Category: Sketching

9/28/2022

How to buy a pen for drawing - 12 Questions

Pilot-Decimo-capless-fountain-pen-in-hand-of-Angeline-Marie-MartinezPicture

My favorite pen, ever, besides the Cross one I would steal from my Dad: Pilot Decimo.

Buying a super special pen for drawing means asking a bunch of questions!

You would think buying a pen to use for drawing all the time is easy? Here's some considerations as you reach for that cheap pen...

1. What color ink do you want to use most of the time?
2. Do you want the ink to be permanent or wash in water?
3. Do you want to buy cartridges to replace the ink, or use a bottle to refill the ink?
4. How are you carrying the pen? Are you carring it in a backpack or leaving it on a desk?
5. Do you like caps on you pens? Do you like the push button pens?
6. Do you like “heavy weight” or “light as feather” pens?
7. Do you want gel, ballpoint, fountain, or calligraphy pen? How do you want your pen to make lines on your paper?
8. Do you prefer plastic, metal, or wood for your pens? Is a combination of these materials ok with you?

I spent a lot of money on my Pilot Decimo pen, but I LOVE drawing and writing with this pen. This pen makes me feel special, even while drawing what I think is junk.

My Decimo Pilot pen is "retractable”! No cap to lose, no ink stains in my purses or pockets! I can refill the permanent dark blue ink easily by using its converter cartridge and a bottle of ink. It writes on all types of paper. I can use it make all kinds of lines, from think and heavy to thin and light. It’s a joy to use this pen. The medium weight and shiny blue and chrome metal makes me happy. This fountain pen is a luxury.

My pen makes me happy and I use it all the time. If you're into dollar cost averaging, this pen has been the best artist tool investment for me. Even my husband and better half Andy agrees with me about this pen!

If you're interested in seeing this and other pens, I invite you 411pens.com, the website for Cincinnati's store Appointments.

Below are a few more of my special pens...but my first choice for drawing and sketching is my Pilot Decimo!

Favorite-pens-photo-of-FaberCastell-Lamy-Pilot-Cross-by-Angeline-Marie-MartinezPicture

From left to right, FaberCastell caliigraphy pen; Lamy fountain pen, Pilot Explorer fountain pen; vintage Cross ballpoint pen

7/6/2022

Finding Watercolor Paint for My Sketchbooks

When your watercolor pills turn runny wet

In a few posts before this one, I showed how my watercolor paints melted, some solutions (no puns intended!), and maybe what I’ve found. In the meantime, my sketchbooks are full of just line drawings and little color.

I could wait until our new home is built. When we will have air conditioning on low in my studio. A week indoors with air conditioning and then a few hours daily outside with me and all will be ok.

I asked other artists in my Make Big Art Community and Kathy Whitehorn offered that I try Golden’s Qor Watercolor paints. I bought some in February and been using them since.

What I like about Qor paint is that the binder seems to be synthetic. I don’t have to keep my paint in a Ziploc bag because it has no honey to attract ants. I tossed this paint kit in my purse and it’s been ok: no mess. I have to get used to the paint…it’s different colors, consistency, saturation, and feelings than my other kits. Yes, watercolors and any paints have a feeling, the way they apply to the paper…lol, to me.

Next up is rainy season. Humidity ramps up about 10%...and every fabric from chair cushion to hung up clean tank top will feel damp no matter if inside or outside of the house. This will be the biggest test of my Qor watercolor paints. I filled up all the pans since I took this photo.

I think the paint will be just fine. I’ll check in with an update later this year, probably with a sketchbook page, lol! My sketchbook gets color, again!

Making-my-test-watercolor-kit-by-Angeline-Marie-Martinez

Making my newest watercolor kit. Maybe this one will work and let me add color while away from home?

If you missed the previous posts about my melting watercolors, you can find them here:

Melting Watercolors Paint Make Them Stay Home

How to Fix Melting Watercolors Paint.

6/29/2022

Ways to Fix Melting Watercolor Paint

Last post, I showed how my watercolor paints melted.

Here’s what I’ve learned to get my watercolor paints dry:

Use an oven at about 200 degrees. Why I won’t: we have no oven AND the plastic would melt.
Place in freezer or refrigerator. Why I won’t: condensation, lol.
Keep in Ziploc bag with reusable desiccant packs. Result: The desiccant packs need constant swapping. When I used the paint, the paint stayed damp. Damp paint and wet desiccant packs let the paint melt again.
Took the paint to Miami for air conditioning to dry them out. Result: This worked, but when we got home, it took a day to return to melted.
Keep paints in air conditioning or a dry room type of place. Result: I’ll never use the paints ever again.
Use something else. Result: Bulkier purse…which is why I began using watercolor in the first place.
Try different watercolor brands of paint. Result: I might have a winner, but rainy season will tell. If my new brand stays as “pills” during rainy season…but if not, I may try yet another brand.

So.

I’m not one to really give up on adding color to my sketchbooks.

So.

I’ve added color pencils. Dissatisfying between the sharpening and how much color it really adds compared to effort, but at least it’s color.

So.

I guess I have little choice than to wait until our new home is built. When we will have air conditioning on low in my studio. A week indoors with air conditioning and then a few hours daily will be ok.

So.

I’ve asked other artists in my Make Big Art Community if they’ve had this problem. Artist Kathy Whitehorn offered that I try a particular paint brand. I’ll be trying it…but for now it’s dry season…and rainy season will be the real test.
Being in dry season didn’t help the watercolor paint that’s already melted…as I just keep laughing!

When your watercolor pills turn into sticky caramel taffy, the watercolor paint stays home. I keep this kit and a few others inside a very well sealed Ziploc bag, flat, on a shelf. With this kit, I’m lucky it’s taffy caramel like…because my other kit’s paint turns into thick water and runs into the other pans.

6/22/2022

Melting Watercolor Paint is a Mess

Andy and I used to live in humid in Miami, Florida. The average humidity in Miami is between 50ish% - 70ish% year-round, like in Ojochal, Costa Rica where are living. The HUGE difference is that Miami has air conditioning everywhere. In Costa Rica, air conditioning is rarely found or used, no matter how hot or rainy. Air conditioning acts as a dehumidifier as it allows the air to dry out. Since there’s no air conditioning…the air stays humid…and…

Andy and I are renting a house that has NO glass in the windows. The windows have a decorative and practical ironwork and screens. We have lots of fans to keep the air circulating in our home. The fans keep things dryer and us cooler: double win.

The bad is that we also have a lot of humidity, no matter how many fans move the air around…so we use a lot of Ziploc bags to keep things as dry as possible. Sadly, many things stay damp…and there isn’t a way to dry them (no oven, no iron). One of these things are the watercolors that I loved to use with my sketchbooks.
I learned that watercolors melt. The binder (glue), that holds the pigment (color) melts when the paint is kept in humid conditions. It takes just a couple of days for most of the colors to turn runny.

I’m writing this not to complain but more to laugh. Laugh because no one ever mentions melting watercolor paints. I did Google this…and found only One artist writing about it.

In the meantime, my sketchbooks will only have blue or brown line drawings and little if any color. My next post will be how I can maybe fix my watercolor kits…maybe….

I opened this kit on Christmas Day as a treat. By New Year’s Eve, it was a taffy caramel mess. These are “pills” or “cakes” of watercolor paint. I’m sticking the individuals down to the bottom with a double sided foam.

3/16/2022

11 Advantages Of Sketchbook Practice Over A Painting Studio Practice

11 Advantages Of Sketchbook Practice Over A Painting Studio Practice:

Totally portable and on the go
A pencil and piece of paper are easily found
iPhone camera to jog memory if I can’t sketch right then
Everything and anything are fair game to draw
Junk is ok as it’s just PRACTICE
Sketchebooks become “idea warehouses” for future paintings
Color studies and combinations are cheaper to test
Written notes kept in one place, with the design
Reference materials created, from random words to actual design notes
I can just draw without hearing my inner brat voice insist that I follow any rules and lastly
Sketchbook data mining and data analysis (for all us geeks) give me clues as to what I’ll actually want to paint as the theme of my new painting collections.

I’ve been here before. It’s ok if I’m not painting. I’m in transition. As long as I can sketch, I’ll be ok. Besides, my Painting Studio Practice will thank me later as I’ll have so many ideas that I can hardly wait to be in there!

Want to see more of my sketches? Head on over to Instagram and follow me @angelinemarieartist

If you’d like to see how my sketchbooks influence my painting, Lisa Call shared photos of my sketchbooks and a little about how I data mine through them here:

Artists and Their Sketchbooks by Lisa Cal

sketch-restaurant-table-napkins-hand-sanitizer-sugar-leaves-straw-by-AngelineMartinez

Andy and I just ordered our meals and I had a few minutes to draw the still life that was all ready for me at our table. The sugar packets in a tiny pot, the hand sanitizer, the napkins with their holder. I’m using a Kaweco fountain pen with sepia ink.

fountain-pen-watercolors-sketch-Costa-Rica-AngelineMartinez

Before my watercolors melted, this is a sketch I did of different areas around us. I miss the colors, but I can’t pack them in my purse because they have melted. I already cleaned up the mess and stashed my kit away.

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