An Instance of Framing

Whenever you go to show your work, the nagging question, "To frame or not to frame," demands to be answered.  It is not an unnecessary expense, but it is often costly either way.  You have to put up a good deal of money for every art work to be properly framed, but if you don't you'll appear unprofessional and that is a cost you can't afford if it is your first show.  Watercolorists no longer have to covet oil and acrylic painters who get to use canvases - which immediately appear to be framed even when they are not.  This is because watercolorists have canvases, now, too.  Is this a new product?  It is to me, and it might be to you too.  So, test them out - they are gorgeous!  Really lovely, and the work you do on them, for some reason just looks better and ready to show...

Fredrix 16 by 20-Inch Stretched Watercolor Canvas

In the comment section of this video, I link to some pros who really know how to help creative watercolorists.  I also show you a tip with something so inexpensive, you probably haven't bought them since grammar school, unless you bought them for your kids: crayons!  Crayon art and canvases?  Its a fun world to fall into!!

Watch here, a video demonstration using Crayon Wax Resist Video with Links to Make Watercolor Canvases

So Many Art Books - So Little Time! Make Time to Improve Your Style and Confidence

One way to improve your painting, without changing ANYTHING about your style, your studio supplies, or your life is to increase your confidence level about your artwork.

It's true.  This one thing: confidence, improves your art, immediately.  It isn't easy to get the confidence - true, internal confidence - about your artwork, or is it?  What you can do is fake the confidence, until it comes from within, truly.  Like the smile your mother told you to paste on your face when you went into your first dance, nearly quaking in your new, tight shoes.  It does work, because the internal voices are supposed to be there (in your back of your mind) to help you make decisions that improve your life, your wealth, your health, and your happiness.  Naturally, they gravitate toward improving you - but those voices get very screwed up.  They believe in the grading systems taught to them by schools - made up in Germany in the late 30's.  They believe in the boogeyman and all sorts of irrational fears like you are wasting your time with your efforts.  Creativity is not eating a bag of potato chips while watching reruns of Gillian's Island when you just had three days of down-time and rest.  So, truly, you are not wasting your time.  Tell those voices to ease up; believe in yourself; believe in your artwork.

Believe in
Yourself

Re-read the sentence before this one.  You just read the recipe for better artwork.  Remind me to text this post to my son.  He is involved in schooling as it is today and he is so hard on himself.  They have improved test scores, reading aptitudes, but are they churning out perfectionists?  We are allowed to make mistakes without them being counted against us, and so are our kids.  We need to remind ourselves of that before the potato chip bag is a must.

Here's one book about educating artists that will truly help you, or your artist friend, open up their internal critics and build confidence from within.  Is your egret about to fly, or does it look like a painting?  "That thing couldn't fly!"  Mine, at the bottom of this blog, won't fly.  But he glimmers and shines in the midst of his painterly, non-realistic waterlilies.  And for that I am proud.  (Pasted on pride and confidence, here; but it will come.  I'll keep painting and building my confidence with hushed internal critic voices.)

The book is Brave Intuitive Painting, by Flora Bowley.  She is a local Portlander, like me.  I had the privilege of taking a class with Flora before she became an art teaching superstar.

Brave Intuitive Painting-Let Go, Be Bold, Unfold!: Techniques for Uncovering Your Own Unique Painting Style

Finding the right art book to pour yourself over is another confidence builder.  If you don't at all like abstract art, and only like fantasy art, you'd do much better with Dreamscapes, Fantasy Worlds, on the blog bar to the right.  Some art books are not one size fits all, and they aren't going to wow you if they don't have the right information for you.  This is why, I've added so many books to this blog and intend to review them, over time, to give you more information.  However, Amazon has many reviews on these books, so you can find out more just by clicking the links.  Have confidence, go ahead, you'll know what's right for you - you truly will!!

Video Review and Watercolor Koi with a Fantasy Background

What Masking Fluid Pens and Corrector Pens Have in Common

For fine lines the white of the paper, you can use a masking fluid pen.  They are gorgeous and lovely to use, and the well-stocked art studio probably has more than one.  However, there are a few household items, you probably already have that can make your masking fluid as thin as the mask-liner pens do.  One is an extra store card that you can cut up, or one of those little ones the stores give out for your key chain.  Another idea is a corrector pen - used for correcting typos - and another is a white gel pen.  All of these little extras in your studio space help you create and convey the images you want to see on your paper and canvas.

Watch how masking fluid applied with a store card as an easy way to add whiskers to a cat or other animal in a watercolor painting.

Whisker Trick Video

Pastel bars, chalks, and pastel pencils also work great over the top of watercolor to add a whole new dimension and details to the washes made with watercolor.  They also mix well with graphite pencils, conte crayon, over acrylic paintings, and by themselves.

Fineline Masking Fluid Pen 20 Gauge W/Masking Fluid,

Which Art Product That I've Tested Has Been The Most Fun to Use?

Paints are fun, and cling wrap on watercolor makes me giddy, but the water brushes - or Aqua Brushes - are the most fun product I've used so far.  I  think it is because I was not expecting them to work so fabulously!  They not only flow the color across the page, but the brushes themselves are good quality with tips that hold their shape.  I have tested these over time and the strokes still look great.

Royal Brush Aqua-Flo Set 3 - This is the brand I use.  They are inexpensive, but they don't reflect their price in the brush or any part of the product as they are really top quality and fun.

These brushes are the perfect partner with watercolor pencils.  In fact, they make creating with watercolor pencils easier and a little more thrilling.  I don't know why.

These aqua brushes can make creating easier for kids who like to paint.  Here is a fun video tutorial for sketching and painting rabbits with watercolor pencils and the Aqua Brush for beginners.

Sketching Rabbits with Vintage Ephemera

Watercolors - What to Consider

Watercolor paint products come in as many different types as watercolor artists and paint styles do. The thing to consider is that your success as a watercolorist can be determined by how 'good' your watercolor paints are.  Does this mean you must spend more than you can afford on the top of the line paints, go into debt over it, and wind up stressed which can show in your painting?  No! Definitely not. Watercolor paints can be found in brilliant pigments at any level and in all different price ranges. That's one reason I started this blog.  I used Windsor Newton paints, only, or Grumbacher for many years.  But, after my accident, I could no longer afford the many colors I wanted.  I know there are limited pallets that can give you the whole spectrum of the rainbow, but sometimes we just want to play with colors like Rose Madder, Dioxozine Violet, and Quinacrodone Gold.  (Spelling?!)

Us artists who've tried out the range - from inexpensive to top of the line - are good tip givers.  Here are the tips for keeping costs down and finding professional results.
1.  The Blick.com catalog - and maybe the website - lists out the grades of watercolors from Student to Professional by brand name so you can check if you are using pro or student grades.
2.  Professional grade relates to a processing of the paint - not neccesarily the quality of the pigments, and not the price, high or low.
3.  Pro looking pigments can be found at every level, and student grade paints can even be more expensive, sometimes.

My tips are these:

Prang watercolors - the set for kids is extra pigmented.  If you only have a few bucks to put to art supplies this month, you don't have to go without aweing yourself with brilliance while playing with your colors.

Shin Hua, found at Amazon.com, is a steal for 30 gorgeous colors - and the processing this brand uses makes them Pro level watercolors.

I struggled for a long time with Reeves watercolors.  I also don't recommend Artist's Loft for watercolor paints.  Maybe some of their other paints - I haven't yet tried them.  I do recommend their Watercolor Wax Pastels, though, with 24 vivid colors.  Just be sure to wet them first, for blending, not after you've created a beautiful drawing or background with them.

Watercolor Pencils are just as fun - and diverse - as watercolor paints.  There are many Youtube critiques on watercolor pencil brands, and if you are planning on investing in watercolor pencils, a look around before you buy will help you end up with a product you love and improves your art just by using them.  (You have to use them, or they don't work at all).  I recommend Inktense Watercolor Pencils by Derwent.  I also recommend reading Amazon reviews about art supply products.  There are often even photograph examples of the colors in use.

Shinhan Watercolors Artist Paint Tubes Set 30 Colors 7.5ml Each

Prang Oval Pan Watercolor Set, 16 Classic Colors with No. 9 Brush (16000)

Derwent Drawing Pencils, Inktense, 4mm Core, Metal Tin, Watercolor, 24 Per Pack (0700929)

Here are some other supplies for watercolorists - new to painting up through professional

My watercolorist bag of tricks includes salt!!  Rock salt (found in the grocery store's spice aisles, used for making ice cream and texturing backgrounds), coarse sea salt (same place), and sand brought home from a salt-water beach works for texturing.

Winsor & Newton

 Art Masking Fluid

70% alcohol makes a great effect.  Try it with an eyedropper, spritz on with an old toothbrush, or dip in a paint brush and hit it against another paint brush for snow like droplets in your watercolor background.

Masking Fluid - or Frisket
Masking Tape
Cling Wrap or a torn plastic grocery bag
Paper towels, Toilet tissue, are just a few items from around the house that can add texture and new uses in your watercolors.

Watch, here, to see the effect when I use an old candle with watercolor paints:
Batik with Watercolor on Paper

Watch some of these household items and masking fluid with watercolor paint:
Easiest Clouds with Watercolor

Process and De-Stress - With Art Supplies!!

I just finished up a video in which I get a little philosophical at the ending.  I explain the importance of processing to nurture ourselves and basically deal with our own sh#@ before we take it around to someone else.  I do know what I am talking about, because I have had amensia.  Yes, true, real amnesia, but I have found it does not mimic the kind we watch on television or read about in fiction so that the amnesiac finds true love or ends up making good with all the former relations after forgetting completely who they once were.  Art has helped me put my 'pieces' back together and so I know it is not just a little bit powerful.  It is sometimes the best medicine.  Try to remind loved ones of this fact when purchasing art supplies (or before).  Creative time with yourself is worth the price and effort - for everyone in your life.

Use those watercolors:
Easy Moonlit Ocean Scene, Step-by-step Video Tutorial

What if you aren't an artist or you don't like sketching?

I have found that Adult Color Books can give you that de-stress, fun, creative time without the sketching, photo finding, worries.  And, if you craft, draw, paint, or do any other kind of art, they often lead to great ideas for your own, original art.

Creative Cats is an adult coloring book, but teens and kids are not excluded.
Cats, Butterflies, and Stress Relievers

       

Crayons Have Also Grown Up!

Try these Twistables.  Or watch me try crayons as wax resist with watercolors - it works and its super easy with nearly endless possibilities.

Crayons As Wax Resist with Watercolors

Add This to Your Art Supplies and Become a Better Artist!

No lies, adding this product to your art studio supply list will help make you a better artist.  It's tracing paper.

All art is theft - Pablo Picasso

I am reading an art book that became a best-seller with the basic premise - to be a successful artist, you must steal.  Tracing paper doesn't actually help you steal, but it helps you transform your physical art to represent the image you have in your head.  Without all the time consuming re-draws, you can use it to correct something you don't like, add something you want to try, or as I recommend in a video, help you keep an extra drawing of something you are just about to paint.  That way, if you don't think the results are like you had in your head, or saw at an art show, on Facebook, or on a hike, you can re-paint it - try a different medium, brighter colors, monochromatic - easily.  And if it is easier, you will do it - which will make you a better artist.  Promise.

 CANSON Tracing Pad, 50 Sheets, 14 by 17-Inch

Easiest Method to Transfer an Image

Here's how I use this product when moving characters around on the paper, to be viewed at many angles, without losing the character's basic appearance:

Owl Skate Characters: Dottie

Don't forget transfer paper!  Good deals on graphite transfer paper for large and small projects, below.

  

'Permanent Ink' on the Label Does Not Always Hold up Under Water

Lately, I've been experimenting in Art Journal - a playlist on my channel - with fantasy art.  I find that a fine point, water-resistant ink pen, helps me define smaller works of art that depict a scene.  I am used to bigger paper, bright color, simpler shapes, so I found that outlining the drawing first, kept my paintbrush on track of my original idea.  During this 'learning process' I found that the words permanent ink don't always mean that you can spritz water over the ink pen's line, or douse it with a pigment filled brush.  In fact, sometimes the same line of pens' different colors react differently to the same kinds of tests.  Before you try painting over a carefully inked drawing, be sure to have tested your pens.  I have tested these two and shared the results in a video.

Video: Test of my Outliner Pens

To skip the test and buy what works, I recommend Recollections ink pen in Ebony, link below.

I like Amazon's website for online shopping, but also shop Michael's as it is not too far from my home, but they have a website and they are also having an Art Contest!  Submit before August 15th, 2015, and you could win a $1,000 solo art exhibit, or other prize!

Michaels.com Art Contest

Recollections Ebony Water-Resistant Pen

Nature Artist Makes Die-Cuts But It's Best to Know a Secret, First!

A favorite artist of mine, whose die-cuts I have used in my vlog is Susan Winget.  Her papers and art reflect a love of nature -  graced with birds, bugs, flowers, mushrooms, and all sorts of natural elements.

These greeting cards are beautiful with a handmade journal or in memory book creations.  The die-cuts are just an example of many types of packs available.  Just be sure you peel off a tiny, nearly invisible, plastic film on the back before you try to adhere them to any surface.  Not knowing this tip can be very frustrating as they will peel off, like you never glued them on at all, after about five minutes.  So much for the last five minute gift or favor (it will self-destruct) without removing the plastic film.  The mug is just lovely for crafter's who like their tea or coffee while creating art.

In these videos, I used Susan Winget die-cuts for two different types of journals:  an altered book - upcycled from an out-of-date booklet, and a handmade journal/booklet with pull-out pages.  I used photo frame die-cuts for the booklet, for adding photographs to the small, hand-made book.  These make great, hand-made gifts.  The videos are linked, below.

Photo Frame Handmade Book
Make An Altered Book

Though I like Susan Winget's die-cuts, these basic journal shapes and altered pages could be even more creative with original art on each page. Here is a great 'canvas' for a sort of hand-made art book with two long signatures (pages) that attach, front and back, by pull-out covers that aren't bound in the back.  It's sort of like one of the pages in my photo frame, handmade book, but you can skip making the journal and just make the art.
This booklet is by Strathmore.

     

Let's Talk About Art Journals!!

When using any water media to create art in a journal - like watercolor, acrylic, watersoluable pencils, and sometimes gel or glue - the kind of paper on the pages becomes the most important aspect of the art journal.  At least 140lb. watercolor paper, 400 series paper, or sturdy mixed-media Bristol papers are the best.  An 80 or 90 pound paper will buckle.  A thin, writing journal paper will not stand up to much more than dry, graphite pencil, pastel, or colored pencil - but even these mediums deserve a quality, sturdy paper.  For pastels, a Canson pastel paper in different colored pages will improve your pastel work all by itself.  And, the same goes for the other kinds of art journals.  So, often, artist's make their own art journals.  It's more than just a product you derive from making  your own journal - you also get the benefit of creating the surface on which you create art.  I don't know the reasons or the metaphysics, but all artist's should go through this process at least once - and some never create art without having had some part in the creation of the surface it rests upon.

If you are going to make your own journal, and would like some step-by-step tips and instruction, I have put together 2 videos for Easy (no bindery) and Crazy Easy Art Journals to make from scratch.

Make An Easy Mixed Media Art Journal
Make A Proper Artist's Journal


During the making of these videos, quality watercolor journals became so low in price that I started this website - no pressure to buy anything - because I wanted to share the info about where I found these journals.  For busy people who don't want to make their own, or those who have and now wish to buy them, here are a few that I've found.  I use Amazon.com because that is where I found some very reasonable prices, they ship internationally, and shipping is often free for orders more than $35. Such a deal!!

Strathmore Softcover Watercolor Journal, 7.75 by 9.75-Inch, 48 Pages
Strathmore Softcover Watercolor Journal, 8 by 5.5-Inch, 48 Pages

the watercolor journals

First off, let me say that I have 2 videos tutorials about making your own, handmade journal with 140lb. watercolor paper, because back before I made the first video - I could not find the kind of paper in any watercolor journal that was not $65 or shipping from a shop out of Canada.  After the videos, I found these super-affordable journals on Amazon with 140lb. watercolor paper.  I hated the kind of journals that would trick me into how beautiful their covers were, and their bindings only to have my journaling entries buckle and bleed into one another.  These won't and although they aren't leather bound, one does have a traditional book binding.

One of the spiral bound journals has Arches paper, which is usually expensive because of it being traditionally 100% cotton and very well made.  I swear these were never this affordable before, or I might not have ever started making my own!  Making your own, however, can be an important part of the artistic process for many creative people in their journaling experience.  I still recommend it, highly.

The Strathmore watercolor journal is a large, art worthy size: 8.5" x 11", and is a traditional, book bound journal with 400 Series 140lb. paper.

       ⦁