#it is watercolor + gouache + black ink + watercolour pencils

[epikhightechnology]

this piece is called "😭😭🌹🌹🌹taeyong ily pls come back😭😭🤪😭🌹🌹🌹"

[fifirellart]

The Making of “The Invisible Museum (Is Open)”

Hi and welcome to my blog! ^-^

I thought it would be fun to write about the process of my previous illustration, "The Invisible Museum (Is Open)", so here is some commentary on the matter 🙆🏻‍♀️

As I mentioned in my original post, this project has an important meaning attached to it for me, so that’s why I wanted to be as meticulous as possible with its process. I decided to take the James Gurney approach and make a little scale model of my project, so I could have a clearer idea of how the lighting should look like.

I even made a little simulation of the dust’s movement, using baby powder and an empty pen tube. The simulation didn't turn out exactly as I expected, but it was a nice reference to have on hand regardless 🌫️ 

To be honest, I maybe could have figured the lighting out without doing all this preparatory exploration, but the planning process is one of the most entertaining and rewarding parts for me, so that’s why I did it this way 🌸 

This illustration was made with watercolours, Indian ink and colour pencils on paper. My regular process is the following: after outlining the base drawing, I usually start covering as much as I can with light watercolor washes, working in layers until I reach the opacity and saturation I had in mind or the one the material allows me to achieve. And later, once everything is dry, I finish the rendering with colour pencils. 

Regarding the black background, I wanted it to be solid and as black as possible, that’s why I chose to use Indian Ink to achieve this look. One thing I have noticed, though, is that even if Indian ink is quite dark, it’s also quite reflective once scanned. And to be honest, it’s quite annoying to fix this detail on Photoshop, so maybe I will venture into trying black acrylic paint next time I need to make a solid black background. 

I think the most difficult part for me was giving the dust that magical appearance. Once the background was dry, I painted this kind of clouds with very translucent washes of white gouache so they would serve as a base for the colour pencil rendering. This section wasn’t looking very promising at this point but I knew I just had to trust the process, despite it being the first time I was trying to achieve this specific texture. 

Then it was time to work with color pencil over the whole piece and I feel like this is the time when things started to look like I kind of initially planned. I have heard many times that the current quality of Prismacolor colour pencils isn’t as good as it used to be some years ago, but since I never tried them back in the day, I was honestly very amazed at how creamy and blendable they are ☁️

And well, that's it! That’s how I made my illustration. Writing about the process has been kind of a meditative experience in a way. I also feel like reflecting on how I made my piece has brought some clarity on how I could make things better for me the next time, so I will try to make these sorts of entries as often as I can. 

Thank you so much for reading! ^-^

[sanhatipal]

"Noble d'Apchier"

A little watercolor painting of Chloe,with the Zorn palette! I found out about this palette a while ago and I really wanted to try it out! (More on that below )

Chloe's hair is something I adore, it's gotta be one of my absolute favourite character designs ever,I love how swirly and fluffy it is,very fun to draw. I've drawn her normally before,I wanted to do one with her vampire eyes and fangs too. I decided to try to draw a white fuzzy rim around the foreground against the plain background,for a change,like in some of the VnC panels.

The Zorn palette,or Apelles Palette was a colour scheme used by Anders Zorn in the late Victorian/Early Edwardian era. It ,or something similar,might have been used by artists of old civilizations too, because it avoids the use of blue and green entirely: which would eliminate the need for rare pigments . It's essentially a colour mixing challenge,to draw the entire paintings with 4 pigments,2 basic colours: Ochre yellow, Vermillion,and Black and white,which can be mixed into different shades. It can be an excellent exercise and means for portrait painting

Modern artists use red instead of vermillion,but the essence is the same. So that's what I did too. I considered using vermillion,but I realised that it would introduce a lot of yellow tint, making the picture very warm. Which is usually something I prefer honestly,but not what I was going for here. Also,I need to consider the fact that I'm a watercolour artist,which is very different from the original intended palette. Zorn used oil paints,but other artists use it fine for gouache and acrylic too, however,that too is different from watercolor, because instead of mixing with white, I'll be diluting with water,which changes the composition of the palette considerably. So I went with these supplies: ochre yellow and red watercolor pencils (for me, basically watercolor pigments,I don't use them to draw,I grind and dissolve them in water),white and black watercolor tubes,and white ink. In addition: lineart with sepia,grey and black brush pens,which are well within the bounds of the palette

To be honest,I ended up not using the white paint tube at all,water makes more sense to me. I didn't use anything else though,and stuck with the original materials.And the results:

Does it work? Hell yeah. It's not perfect,but I'm happy with how she turned out

Was it restricting? That's kind of the point,to paint with some limitations

Was it hard? Honestly? No. Not at all. It's definitely very different from what I'm used to,I use a lot of colours both as is and mixed,but this was surprisingly easy. Perhaps because of my subject,which didn't have much colour to begin with

Do I recommend it? If you want a small challenge,or to experiment or practice colour mixing,definitely

Will I do it again ? Absolutely. I feel like I haven't utilised much of the potential of this palette. I ended up using mainly red and black, hardly any yellow at all. So I'd like to do something more colourful with this palette, perhaps a sunny painting of a gingerhead girl with flowers,and for this I'll probably use vermillion,not red

Anyways, that's all! If you read all this,thank you for your time!!

[art-now-italy]

"Stormy Lowlands" / Original Painting - Black and White Watercolour, Sabrina Garrasi

Original painting on Fine Art Cotton Paper Watercolor, ink, Pigment, Gouache and white Pencil on Fine Art Cotton Paper Title: "Stormy Lowlands" Size: 29,5 in x 21 in (75 cm x 53 cm) *The artwork not is on sale with the frame* This Artwork is hand signed and dated. Along with the Artwork, will be shipped the certificate of authenticity This Artwork will be shipped carefully, with a sturdy backing so it is completely protected. © 2016 Sabrina Garrasi - All rights reserved

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Stormy-Lowlands-Original-Painting-Black-and-White-Watercolour/693844/2887841/view

[darkdesigngraphics]

It's the variety of styles at Dark Design Graphics that we absolutely love for these completely custom Coat of Arms. Each one created right down to our customer's specifications. In this case, the Coat of Arms was designed for a father's birthday present with an aim to represent many of the most important things throughout his life. - Created using an HB Technical Pencil, Faber Castell PITT Black Fineliners, white POSCA Acrylic Pen, white Gouache, Arteza Watercolour Pens, Faber Castell Coloured Pencils, Bic ball-point pen, Sakura White Gelly Roll Gel ink Pen, Winsor & Newton Promarkers (cool greys) on Seawhite of Brighton Bristol Board 240GSM - We will be posting the full album from first concept to final design soon on Facebook, not to mention the time-lapse video coming soon to www.darkdesigngraphics.co.uk . . . . . #heraldry #coatofarms #familycrest #crest #crestbadge #filigree #art #artist #watercolour #watercolor #fineart #detailing #artwork #ddg #darkdesigngraphics #drawing #fineliners #darkdesign #flourish #pencilart #fabercastell #arteza #winsorandnewton #posca #poscapens #ballpointpen #ballpoint #ballpointpenart #mantling https://www.instagram.com/p/BxmHbdmpO1p/?igshid=154sv5364icac

[brokeforart]

Artist’s Supplies: Sonali Zohra aka Dangercat

Hello fine people! I seem to be a little slow these days posting on this blog, but I mainly blame a lot of illustration work that has been happening on the side. But I am excited to bring to you a series of artist interviews: three amazing illustration girl friends who I have the pleasure of meeting every now and then. Our meetings comprise of discussing work, testing each other’s art supplies and faffing in general. For my first lady, I have the incredible one: Sonali Zohra aka Dangercat. She shares with us information about her materials, her process and a peek into her sketchbook. Read more below!

1. Real Name/Artistic Name: Sonali , Dangercat

2. Tell us a bit about yourself: I’m an illustrator based out of Bangalore. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art and a Diploma in Photography.  

3. What moment in life/ artist/ project inspired you to take up illustration? No moment, I always remember drawing. I started as a kid and never grew up.

4. What is your personal work inspired by? What themes and topics do you enjoy working with? It's inspired by what i'm reading or listening to at the time, also my surroundings; plants, animals and my home. I don't have any specific themes or topics, my interests vary from mythology to science and psychology. I'm still in a formative stage when it comes to putting my thoughts down effectively. My main focus at the moment is to train my brain to think and visualise in different ways, I don't want to commit to one medium or topic I'm learning and exploring. 

5. What is your preferred method of beginning a project? Do you have a fixed process? It depends on what the project is. If its a book, then I'll read it a few times, figure out what kind of visuals would go with the story and what medium and colour palette would fit best. The next step would be sketches (here I collaborate with the editor and writer a bit). If its an album cover, I would be listening to the album constantly and drawing to it, that's all. Some projects require a lot more research, I enjoy this the most. I get to teach myself to draw new subjects while learning about topics outside my field (conservation, biology, the process of printing a book, or history). In short, I have no fixed process. 

6. What do you do, to deal with the general procrastination/lack of ideas that can affect all freelancers? Its tough, I used to get into a block that lasted days..but now I don't force it. I do something else for a bit and come back to it, it seems to be working (so far). 

7. Any rituals you follow before you sit to work, to help you get into the zone? A clean studio/ work-space! If things around me are in order, it helps getting my thoughts in order as well. I make a lot of lists and feel a sense of satisfaction when I strike them off. I also find that a good schedule of sleep, diet, exercise and down time help in keeping you clear headed for when you need to be productive.  Its a misconception that "freelance" is a whole lot of "do-what-you-want-when-you-want", when it actually takes a lot of discipline to pull off successfully.

8. Describe the materials you use the most in your work? Most of my commercial work is done digitally now, but you can replicate traditional mediums digitally as well...so that’s what I do. It’s faster. Sometimes I use ink and pens, sometimes gouache and acrylic for my personal work, journals and sketchbooks.

9. Tell us about the other materials you love experimenting with? I like charcoal and graphite and watercolour. Watercolor the most actually..

10. Which product has lasted you the longest/ you have had for a ages? I have a set of Soft Pastels I got 6 years ago. I have no idea what brand they are, the label seems to have been misplaced… I haven’t come across any other pastels with the same richness in colour.

11. Is there specific materials you find yourself picking up over and over?Yeah the Uni Pin Fine Liners and Copic Multiliners. I do a lot of pen work and they are the best I’ve used for details. They last long and are consistent.

12. If you could keep a kit of 4-5 materials only, what would they be? Fine liners, watercolour paints, graphite pencils, soft pastels and willow charcoal.

13. Which is your favourite material/medium and why? Willow charcoal- that black is really black and I like how it crumbles and how you can mix it with paint as well to create marble –like textures.

14.  Which material/medium are you dying to try? Oil paint! But I’m intimidated by them and have been for years.

15.  We all know that art materials are very expensive. If you could buy any supply your heart desires, no matter the cost, what would it be? Probably one of those gigantic Windsor & Newton watercolour sets. Ten shades of green.

16. If you could offer advice on art materials, for upcoming artists/students what would it be? Try everything twice. Don’t stick to just one medium, learn and experiment as much as possible. Understanding the use of material would mean learning how to translate what’s in your head onto paper most accurately.

17. The most underrated material/medium? Ball pen! It’s the most fantastic tool.

18. If you could dive into one artist’s supply stash, who would it be? Yours :) I have, and I’ve learnt so much, thank you!

19. Name an artist whose studio you would love to work in? No one in particular. I would pick a place with good music, cozy space with lots of things to be inspired by, coffee and periodic conversations.

20. Last piece of advice for upcoming artists on finding what material works for you? Use everything. You can make it work with whatever medium you choose and it doesn’t matter as long as you’re having fun. You’ll eventually start unconsciously leaning to one that feels closer to what you’ve visualized in your head, and that’ll be the one.  Also exchange as much knowledge you can with your friends, draw together and share your stash!

You can view more of Sonali’s work at the links below! Follow her, like her work and show some love :) Instagram Website Facebook

[doodlewash]

Hi there. My name is Cheryl Johnson. I live in a log cabin with my husband Don and two cats in Campton, New Hampshire, USA. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love art. As a kid, I avidly absorbed everything my art teachers had to offer. My high school mentor, a former sign painter and illustrator, introduced me to pen and ink and graphic arts.

After graduation, I took up sign painting and truck lettering, and later worked at an ad agency. After a few years, I started a small commercial printing company, which I ran for nearly 25 years. I spent my days doing typesetting, graphic design, illustrating and interacting with customers.

During my professional life, I continued to draw, mostly in pen and ink, and occasionally dabbled in acrylics. When I sold my business and retired, I decided to teach myself watercolor. All those years of pen and ink and graphic arts had made my style very tight and precise. I thought that watercolor would loosen me up. However, silly me, I soon discovered that was not to be.

I bought a handful of how-to watercolor instruction books and completed many of the step-by-step lessons. The more I learned, the more I loved the medium. However, instead of becoming looser in my style, I found techniques that allowed me to achieve the same level of detail that I was able to get with pen and ink. I especially enjoy creating textures, and have learned how to produce realistic weathered wood, stone, rusty metal, peeling paint, fur, feathers and more.

I paint and/or draw nearly every day in my studio located right outside my front door, using my own photos as reference. I regularly participate in local, regional and national exhibitions. My favorite watercolor subjects include landscapes, old buildings, rust, stone, wildlife, and close-ups of anything with lots of texture. I like bold colors and strong contrasts. I find my subject matter by browsing through tag sales and thrift shops in search of interesting objects for still life, visiting local scrap yards to take photos of junk cars, and traveling the back roads of New England where I find the landscapes I love to paint.

About my materials: My preferred watercolors are M. Graham and Daniel Smith, and I always use Arches cold-pressed paper (140# or 300#). For brushes, I like Silver Brush Black Velvet. Occasionally I use gouache or watercolor pencils for final details.

Watercolorists I especially admire — my “watercolor superheroes”— include the photorealists Angus McEwan, Carol Evans, Lana Matich Privitera, Mikhail Starchenko, ‎Stanislaw Zoladz, Steven Kozar, David Poxon, Soon Y. Warren, and Laurin McCracken.​

In addition to painting, I also get great pleasure from passing along what I have learned. I teach weekly classes at my home studio, and I can honestly say that I have learned more from teaching than from all the books I have read. Since some of my students have been with me for more than a decade, I have to constantly challenge myself to stay ahead of them. When I am not making art, I spend most of my time gardening, reading, knitting, or taking photos.

I would like to thank Charlie O’Shields and Doodlewash for the wonderful opportunity to share my work with you as a guest artist. Keep your brushes wet!

Cheryl Johnson Facebook Fine Art America

GUEST ARTIST: "Keep Your Brushes Wet!" by Cheryl Johnson - #doodlewash #WorldWatercolorGroup #watercolor #watercolour Hi there. My name is Cheryl Johnson. I live in a log cabin with my husband Don and two cats in Campton, New Hampshire, USA.

[doodlewash]

Being creative was always a part of my life. The first time someone gave me watercolours to play with was in kindergarten and I remember learning to paint a rose back then. This was some decades ago and I think my art has improved a little since then. My name is Lana and I live in Germany. My mother played a huge role in discovering different media and improvement of my art. Back in Soviet Russia, where I was born, she would let me use her artist quality supplies when I could barely walk, gave me her inks and dip pens to try and gave me tons of great advice. She pushed me to become better and learn techniques, but was also my biggest critic.

After going through a pencil and charcoal phase in my teens, I used acrylics and oils a lot. Then, during university, I was so busy with studying, that I barely found time for creative adventures. The more I rushed into art after having my degree in history, philosophy and psychology. Watercolour and inks were my mediums of choice, while I still explore and try other mediums from time to time. Watercolour is what brings me the most joy. I love how expressive it can be and how exact at the same time. It‘s a joy to experience how the pigments flow in water, separate and behave.

The curiosity lead me to exploring watercolours more and trying different brands, papers and combinations. So my journey began. I created a YouTube channel and shared reviews of the paints I tried there as well as on my blog, which I already had. Sharing my experience, process and results is very important for me, as gathering and sharing of knowledge was one of my goals in anything I’ve ever attempted.

A new project was created when I started a database of the paints I purchased and tried, to share the knowledge with others. Also it‘s the place where I share the results of a lightfastness test I do with basically every tube of paint that I can put my hands on. Thus, Sun & Colors was born.

When it comes to paper, I tend to be picky. My favourite is the Fabriano Artistico cold press. It‘s thirsty, but feels smooth when touched by the brush. When it comes to brushes, I try to choose them depending on what I want to achieve. The Da Vinci Casaneo brushes are great when I attempt to paint loosely and without a sketch. The Silver Black Velvet brushes hold a perfect point and are great for exact and detailed work. Both hold lots of water, which is important for me.

​

The Da Vinci Nova series turned out to be great for gouache as well as details in the tiny sizes. Having tried out some brands of watercolours, my favourite is still my custom Schmincke Horadam palette, with some pans of Daniel Smith scattered here and there. The set of White Nights is a close second. The colours seem intensely bright, both brands rewet easily and are just fun to use. Most of all, I like how vivid they are and how much they flow once I touch the brush to the paper.​

My creative process often starts by being inspired by random things. Sometimes it‘s people, situations, things, colours, but most often nature and animals. Endangered species are a recurrent topic in my paintings. So far I‘m not sure if I have a consistent “style”, because it‘s so much fun trying something new and including new techniques into the painting process. In 2018, I attempted Inktober creating 31 ink paintings of endangered species without sketching first. Trying new techniques gives me a feedback about my abilities but also about my process. I was given the advice to stay consistent, it‘s just not what I want to be.

Consistency when it comes to a style feels very limiting to me as it doesn‘t give enough room to experiment. My process is lead by excitement for the medium, curiosity and a little of the feeling of a challenge. “Can I do that?” is a question I ask myself often and it‘s fun to explore whether I really can. Wood turned out to be a fun surface to be painted on using watercolours, of course it needs to be covered with watercolour ground before being worked on. Gouache is another medium that found its way into my collection as well as black watercolour paper.

The creative process is a meditative phase, where I get to relax and experience the world and subject I paint in a way that is unique for me. My full-time job is not very creative and I need the time that I spend with art to ground myself. Right now I‘m staying home due to the corona crisis and lock down so there is plenty of time to paint and go on adventures I don‘t have in real life. Art is a journey full of fun new things and techniques to try out.

My goal is not only to share my passion for art with the world, but also to encourage others to do so no matter if they are beginners or not. The art community I found online is a very passionate, kind and understanding one. The pressure many experience with following a style or using supplies in a certain way seems not as important as finding joy in what you do, express yourself and just have fun in being creative.

Lana (Swetlana Fink) Instagram YouTube Website Sun & Colors 

"Find Joy In What You Do" by Swetlana Fink - #doodlewash #WorldWatercolorGroup #watercolor #watercolour Being creative was always a part of my life. The first time someone gave me watercolours to play with was in kindergarten and I remember learning to paint a rose back then.