Pastels and Watercolors (and a few other art media)

[snowbear]

Thanks, Bear! I love the idea of you being able to have yourself an actual art studio to work in! I know that space is always a problem for a lot of us. Take some pictures once you get going!

I will. When we first moved in back in the day, I had my little easel set up there for the oils, so I’m sort of reclaiming the space.

 

[SquarePeg]

Finally got the urge to draw something. May even get the paints out this week!

I’m thinking of painting my rain barrel with some poppies. Maybe something like the colored sketch below.

 

[Brooklyn Albertan]

Great stuff. Two of my three daughters are big into watercolours. My son's more into guitar! I've taken a few analog shots of my daughter's brush blotters. They, themselves, become abstract art!

 

[snowbear]

That would be fantastic, Sharon. Acrylics should last a while.

 

[SquarePeg]

That would be fantastic, Sharon. Acrylics should last a while.

Yes going to use spray primer then acrylics and coat with the spray on outdoor finish to protect it. Princess is going to paint it with me so it will be a joint project. I’ve never painted anything with acrylics but she has experience with that medium.

 

[terri]

What a fun project! That should look so cool out there. I love it when homeowners bring their artistic sides outdoors. Take a few work-in-progress shots for us! That graphite sketch looks great.

I gotta get motivated, too. This past year has been nothing but moving, unpacking, and moving some more! I am about 90% set up in my art room, but have just not been sparked yet.

 

[SquarePeg]

What a fun project! That should look so cool out there. I love it when homeowners bring their artistic sides outdoors. Take a few work-in-progress shots for us! That graphite sketch looks great.

I gotta get motivated, too. This past year has been nothing but moving, unpacking, and moving some more! I am about 90% set up in my art room, but have just not been sparked yet.

Winter is very uninspiring. I’m hoping spring will change that. But spring also brings so many distractions!!

Was thinking of adding a hummingbird or butterfly to the barrel but I don’t want it to be too cutesy.

 

[snowbear]

Sounds like fun, for both of you. Can't wait to see photos of the result.

MLW may need to work tomorrow so I'm trying to think of something to do with Ada. I've got a record (old school albums) cabinet to empty and move out of the office space but I'll try to start on that tonight and work on it in the early morning. Maybe we'll make a run to the mountains.

 

[snowbear]

I bought myself a present, the other day: a set of 12 watercolors (half-pans) with an additional three colors. Here's a color chart from the set, and hope the put some time together this week for a new piece. They will continue to be "practice" until I'm a bit more comfortable with my work.

Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors, 50 lb. generic sketch paper.

 

[terri]

Thanks for this color chart! I can see this new-to-me Jane's gray, and yep - definitely lighter than Payne's gray and no hints of blue. Interesting.

It's been a minute since I've done anything with oil pastels. Everything is unpacked and set up from the move, but I've been playing more with collage/mixed media in the past year.

 

[SquarePeg]

Thanks for this color chart! I can see this new-to-me Jane's gray, and yep - definitely lighter than Payne's gray and no hints of blue. Interesting.

It's been a minute since I've done anything with oil pastels. Everything is unpacked and set up from the move, but I've been playing more with collage/mixed media in the past year.

I haven’t done much painting or sketching for the past year - most of my time was spent on redecorating and gardening. 2024 is going to be an art year, I can feel it! Princess is going back to school in a few days and I plan on taking over the corner of her room to set up my art table since my redecorating has essentially kicked myself out of the dining room.

@snowbear I hope you got a deal on those from Blick or similar. Those DS Extra Fine are pricey as hell!

 

[snowbear]

None of them are cheap when you move up to the Artist level. I’ve found that DS in around the middle. I don’t mind paying a bit more for quality: paints, brushes, tools, lenses …

Decent brushes and paper are not cheap, either. A Kominsky sable brush runs about $55 for a #6 round, my most used brush. I‘ll also wait on getting any of the “good” paper until I get a lot better.

i saw a demo on landscapes today that was pretty good. I’ll try a couple of the techniques, especially clouds.

 

[snowbear]

Part 2.
The guy doing the demo had his painting board attached to a quick release plate and the table/desk had a tripod ball head. A great idea for watercolor, and I suspect pastels. No reason you couldn’t use that setup in the studio (ok, basement) and your tripod for plein air.

I’ve got a couple photos I’m going to sketch out and see how they work for WC or even acrylic. I got a set of heavy body paints for Christmas a couple years ago but haven’t opened them, waiting until I used most of the student paints. Of course lazy lobster left a bunch of those when they moved back to ME. I still haven’t found the brushes I packed when we moved out of the apartment, the main reason I’m getting new ones. There’s a box of six WC tubes here, somewhere,

 

[SquarePeg]

Part 2.
The guy doing the demo had his painting board attached to a quick release plate and the table/desk had a tripod ball head. A great idea for watercolor, and I suspect pastels. No reason you couldn’t use that setup in the studio (ok, basement) and your tripod for plein air.

I’ve got a couple photos I’m going to sketch out and see how they work for WC or even acrylic. I got a set of heavy body paints for Christmas a couple years ago but haven’t opened them, waiting until I used most of the student paints. Of course lazy lobster left a bunch of those when they moved back to ME. I still haven’t found the brushes I packed when we moved out of the apartment, the main reason I’m getting new ones. There’s a box of six WC tubes here, somewhere,

I’ve got a couple of blocks of Arches paper on sale at Michael’s when it was BOGO. I try to practice on the cheaper stuff and use the $$$ when I feel like I’m ready to actually create something decent. The difference in how the paint reacts on the better paper is pronounced. That makes it hard to practice on the cheap stuff. The Canson isn’t bad for a cheap brand but it doesn’t lift as nice and doesn’t hold as much water.

 

[terri]

I love Arches papers. I've used their hot press watercolor paper for years, for image transfers. I love their oil paper for oil pastels - beautiful heavy weight stuff. Price has gone way up but it's just the best!