This was my last week drawing hands at the beginning of my work days. I can't believe it's been a month of morning hand sketches! I can definitely see a lot of improvement compared to the first week (see sketches in this post). I am still thinking about what my next subject for morning sketches will be. This week was kind of nuts for me. Between business appointments, family commitments to attend, work to finish for family, other work popping out from out of nowhere with very tight deadlines, and a lot of house cleaning, I didn't have the time I would have liked to paint. I did, however, explore a new method in the only painting I was able to finish. I've always loved creating collages and wanted to try to paint a composition made of various pictures meshed into one. I'll be experimenting more with collage painting for sure! Thanks for coming by today and I hope to see you around soon. :)
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*This post contains affiliate links. I receive small commissions for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. These commissions help me keep this site up and running, in order for me to keep providing helpful and inspiring art content. :) Are you considering investing in some new art supplies? Would you like to step-up your art game but want to make sure you're not wasting money on unnecessary tools? Are you curious if it's really necessary to invest in the highest quality supplies in order to improve your work? Preferred mediums and brands are going to vary from artist to artist. Though you can listen to recommendations from others, it's all going to come down to first-hand exploration and finding what works for you and the techniques you like using. It's through direct exploration than an artist is able to discover his/her personal likes, dislikes and style. This said, I 100% believe that it is not necessary to acquire the most expensive supplies in order to produce high quality work. A good drawing/painting medium and/or substrate can certainly make the art-making process easier, and it should be a goal to arrive at a point at which you're able to use higher quality supplies. However, you can and should always find a way to keep progressing your artistic skills continuously, with or without them. In the beginning I recommend doing some research prior to buying, in order to arrive at a brand and product that offer a relatively good product at an accessible price. Sure, you're bound to buy a few supplies that you will not like along the way, but as your journey progresses, you will slowly but surely "weed" out brands and mediums in general that do not appeal to you. And this is a beautiful thing because it means you are discovering yourself as an artist! In this post I will be sharing a list of my current favorite and most used painting mediums, sketchbooks, pens, and other art supplies. Though I am exploring mediums like gouache and oil paints, I've included only the items which I use on a weekly basis. I hope you get some ideas! *All of the artwork I'm sharing throughout this post has been created with a combination of two or more of these supplies. 1. Watercolor Paper I have been able to try out a few different brands of watercolor paper by this point. Though I am far from being a paper connoisseur, I am slowly reaching a conclusion about which brands and varieties I should continue buying and which I shouldn't. Three of the brands I have had a chance to experiment with are Canson, Fabriano and Strathmore. I have had good experiences with the heavier weight varieties of these brands because, even though I rarely do wet-on-wet, I do have a tendency to be a bit rough when painting and enjoy being able to apply many layers. Even though the Fabriano paper I bought was heavy weight and allowed for lifting, blending, and layering, it ended up being way too textured for my taste, especially when trying to add colored pencils. I have liked both the 300 and 400 series of Strathmore paper and hope to try out the 500 series soon. The Canson watercolor pad is my latest watercolor paper acquisition and I have just started using it. What I can tell so far is that its texture is smoother and it can take a beating, which I think complements my painting style.
2. Idea Notebook and Planner The reason why I've decided to include these two items in the list is because planning and keeping track of ideas has been a fundamental part of my development as an artist. I believe in setting plans and goals when trying to improve at pretty much anything in life and love writing things down. Because it is one of my objectives to improve my artistic skills, I set plans each week for myself. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you probably already know that I start my days with sketching specific subjects I want to improve at (last month it was the female figure and this week it's hands). In my personal planner, along with every other important thing I have to do, I include daily and weekly art goals that I make sure I complete. I also have mentioned that I love carrying a small notebook with me wherever I go so I have somewhere to jot down ideas if I need to. I bought this little red notebook at Target and my planner was ordered through Amazon. You can find the link to order this beautiful planner for yourself here. 3. Paintbrushes I have bought very few individual expensive paintbrushes and am using them mostly for painting with oils. For the most part, I use round and angled paintbrushes from sets that I have ordered through Amazon. I ordered this Artify set a while ago and they are still going strong (even though the ones I use most have chipped handles due to my cat attacking them mid-painting session). Their bristles have also endured my not-so-delicate usage as well. Most recently, I ordered this set of smaller detail brushes and they are working pretty well so far. 4. Small Mixed-Media Strathmore Sketchbook Almost every sketchbook I have bought so far is of the spiral, mixed-media variety. I like being able to use all sorts of different supplies in them for any kind of study/exploration I feel like doing. I have even used oils in this little sketchbook (having gesso-ed the paper). I love this smaller sketchbook because Strathmore paper has worked for me and I can take it with me wherever I go. 5. Prismacolor Premier Soft-Core Colored Pencils At the beginning of my art journey I was very in much into mixed-media. I still like the idea of combining different media in one same piece, though lately, I am pushing myself to complete more paintings using only one type of medium. I think this will help me improve in each specific technique independently. What led me to this conclusion was noticing that I was using colored pencils as a crutch whenever I couldn't achieve the effect I wanted using only paint, OR because I was being too lazy to continue painting layers. However, when a specific subject calls for finer details or specific textures, I do bring them out. I have bought myself a package of white Prismacolor pencils because they finish fast and I find them very handy.
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6. Winsor and Newton Cotman Watercolor Pocket Box This is my latest watercolor acquisition and I really love it! Colors are super vibrant and creamy. However, I have found that I do pull my Sakura Koi watercolor set out when I need specific colors that this set doesn't have (like gray and black). I'll probably go with Winsor and Newton when I finally decide to invest in fancier professional grade watercolors because I am loving them so far. 7. Sakura Koi Watercolor Set (24 Colors) This was the watercolor set that started it all for me. At this point, I have already bought two. For the price, you get an incredibly wide array of colors of, in my opinion, excellent quality. These are not as creamy as the Winsor and Newton watercolors, but they are by no means chalky or grainy. The color payoff is great. They are great for those who paint outdoors because of its portable design. 8. Drawing Pens Though I rarely mix ink and watercolor myself, I do enjoy creating ink sketches from time to time. I really like Micron Pens (who doesn't?) and have also used Staedtler pigment liners. I tend to reach for .3 and .5 points most. I bought the brush tip LePen Drawing Pen out of whim at my local art supply store and it has been a nice addition to my collection. I am still experimenting with it. Here is a sketch I created using a combination of the Staedtler and LePen pens (this sketch was made in my small mixed-media Strathmore sketchbook).
9. Canson Mix Media Sketchbook This is the third Canson Mix Media Sketchbook I have bought. I love them for daily studies and explorations using all sorts of media. Though I love spiraled sketchbooks, I will probably be buying more and more non-spiraled varieties as my journey progresses. Even though the paper in these Canson sketchbooks is pretty smooth and it does buckle, I have been able to produce great watercolor paintings in them like the ones below. 10. Blue Scott Shop Towels These towels are the best! I have used regular paper towels before and end up using so many! I use them throughout my painting process (they are great for lifting and drying when I get sloppy) and also for cleaning. I use them when painting with all different types of media, including oils. 11. Pencils, Mono Eraser, Kneaded Eraser, Charcoal Pencil and Blending Stump I am not a pencil/eraser snob. I create my drawings with anything I can get my hands on. I have a wide array of pencil grades in my studio of both Prismacolor and cheaper brands. In many of the pictures I upload to Instagram and Twitter you can see my used-up ugly erasers that I refuse to replace, for some reason. I enjoy gum erasers very much and these are what I use in my quick pencil sketches. For more realistic drawings that will take me longer, I use kneaded erasers and have also recently acquired a Mono eraser through Amazon that has worked pretty well for me. Mono Zero erasers (or similar) are essential for realistic drawings that require erasing very thin, delicate lines or small areas in general. I bought generic blending stumps and a kneaded eraser at my local art supply store that I use like a mad woman in my more realistic drawings (you can see the poor things beside the drawing below).
12. Wooden Desk Easel Last but not least, I just had to include this easel in my list! I ordered it through Amazon a couple of months ago and I have found it incredibly useful so far. It is very inexpensive and its design is pretty practical. The reason I was looking for a desk easel is because I noticed the perspective was slightly distorted in some of my drawings because of the angle I was working on them. Sitting and drawing on a flat, horizontal surface can lead to distorted drawings. Having my reference photo and my drawing/painting at similar angles allows my eyes to better create an initial sketch to move forward from. You can find the easel here if you are interested. Do you have any favorite drawing or painting supplies? At what point in your art journey did you decide to invest in more expensive supplies? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below! Hello! This week was a tad busier for me in terms of non art-related appointments and obligations. I have been meeting with different accountants in order to choose who will be helping me set up the financial/tax side of starting my own business. I have finally decided who I'm going with and am super happy because this means I will be able to move forward with my online shops very soon. Next week I'll be starting to teach my after-school acrylic painting and oil pastel extracurricular classes at the wonderful school I used to work at full-time, which means shifting my schedule around a bit. I am super happy to be seeing my old students again, and also meeting new ones! Teaching classes means having to do plan work and also buying/transporting supplies, so that's something else that I will be having to schedule in as I try to build my business. As some of you may already know (especially if you follow me on Instagram), this week I started my days with hand sketches. I really want to improve my hand-drawing abilities and will be doing my morning sketches of this subject for probably the entire month of September. Near the end of the month I plan to start painting hands with gouache. I also started a new oil painting this week and will be posting about it soon. Cheers!! Hey, there! This week I really felt like painting something different and challenging for me. I went for a bear and a dog, because I love animals and hadn't painted one in a long time. As you can see, I am still practicing drawing the female body in different poses. Next week I will be starting my days drawing hands in different positions because it is something I have to improve as well. I also included here an oil painting of pears that I finished this week. Still have a lot of exploration to do with oils, but I am enjoying them very much! Thanks for popping by and hope you enjoy these pieces!
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Do you love buying sketchbooks but find you rarely use them? Do you find a clean, blank page completely intimidating? Are you afraid of ruining your beautiful new sketchbook and stop yourself from using it to experiment and learn as much as you could? Are you confused about what sketchbooks should or shouldn't be used for? I am going to start out this post with a somewhat embarrassing confession. Until about three years ago, I never had a sketchbook. Pretty much all my drawings were created on loose sheets of paper that ended up in folders (if they were lucky) or lost under piles of junk never to be found again. What can I say? I got busy with full-time jobs that, perhaps were “artsy” and creative, but never really left me the time and energy to explore art for myself. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with daily responsibilities and forget about that one activity that we'd really like to spend more time doing. Keeping up with demanding jobs, family responsibilities, social commitments and making time for health on top of everything else, can keep us from pursuing activities which we know would bring us an immense amount of joy and fulfillment, but sometimes (unfortunately) loose their priority. I’m sure many of you can relate. It took me forever to fill up that first little sketchbook I ordered from Amazon all those years ago. I moved out of the house I was living in back then, got married and was extremely busy giving my all at my job, working overtime several days a week and arriving home exhausted. I had started trying out some new art supplies in this sketchbook of mine (mostly watercolor pencils and drawing pens) but wasn’t really serious about it yet. My priorities were still elsewhere. Finally, last year, I became incredibly inspired by artists I was finding online and I made the decision to make time for my own improvement as an artist. I made time to really think about what I wanted in life, re-established priorities and set my goals. If you're at the point I was in back then, feeling stuck, unhappy and not making any progress towards improving in those areas that are important to you, I highly recommend checking out my blog post titled Time Management for Artists: My Secrets for Staying Consistently Productive. In it, I explain everything I did to lay out achievable plans for myself that would allow me to steadily progress towards my goals, as well as helpful tips that will help you stay focused and consistent.
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So little by little I began investing in more art supplies and, this time, I actually used them. I started consciously setting aside time for my own art after work and on weekend mornings and it went on like that for months.
I began getting more and more excited about my personal improvement and finding my voice as an artist. I can honestly say the elation I felt from creating something and sharing it with the world was unlike nothing I had ever felt before. I started to feel like this big part of me that I had been suppressing for so many years was emerging, like I was finally becoming whole. I had never experienced anything as addictive as creating these little artworks that began filling my sketchbook (by this point it was a bigger one). The part of my days which I looked forward to the most were those moments in which I could immerse myself in my art and slowly peel back these layers that would lead me to discover myself as an artist. I haven’t stopped since. Later on, as I found myself filling not only sketchbooks quicker and quicker, but creating painting after painting on proper watercolor paper, I began investing in higher quality supplies. I am still in the process of creating my collection and finding those specific brands of paper and paint that I love most, but my persistence and personal drive to become better have brought me far from where I started. Why Sketchbooks Are So Important in an Artist's Journey1. They are a chronological record of your progress If you ever feel unmotivated or need solid proof of your progress, you can look back to your old sketchbooks and see how far you've come. You can also study them in order to find patterns in your work, as well as your style evolution throughout the years. 2. They protect your work for you If you are generally a disorganized person or simply a busy one, it is very easy to loose those sketches you create. Whether you are a professional artist or a hobbyist that finds joy in art, it is important that this work is protected and not lost. 3. They are portable As artists it is important to have the tools we need handy at all times. Whether it's a camera to take reference photos, a small notebook to jot ideas down in, or an actual sketchbook, we need to be prepared when we are out and about. It's important to keep in mind that drawing and painting from life is extremely important for those of us seeking to do this professionally. 4. They provide us with an informal, no pressure way of exploring I believe that in art, as in most things in life, it's more about the journey than the destination. As artists we have to fall in love with the process of exploration and keeping a sketchbook is a great way to do that. It is through smaller studies that we discover ourselves as artists, the techniques we love most, what we excel at and what we must work on, etc. One could argue that a finished sketchbook is even more important than the finalized pieces we produce, as it displays all the work it took you to get to where you are today. Ignoring practice and going straight to the canvas isn't going to get you anywhere. This is a mistake I made in the beginning. 5. They remind us to keep going When I am sitting in my studio thinking about how I can move my skills forward, I can hear my sketchbooks calling out for me. Maybe I sound like a crazy person, but to me, they seem hungry to be filled up with more work. And more practice equals more results. So it's a win-win.
Tips to Get The Most Out of Your Sketchbook1. Give it a date I like writing the month and year when I started working in each sketchbook somewhere on its cover. By doing this, I can look back to older ones and see how far I've come. It's easy to get frustrated on a day-to-day basis when a drawing or painting isn't going as smoothly as you were expecting, but when you look back and see the progress you have achieved, it can be very motivating to keep going. 2. Carry it with you everywhere I like having sketchbooks in different sizes so that I can take smaller ones with me whenever I'm going somewhere where I'll have a chance to sketch. I also like to have little regular notebooks to jot ideas down for future artworks if anything occurs to me when I am out of my studio. You never know when a great idea is going to pop up. Ideas are so easily forgotten and, even if they aren't used right away, they could come in handy in the future. 3. Make sure you buy one that is appropriate for the supplies you plan to use in it Do you like to do mostly pen and ink sketches? Are you into watercolors, gouache or other media that requires water? Do you like to explore mixed-media? Would you like a sketchbook that can hold layers of paint in it or perhaps even glue and other items you'd like to place in it? Are you planning on using things like gesso in order to use oil paint in it? There is a sketchbook for every need out there. Just make sure you acquire one with appropriate paper for your exploratory needs. 4. Write in it I love to jot down notes about mistakes and what I have to make sure not to do next time I'm attempting to draw/paint that particular subject or use that particular technique. Write down ideas that came up throughout the process of the piece you were working on. Write personal thoughts or feelings about what made you want to explore that particular subject. I believe all these things will contribute to your work immensely because getting to know yourself is a big part of becoming an artist. 5. Never fear the blank page/new sketchbook Remember your sketchbook is a place for you to explore and to learn. You aren't "ruining" anything! This is your personal space and you don't have to share it with anyone if you don't want to. If you always have this fear of perfection looming over your head you are never going to get the amount of work done that it takes to become better. Relax and enjoy the process! What methods/activities have you found useful to make sure you keep creating art and developing your skills through time? Have you ever gotten to a point at which you feel like you've plateaued? Leave a comment below and and let's help each other out. |
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