Supply Catalog Additions

I've had my eye on one similar to this...all those pockets would be almost like a traveling studio!

As promised, I'm writing to let you know I added some things to our supply catalog...art bags, brush holders, plein air French-style easels, pens, and even some folding stools for those of us who need to be a bit more comfortable when working on the spot and more.

Have fun poking around!  The catalog is at the top of our page, or right here: http://artistsjournalworkshop.blogspot.com/p/supply-catalog.html

NOTE:  Sorry, I must not have hit save when I added the chair at top!  It's in the catalog now, but it's set to shuffle so you may have to look for it a bit.  My apologies!

Brush Recommendation!

As usual, I like to test drive new tools...here, my new set of Utrecht Deluxe Watercolor Brushes...

It was an incredible buy, a set of four brushes on sale for $14.99 at our local Utrecht store...

I had never even OWNED a #14 brush before...wow...this one carries a ton of water, goes forever, holds a lovely point...what a deal!  I just ran out of room on the page or I could have done much more with these...obviously, they're very versatile.

Had to see how far it would go on a single loading...this is a 9 x 12" Strathmore Visual Journal.  Wow...

I liked the brushes so much that I went back and got my brother-in-law a set!

chinchón

Great sketching day in Chinchón, outside Madrid, with a group of 72 people. Here´s some more info and the sketches of the day:

http://www.4ojos.com/blog/?p=7367
http://www.4ojos.com/blog/?p=7372

http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=7819

http://dibujamadrid.blogspot.com.es

Supply Catalog joins the Bookshelf Page...

An array of waterbrushes

People often ask what tools and supplies we like, what we recommend, what works--so I've made a start at some of those recommendations on our new Supply Catalog page (if you think of a better name for it, do let me know.)

I'll be adding to it as we go along, and I know I've missed some great stuff.  I plan to write some blurbs on some of these as I have time, so check back!

This joins our Favorite Supplies page, which is longer reviews gleaned from our journal posts...you'll find some of the same things in both places, of course.

Like our new Bookshelf, it's a javascript thingie, so it may take a bit to open...

So check out the "catalog" at the top of the page, or find it here: http://artistsjournalworkshop.blogspot.com/p/supply-catalog.html

Books We Like! -- A brand new page

Hi, all!

Just wanted to let you know I've reorganized the blog a little, removed the bookshelf from the sidebar at right and added a brand new page--well, THREE of them, actually, so far--of books I think you'll find useful.  You'll find it at the top of the page, or click this link: http://artistsjournalworkshop.blogspot.com/p/books-we-like.html

Yep, there are some of mine (though not all those pictured above) but a LOT more from people whose work I love and have learned from.  (What can I say, that was the quickest photo I could find that had a lot of books! :-D )

You'll find artists, journalers, watercolorists, travel journals, calligraphy, how-to and much more.

There's an arrow at the bottom of these links to let you know there's more to come, and I set them to shuffle, so you don't see the same thing all the time, when you open the page. (If you don't see a favorite, look on page 2 or 3--or whatever!) 


I'll be adding to these as I go along...if you have particular favorites, please let me know and I'll check them out!

More Pentel Pocketbrushery!

Pental Pocketbrushes are fun, and can be used in a variety of ways, depending on how much time you have and how much control.  The one above was very fast, the jalopy was when I had a lot of time...

And yes of course I was inspired by Roz's post the other day!

The Starbucks people were fast, too...but nice and bold!  Given their black ink, they're not really the tool to use for delicacy or subtlety, but they ARE great for quick sketches.

 

Use it alone, or combine with other mediums...watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, you name it.  The one of my cats, above, has a Japanese feel to it, to me... 

I've also used a Kuretake brush pen, but it seems a bit more temperamental...

And I like my Noodler's  Konrad piston fill brush pen, which you can fill with the ink of your choice, but it's out of stock--I believe Noodler's is redesigning it.  I hope they do, I'd recommend it!

Moleskine books get second life

Moleskine books get second life, a photo by apple-pine on Flickr.

I got a few cahiers moleskine books (3.5 x 5.5) at some point - I carry one with me all the time in little waist pouch. I sketch in it if my main sketchbook is unavailable or if I need to be more discreet. And then I tear pages and post them in my main sketchbok as continuity of my sketchbook notes is rather important for me. I liked the size and simplicity of the paper - nothing intimidating :) Easy to share with kids around :) But I use a lot of them and they are pricy... So I decided to try this: use their inconspicuous cover (with a little pocket), put some plain, cheap paper inside, bind as simply as possible and see if these will work in the same way.
I filled first book rather quickly and now I am thinking about gluing it as a whole in my main sketchbook - it's basically filled with one story - I drew in it while on the chair lift during recent skiing trip :)
So I need more experiments to see if my hand-made moleskines-alike books would work in the same way as pricy ones :)
I made a few more today for myself and my sketching companion :)
If you ask me why not use just simply separate pages - I tried - but the feeling of the book in my hand is so much better :)