented! Also, particular compliments to the toad guy ❤❤

My vote is for his name to be Toadrick. 😆🐸💕 Beautiful artwork!

the squirrel is doing Parkour. getting ready for the Fall Olympics before he takes a nap

I have a different list of prompts. Day 1 was Dream, and Spiders was the Day 2 prompt, but I have Path for Day 3 and Dodge for Day 4. and so forth.

Lovely little video, just a quick heads up… with masking fluid you’re meant to rub it off. It’s like a lightweight rubber that once you’ve painted your area, you rub the mask off to reveal the paper. It works incredible well for stars and lights. You definitely used it in the right way for the ghost, you should have just gently rubber it, peeled it, off before going back with the pencil. Really nice work :)

RUNESCAPE MUSIC!!! :D

I finally get to be serious with my art and ready to participate in inktober this year just to get sick for one week and couldn’t use my right hand from my dextrose💀💀

Awesome work! I especially liked Fearless.

✨the forbidden milk✨

Great job!!!!

Wow!!!!!!!❤❤❤❤❤

Hi! I wonder what brand of paper you're using. You mention at the end of the video that you're having trouble layering watercolors. I used to have the same problem with a cheaper brand of paper I was using. Now that I'm using another brand, it works a lot better, so I would say it really depends on the paper :)

My favorite is that C3PO librarian 😊

Beautiful artwork! This is definitely making me itch to pick up my watercolors. JSYK, juliamachtkunst is pronounced "Yulia Mawkt koonst," but a soft k sound.

Love the video! All these pieces look amazing, so excited for the rest of the prompts for the month, you have me regretting not doing inktober this year. Also the toads name should be George Washington. Also yes I know what the squirrel is doing, he's doing gymnastics.

Thomas the toad. the toad looks like a Thomas

Barbo the frog

Gilbert the frog! 🐸

I think you’re supposed to rub off the masking fluid

I thought using ink was purpose of this challenge but great job nevertheless 🎉

No ink?

What more could someone ask for than a communist frog boyfriend? Video was great! Super comfy~

German lesson: Julia macht art means Julia makes art 😉

communist boyfriend aesthetic... ☠☠☠😂

Really enjoyed this video. Really well documented, and the squirrel is trying to confuse the chair 😊