#a couple posca markers and a brush pen

[soggypotatoes]

so I've been saving up for a while to get myself this art kit for my bday present to myself, it's not huge but yeah anyway it came in stock so I bought it!!

it's multimedia and an artist teaches you through a workbook how they use the mediums together. ive started it, it's weird cause I'm pretty staunchly self taught, I never look up tutorials ever so I feel weird reading about how something works lol (even tho the tutorial part is barely a tute, it's mostly guiding you through messing around with the materials and how they work together)

anyway. point of this is im being tricked into using watercolour, my biggest fear in art, and it's going okay! I feel nervous with it though. esp since I'm still trying to just figure it out myself and the booklet doesn't teach you how to actually use it, so I'm playing it by ear. but part of why I avoided it was bc it seemed like a medium very resistant to like, just fucking around until you get something that works. but whatever. I'm gonna fuck around! and I'm having fun with it!

[the-victor-brothers]

Two Fanarts (FW and CB) in two different holidays: Independence Day (Fourth of July) and Tanabata (a Japanese holiday). I know both of these two holidays were already passed a month ago - 4th of July and Tanabata (July 7th), but it’s better late than never.

Hope you had a good Independence Day - Mine was good because my family and I went out to stay at my brother’s house for Independence Day/Summer vacation. ;)

1. FW in Independence Day/4th of July theme:

Victor F and Elsa were watching at the fireworks together, while they were both sitting on a picnic blanket outside (Yep, Elsa’s hand placed on Victor F’s hand). The rest of the kids (Bob, Nassor, Toshiaki, Weird Girl, and Edgar) were also watching at the fireworks. The children were amazed to see the fireworks on Independence Day night. (As for the dogs, Sparky and Persephone, they were inside at Victor F’s house together (after all, some dogs can be scared with fireworks)).

Pardon the picnic blanket - I tried my best while I looked up on a pattern for references. I also looked over the 4th of July picnic and fireworks for references from online. As for Elsa and Victor F’s Summer clothings - they were referenced from children’s vintage clothings (mostly 1950’s) that I looked up from online.

2. CB in Tanabata theme:

Victor VD and Victoria were watching the stars together at night - they were at the bridge outside from town. They were so amazed that they saw two big, bright stars together - represent Vega and Altair (Orihime and Hikoboshi).

Tanabata (meaning “Star Festival”) is a Japanese holiday that celebrates every seventh day on a seventh month (July 7). It was originated from a Japanese myth, Orihime and Hikoboshi (Vega and Altair) - about two lovers who were separated by the Milky Way (so, you can say that the couple were “star-crossed” lovers). So, every July 7th, the princess and the cow herder can reunite together by crossing the bridge (made by magpies) once a year. In tradition, people in Japan write their own wishes on colored papers, and then hang them on bamboo trees. The paper wishes were called “tanzaku.”

Even though these CB characters lived in Europe (England), I’m imagining that Victor VD and Victoria both read the tale of “Orihime and Hikoboshi” from the book of Japanese myths and folklores. Then much later on, they both go out at the bridge to look at the stars at night - to see the stars of Vega and Altair (And how about that? A Victorian couple were on a bridge to watch the stars - while the Japanese legend mentioned the bridge for a star-crossed lovers to across the Milky Way. Get the picture when it comes with bridges?).

Originally the background’s stars (in white) were going to be in different shapes and sizes - tiny dots and star shapes (small and large). However, I didn’t wanted the background’s stars to be mistaken as snowflakes. Then, much later on, I upgraded the background into a Starry -Night style (referenced from Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” - and even the “Cafe Terrace at Night” ) with few different colors (white, light blue, dark blue, and yellow).

Done with drawing pencils, art markers (Prismacolor, Copic, Fabre-Castell), color pencils, ink pens (including ink brush pen), and Posca markers. Enjoy.

[misschristineart]

(Belated) Valentine’s Day Doodles. I finished it on Leap Day (even after midnight I did edit it).

I watched “Beauty and the Beast,” “Edward Scissorhands,” and “Corpse Bride” for Valentine’s Day. So here are the drawings of the couples from each film: Kim Boggs and Edward Scissorhands (“Edward Scissorhands”), Belle and Prince Adam (Beast as a human) (“Beauty and the Beast”), Victor Van Dort and Victoria Everglot (“Corpse Bride”) - With roses (since these films mentioned roses - such as enchanted rose, bouquet of roses, roses from the backyard, etc).

Just to clarify, both Belle and Adam were carrying bundles of roses (Adam found one that looks like the enchanted rose). Pardon me for the roses were in front of the character’s arms - I had to make spaces for drawing the other characters in one page. Also, the red and white roses from the top ( from Kim+Edward drawing) were covered in snow (I used Posca white marker to make snowflakes and snow cover). As for the CB drawing, I blended the colored pencil background with an art marker.

Done with drawing pencils, ink pens (plus brush pen), art markers (plus Posca white marker), and color pencils.

[merchantarthurn]

hello!!! if you dont mind me asking what kind of white pen do you use for adding little highlights in your art? your art inspired me to start inking and coloring my traditional art and ive been having a lot of fun with it for a year or so now but i can never seem to find a good white gel pen to use 😭

you and me both friend 😭 I have a lot of issues with the ones i've tried and im thinking i might switch to just using white dip-pen inks (shirahama has given the brand she uses it's something like icy-white but i'll have to dig that out again).

the best luck i've had has been the following:

General notes of paint/acrylic markers - be extremely careful of smudging and drying times, both of the pen and whatever you have underneath. For any solvent-based mediums (paints, alcohol markers and ESPECIALLY linework inking) acrylic markers can pick up some of the colour or damage the paper and create smudges and tears. This is relatively easy to avoid so long as you wait for stuff to dry and work in small areas. The paint itself will take a while to dry so I usually let it sit for 30mins-1hr before putting it anywhere near my scanner bed. If you need to work on a larger area and the paper you're working on isn't pretty robust you should probably switch to a paintbrush and just use regular acrylic paint (which has a longer drying time).

I've also found that with smaller pen nibs getting a reliable opacity is an absolute crapshoot lol.

Artistro paint market pen - really good when fresh, but god help you if you go without using it for too long after you start using it. it'll gunk up and I don't know how to fix them. They are relatively cheap and come in packs at least. Doesn't seem to have larger sizes though.

Posca paint pens (various sizes) - far more robust than artistro if you store them right but regrettably more pricey. I've also found the finest nibbed white pen to be... deeply underwhelming. It never seems to have adequate pigment no matter how long I shake and prime it. By contrast the artistro gave the same sized line much more consistently, but at the cost of the pen nib itself being pretty unreliable.

Decobrush pigment - I've not got these in white so can't speak for them directly, but the colours I do have are pretty spiffy and it's a BRUSH pen, which gives you so much more control and a range of sizes per pen. There is some difficulty with low opacity on these though (since they're meant to be used with other decobrush markers), so I don't know how a white "corrector" would fair. The colour range is generally pretty gorgeous though, in the long term i'd like to have more of them.

General note on gel pens - I've got a love-hate relationship with gel pens honestly. I find I can get more consistent results out of them because the ink doesn't settle and you don't have to prime the nibs, but that's only if you can find a good brand... and then a good specific pen lol. I've also found an issue when you don't let the medium below dry properly re: smudging, but it also seems like if your work isn't boneeee dry (like overnight or multiple days of alcohol markers drying) the gel can very easily take on the colour of the pigment underneath, especially darker ones. Oddly this doesn't always show up when scanning, but it will look odd in person. Not always a draw back though - it looks great for white detailing in shadow.

Sakura Gelly Roll 08 - Not sure if there's other sizes (or their efficacy) so I thought I'd be specific because if there's one thing about gel pens the specificity MATTERS. I've got a couple of these and they don't disappoint (insofar as my expectations for gel pens go)

Uniball signo broad - this was my favourite until it ran out of ink. I cannot say for the uniball signo (without the broad part) which seemingly just gave up delivering ink and enjoys carving lines on the page and maybe delivering just enough ink that you can see where the ball is on the track it leaves behind. But the broad? I really liked. It honestly probably performs the same as the gelly roll but the pen just feels nicer to use lol, and the fact that it ran out of ink rather than dried out speaks for how much I liked it lol

as a general warning though - basically any gel pen or acrylic pen should be the last thing you do on your piece, because the second it goes down you will not be doing any more colouring in that area (unless you paint with acrylics). You can maybe use lineart pens on top of them once fully dried for at least an hour (ideally more) but it's very likely to smudge.

honestly... if you scan your work, there's no shame in cloning a white area of your work to use as a highlight post-scan. i always feel like im cheating until i remind myself that every digital-artist peer i have gets do to this at their leisure lol. i'd recommend getting a good scan/photo of the work before adding any highlights anyway because it's sooo easy to bugger them up and be unable to fix it (i say this as someone who never remembers and always regrets it lol)

examples:

you can see where the opacity doesn't quite hide what it's covering - an extra layer or digital correction would have been great. pretty sure this was artistro acrylic pen. but the unseen thing is i had to correct around the iris to the point where i said "well fuck i can't do what i want now" and just fixed it digitally.

dot highlights on the left and in/around the eye - definitely gelly roll. gel pens are really good for little pin pricks because you avoid the ball-point smearing things too thin and you can get pretty high opacity from that. also some more digital "help" with a bit of airbrush glow.

Definitely gel pen but i forget which kind, but I wanted to show what I meant by "picking up some pigments" and how can can be a boon, but also how sometimes the scanner just picks it up as white anyway (left is scanned, right is a photo - you can see it's purplish in the shadows)

[trashyandtiredsol]

Okay @kredena-dark you have unlocked an unskippable rant!!! :D

Some of this is just me explaining stuff, so don't mind that- actually idk I'm just info dumping rn, it explaining everything in full detail, but still explaining :P

Idk how long it'll be so- CUT TIME

💚Okay- posca pens!! Fuckin love those!! It's a liquid marker of sorts and there are thinner nib ones and thicker nib ones. There's also a very limited amount of color options. Which include pastel like colors, black, white, gray, silver, gold, basic color saturated colors, forgot if the green is more of a forest green or a more vibrant green tho :P

They can be so smooth and solid looking!! Which is what I like about them!! It's like markers but better!! :D

Really wanna get every single color for myself instead of only using them at school :/

💚 Woodworking has been going really great so far!! For woodworking 1 I took last year, it was introducing all the machines, taking safety tests on those machines plus ones for how to be safe in the workshop. It's where I made a box and a shelf were the drawer is now stuck in, which sucks, plus a phone holder with 2 holes for pencils.

Woodworking 2- very nice~ I'm working on another shelf, this time with 3 drawers!! And hopefully they won't get stuck :P. We also make a bowl, which I'll fully fully work on once my shelves done!! We actually learned a new machine for this!! It's able to make the wood rounded, so we can make a bowl and practice making the wood rounded.

💚Ink is a very nice tool for traditional art in my opinion!! You can put a blob of sorts and shape it however you want, then once it's dry you can use a sharpie or a pen or a fineliner sharpie pen to make something out of it :D

You can also just use the line pens and sharpies by themselves and create different values with thicker or thinner lines and I have shaky hands!! Which can really make your lines feel more organic in a way!! Also really helps me feel loose drawing!! But then sometimes it's rather annoying, like with digital art and when I want to make smooth straight and curved lines!!

💚 Speaking of digital art~

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HOW THAT'S BEEN GOING FOR ME SINCE I'VE STARTED DIGITAL ART!! :D

I think it was..... Less than a year ago? Around that long ago :P

Anyway- I've made myself my own Sona and it's great!! My hair color and just having a pixie cut hair works quite well with the cat ears!! And all the markings and just- everything that's gone into making them has been so great~

And the art apps I use!! It took a few tries with multiple other art apps and looking up which would work for a phone and what was free to use. But I found Infinite Painter and HiPaint and they are so great!!

I found Infinite Painter first off, and it's worked splendidly and hasn't crashed or glitched on me at all!! And the brush options are so nice!! It's a great beginner digital art app, it doesn't overload you with so many brush customizations!! Even though there still are plenty of customizations, you don't have to adjust them if you don't want to!! You can just change the opacity and size of it if you want!!

And then there's HiPaint!! I REALLY like the brushes this app has, it's actually so much better than Infinite Painter!! And you can customize the stabilizer!! I currently have it a 20%. I actually thought I'd have it at some higher percentage since my hands shake, but it's quite comfortable at 20%!! I could maybe slide it to 21 -25% , just for a bit more smoothness. And- this app has glitched out once before and it wouldn't let me do anything at all!! So I tried restarting my phone a couple times and that didn't work so I uninstalled it AND I FRICKIN LOST MY PROJECTS ON IT AJSJDJFJFFKDJF that fuckin sucked, but luckily I already posted the doodles I did on there and I screenshotted the sona sketch I did, but I did loose my linework and the start of me coloring it :/. But I did redo the linework and finished it all and it looks very nice!! So didn't really lose anything permanently!! It hasn't glitch again so that's good~

💚hmmmm I'm running out of what to add!! Might just leave this as is~

Idk I wanna show this as soon as possible so I can talk more about this with you Kredena!!

(this is mainly for Kredena, but to anyone else reading, I hope you like this all!!)

Ye you know what idk what else to add, probably all my head cannons and such for every fandom I've ever been in, but I don't even remember all of that rn so- this is it I guess, maybe at least for now!! :D

💚Update: BANNER IDEAS FOR MY BLOG HERE :D

I have some very nice ideas!! There's one with my sona wearing my in progress green scarf!! There's another with a winter setting with a certain way the trees would look that I really wanna try doing!! There's a flower pattern idea for spring!! I also wanna do one with a pattern with better pumpkins and fall leaves and candy corn!! For summer I'd probably do a Sona drawing with a sunny background with my sona wearing shades and, OH OH MAYBE STANDING IN AN OCEAN!! OH I LOVE THOSE CONCEPTS SO FRICKIN MUC AJSJDDJFJajsjsjdjsffjdjAHSHDajsjdhASJDHDjajsdj!!

[skeletonsloverockcandy]

I really like ur oracle of the moon card, what materials did you use? I haven't figured out yet what media I should use, the cards' matte texture isn't something I typically draw on

It was something I went back and forth on because the cards don’t have the absorbent quality that most drawing paper does, so I knew it would be tricky. I did a light sketch in pencil, and then I thought I would try doing the background at least in alcohol markers to test how well it worked. I was surprised to see that, unable to fully sink into the paper, it kind of defused like watercolor instead of streaking like marker, and gave it a fuzzy, blendable quality I kind of liked. One thing I quickly noticed though was that while the marker was still wet, you could blend colors very well, but if you put another color on top after it it dried, it would pull up the color underneath.

Funnily enough, I used this limitation to my advantage and used it to highlight and blend, and it actually looked great on the sense of depth and space in the beacon. The ironic part is, that I fully intended to use acrylic paint, but at each new step, I experimentally tried marker first to see how it worked, telling myself I could paint over it if I messed up. (Though I will admit I was slightly hesitant to commit to acrylics if it came to that because it would make the card heavier and the texture distinct unless it was very thin paint).

I ended up doing the whole thing in alcohol marker (I used prismacolor and copics) and blocking out the colors and sections as I went, and I was most nervous about the skin tones and the gilded edges of the beacon because those needed to pop right and might’ve been more fit for acrylic—if it weren’t for the fact that the details were so tiny that I might have lost my mind if I had to do that with a brush. After I let the marker fully dry, I used liner pens for the outside, I used a .005 mm if you’re interested, and white gel pen for the stars. I would let the gel pen get a bit dry so some of the dots were far smaller than others, with just a couple fully pressed in dots for a few of the bigger stars.

In general, I’d probably recommend an acrylic based paint pen, like posca, or else a thin acrylic paint if you’ve got a tiny brush and steady hands, because then it won’t risk smudging as much or stripping away the color underneath if you apply a new layer. But it will give you a more opaque look. If you like the kind of blendy-transparent look and feel of watercolors, I would use alcohol marker and then just be careful how much you sweat on the card lol. Do not use actual watercolor on it though, it will warp and ruin your card, and the pigment will not absorb into the paper properly. 

Also thanks! I’m glad you liked my card! Please tag me if you end up making one of your own, I’d love to see it :)

[greypetrel]

7, 23, and 29 for the writer asks?

Hi there!

Thanks for asking, these are very interesting! èwé

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

Right now? Writing for the sake of it. As per the last ask, I'm going to prose again after years of believing I sucked ad prose. Writing and posting it... It's great and it's happy and each single comment makes me so happy.

Also, the immediacy of it. Comics are LONG and difficult to correct. I love them and they're my favourite expression for but... Being able to correct a passage with two clicks, without doing collages or redoing something difficult... *elated sigh*

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

I'm at my desk with my laptop, it's a little dark wood dest in the corner of a room. Behind the screens there are 5 penholders full of various writing and drawing tools. Pencils crayons, coloured pens, brushes, markers, uni poscas. Also some knick-knacks: I don't really believe in crystals, but I like shiny coloured things. Under my desk lamp I have a pink agatha, it's oval and very smooth and I like to touch it, a labradorite with some lovely gold speckles, a small lapislazuli stone I bought from an Afghan stand in a fair in town which has the most wonderful, deep blue EVER. On the backwall are hanging poscards of Maigritte's paintings, from an exhibition I saw in high school and that I LOVED. Also a printed page of my comic The Last Bacchae that I made with one of my best friends and I like to see. Above, two bookshelves: on one there are my finished sketchbooks, some funko pops and Star Wars figurine (an Anakin watching over me, I'm particularly attached to his character), my glass case with my glass and some products to keep them clean, and a small box with the jewelry I use. On my left there's my bed, a carpet and the door. It's closed, so there's a big Freddie Mercury watching over me (I have one Freddie Mercury in every space I'm in). On my right, the window. It's night right now, I have blinders shut but some light from the outside courtyard filters through. Below the window, a small table with a stereo and way too many books. There's pile number 2 and 3 of books to read (mainly non-fiction), a box with my inks and ecolines, a couple of candles I like to light from time to time, and the stash of papers I use for comics, and the completed pages I have to scan/ink. On my back, a bookcase full of too many books, old university notes, drawing materials. And an acustic guitar lying over it, I should really play more (but I like ukulele best)

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

Other books and movie I see, pictures I find on the internet, videos or things I see outside. I majored in English Literature, so I tend to be more analytical than other people when reading books or watching movies. I think of what I liked about what I read, what struck a nerve, or what I maybe would have done differently. Or a song that evokes a particular feeling or image in my head, that I thus fill and expand. For illustrations, it's usually other illustrations, styles I'd like to come closer too, or photo references on pinterest or here as well music. I rely a lot on music. I'll try to recreate a feeling or a scene. Often, I'll attach a story to it. And that's how my eighty AUs were created.

When the inspiration runs dry I learnt long ago not to force it too much. Beside the fact that originality is a myth (no big author is truely original, they ALL took inspiration from someone else. It's normal and it's inconscious.), I like to just... Open pinterest, look at pretty pictures and study. Doodle something, no pressure. Watch a movie. Have a walk. I'll see something that will strike my imagination and here we go again. For some it may be harder and I won't give advices, everyone works differently. I just use creativity as an emotive outlet, I express myself that way. The times I was seriously art blocked where in university when I was really, really, REALLY stressed (and panicking). Everyone works differently tho.

[dennydraws]

Favorite Art Supplies of 2019!

Hello everyone! 2019 is nearly over and I thought to do something I haven’t done before - talk about art supplies!  Have you met an artist who isn’t going bananas over art supplies? Nether have I and I’m no exception! This year was kind to me and I got to try so many different things. I feel in love with drawing all over again! I’m so glad I went out of my comfort zone for some things, I kept what materials worked for me and gave up on those who weren’t my cup o tea without feeling remorse. Now my cousin’s daughter enjoys a huge bag of watercolor brush pens, pastels, chalks and other goodies I so generously donated. :’D  

But without further ado, favorite art supplies I discovered in 2019, GO!

1. Posca Pens

I saw various artsy youtubers use these but they didn’t seem like something I’d enjoy. Boy, was I wrong! I absolutely fell in love with the these acrylic pens. I felt like I had to push my creativity with how I build shapes and simplify a lot of designs in order to properly use them. It was so much fun and I remember doing artwork after artwork the next day after I got them. I bought a few extra, more thin ones after which I use for finer details. They are so, so vibrant and just make me happy! The fact I can’t really go into too much details with them takes so much pressure off the artwork and just makes me enjoy it a ton more.

2. Paul Rubens Watercolor - Custom Pastel Palette 

This custom palette I saw on aliexpress and thought it’s not colors I’d use but I found myself thinking about it for weeks until I finally ordered it. The paints looked like a cute little candy box! The colors were so creamy, mostly opaque and they felt like some mix between gouache and watercolors. None of them were chalky after they dried and I didn’t see any granulation. I absolutely love, love, love them! They layer great, they go great with one another, I adore this palette and used it plenty for these dreamy, fluffy, lovey dovey pictures. Definitely going to order another one if I end up using all of it, or try to re-create it with my own refills. 

3. 100% Cotton Watercolor Paper

That’s a bit embarrassing to say but as someone who was new to watercolors but practicing diligently I um, discovered this year that the watercolor paper I use may not in fact be the best watercolor paper to use. I was so confused! I saw a video called “It’s not your watercolor, it’s your paper” where the difference was explained. Needless to say I was very, very surprised and very very curious! I ordered some small and medium sketchbooks with 100% cotton watercolor paper and me, oh, my!! The difference is insane! It’s hard to pick any other watercolor paper now that I’ve tasted the sweet 100% cotton one. It soaks so much better, it keeps the colors so much more vibrant and the way the colors bloom... ahh! 

4. Spectrum Noir Illustrator Markers

This brand of markers I discovered through a Scrawlbox subscription box a year or so ago. I loved the colors but the marker nib frayed so fast. Later this year I read they upgraded the markers with different brush nibs and I saw my local art store had them there. I bought two colors and now I have about 20. They layer so well, they blend absolutely fantastic and the nib hasn’t frayed at all after using them for about 5-6 drawings so far. They are definitely replacing the Touch markers I was using them until now. Both brands being amazing, it’s just that I find the brush nib on the spectrum noir to be more soft, more flexible while Touch are bit harder but also feels sturdier. At the end it’s up to the artist’s preferences. Some prefer sturdier nibs and I do too to an extend. I think perhaps working with watercolors for a while made me prefer the softer ones? Hmm!

5. Erasable color lead mechanical pencils

Another thing I had no idea existed, ahem! I saw people use erasable color pencils in some videos and got pretty curious, what was that!? I saw none sold locally so it was another order from aliexpress for me. I got a couple of color leads aaand, I will likely not pick a normal pencil for a while lol. Unless my drawing is meant to be in darker tones, where I’d imagine a regular pencil would be nicer, color lead did wonders for my marker drawings! Absolutely in love and glad I got two packs of color lead to last me for a while! :D

And that’s it! It wasn’t a thorough review or anything, I’m sure you can find such on youtube. I just wanted to share my experience with new art supplies and maybe inspire you to try some as well or buy something nice for yourself that you’ve meant to but thought it’s not your kinda thing. Who knows, maybe it’s exactly your thing!

Thank you for stopping by, have a good week!  🤗

[artsnacksblog]

Repost from @knoxkat.arts ・・・ The colors in this month’s @artsnacks box, coupled with the cooler weather, has me ready for Halloween. 🎃 This bubbling cauldron was created using @kuretakezig_usa Cambio Tambien brush pen in Sap Green, the @posca_usa paint marker in Black, @fabercastellusa Polychromos pencil in Cobalt Blue, @sakuraofamerica Micron pen, @derwentartofficial Graphic pencil, and @kuretakezig_usa Clean Color Dot marker in Kiwi. This is my first time using @posca_usa paint markers and I am in love!! ❤️ The paint applies and dries evenly and has excellent coverage. My @kuretakezig_usa dot markers are so helpful in creating perfect dots, and I can adjust the size of each dot by the pressure I apply to the marker! #artsnacks #artsnackschallenge #cauldron #halloween #kuratake #fabercastell #fabercastellpolychromos #posca #poscapaintpens #coloredpencil #sakuramicron #derwentpencils #september #sketchbook #witchescauldron #artsupplies

[mysticsparklewings]

Moonlight Mandala‪

Hello, unexpected experimentation :D I'm chipping away at other, bigger projects that won't be ready for a little while longer, but I've had a fairly decent upload rhythm lately and I don't really want to break momentum so I whipped this up fairly quickly last night to fill the slot. I've had a mandala grid (think, essentially, a circular grid; you can find a few dozen variations if you Google "mandala grid") printed out for quite some time now, sitting in my swatch/resource book and waiting to be used.  After cycling through some ideas--among them a "quick" Animal Crossing thing since that's topical right now (which I tried and turned out to not be very "quick" at all, which is why this is here instead, but perhaps I'll revisit that idea some other time), watercolor, gouache, and desperately wishing I had a set of paint pens/posca markers on hand because I've been really wanting to try playing with those lately, I remembered that the Gelly Roll Moonlight pens are fairly opaque and paint-like for gel pens, and I very briefly considered trying a paint-marker type illustration on a much smaller scale with them before remembered the aforementioned mandala grid and also realizing I could use some of this toned-gray paper, too! For context, the gray paper is nice, but I don't use it very much because it can be hard to see lines that aren't particularly thick or black through it, even using my lightbox on the brightest setting. It's just not usually very practical for me.   But the mandala grid has nice, thick black lines so I didn't have that problem here. So I cut the gray paper down to size (it's 9" x 12" in the sketchbook, I cut it down to 8.5" x 11" so it would fit the grid and my scanner better), picked out four Moonlight Gelly Rolls, the Classic Black Gelly, and my white Uni-ball Signo, taped the grid to the back of the paper, and then got to work. Honestly, there's not much to describe about the process of actually drawing the mandala. I started in the center and worked my way out, alternating colors as I went and trying to pick shapes/motifs that I thought worked with whatever I already had. I did do a little back-and-forth where I'd do a new ring/row and then go back to add a little to previous ones, but the biggest change I made was simply when I would go back and fill spaces in with color and a couple of times when I added dots/lines to fill space. I have some adult coloring books that focus on mandalas, as they tend to be one of my favorite types of things to color, and a few of them go into greater detail about the origins of mandalas, specifically mentioning how they're supposed to be very meditative and symbolic creations and it's more about the process of making them than the end result (if I remember correctly, traditional mandalas are made with salt/sand and completely brushed away after they've been completed, but don't quote me on that). And I have to say, drawing this one out was pretty meditative for me. I don't think I'd go so far as to say relaxing, necessarily, at least not any more than making art usually is relaxing for me, but it did set my mind at ease a bit after a day that didn't start off the greatest. (Not the worst, either, but not the greatest.) If nothing else, it was pretty fun and relatively quick. (I think it took a little over an hour because I got interrupted a few times and I'm sure I was going a bit slower because this was my first time doing this.) I think on a subconscious level, one of the reasons I've been avoiding trying to draw a mandala, despite having the idea in the back of my mind for at least as long as I've had the grid printed, is because I'm usually not a fan of very technical drawing that relies heavily on perfect symmetry/spacing/geometry to look right. (Contrary to what my sea of swatch charts might have you believe.) Mandalas are usually so structured and perfectly lined down to the last dot; I think I was worried that even using the grid it would still come out looking horribly wonky if I did it by-hand, traditionally, and without the aid of digital symmetry tools. Much to my relief, because of the circular design, the lines draw your eye outward and around so that, while yes it is definitely wonky in some places, it's a lot harder to notice. It still looks really pleasing and the mistakes don't stand out as much. This is very encouraging for me. Also, I have to point out that I think a lot of areas with the white stripes and black dots look almost like buttonholes and thread, which is a really cool effect I hadn't planned on. I actually was going to add more white lines to the outer most "white ring" connecting to the black dots, but after I did the ones you see here, I noticed the button/thread thing and decided to leave it like that instead, and I'm still very happy I did. Honestly, this makes me want to do more experimenting with mandala-making, especially at times like this one where I could really use something relatively simple to make to fill out my upload schedule. Gives me an excuse to use up this gray paper, too, why not?  So there's a good chance there will be more of these from me going forward. Especially considering that Sakura just came out with 15 new Moonlight colors that I very much want to get my hands on at some point ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

[houseofvans]

ART SCHOOL | Q&A with DETH P. SUN

Influenced by the works of Richard Scarry, Charles Schultz, and the likes of Tove Jannson, artist Deth P. Sun’s interest in art and zines started early on–from drawing everything in an encyclopedia to creating his first zine in high school. From that point on, Deth has been a prolific painter, zine maker, and doodler, focused on making his art on his own terms. With his central hero– a genderless cat – Deth explores various  natural and strange worlds through a subtle narrative, created by his brushwork, ambiguity, and color palettes. 

Find out more about Deth’s art, his wordless storytelling, and what inspires him by taking the leap below. 

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself?   My name is Deth P. Sun, I’m an artist living in a tiny coastal town in Northern California, but most of my adult life was spent in the Bay Area, primarily in Oakland and Berkeley. I tell people I’m Cambodian, which is mostly true.

When did you begin having an interest in art and painting? How or why do you think you gravitated towards this profession? I’ve always enjoyed drawing, I think I kind of like getting better at it and learning about new things that are centered around that. It’s one of the cheaper hobbies to get started in as a kid. It’s not really a thing I think about too much these days. Mostly I wonder how my life was set by my 17 year old self.

How do you describe your work to people who maybe unfamiliar with it? Until I moved to this town I live in now, I kind of never had to. Mostly because I don’t meet new people outside of my circle. I just tell people I’m a graphic artist. If they want more info I just stare at them blankly because I think it’s kind of rude to ask strangers what they do for a living.

There are various aspects to your paintings from being narrative and storytelling to those that feature various painted objects and natural things. Can you tell us a little bit about the narrative elements of your works and how that came about? Yeah, I just like suggesting that there’s a narrative with my work, which isn’t that hard as long as you don’t stray too much from your pallette or reuse images to find in each painting. I kind of like seeing a whole set of paintings, that’s when you sense that there is a story.

When did you protagonist character start to take shape? How did that evolve and come-about? I’ve just always drew a character like that. Probably in high school. It’s been so long I don’t really remember. It probably came from my sketchbook. Most of my sketchbooks are kind of boring because it was just me repeatedly drawing the same stuff until I got better at it. I think I was trying to draw a cat and I drew something else that I liked.

In some of your other works, you paint collections of items from food, mushrooms, crystals to swords and old style cell phones. How did these paintings originate for you? Were you finding yourself sketching certain things that you read about or were you just obsessed with a certain object that week? My parents taught themselves English using Richard Scarry books so they were the first books I had my hands on. It’s just pages and pages of him drawing things with words describing what they were underneath. When I was younger I had this project where I’d take an encyclopedia and try drawing everything in it. I think I only got to M. Also when I was kid while drawing in my sketchbook I would just run out of stuff to draw so I’d go room to room drawing everything in each room.

It was just a thing to kill time.

How has where you live and its landscape influenced the work you create?  What’s your favorite thing about residing there? I guess it does a little, but I think I drew the stuff and then when I got here, I liked it a lot, so I ended up on this tiny coastal town on the bluffs. I started drawing weird epic landscapes after watching a bunch of Swedish films a few years ago.

What was your last adventure or walk through your neighborhood that showed up in one of your work, thematically or just visually? One time a friend invited me to a barbeque. They lived near the train tracks a couple of miles from me, so I walked up the tracks passed the cemetery and over a few tressel bridges. It was really nice walk. Met a turtle. They had to come down and get me because I didn’t know the path to their house, and it was getting dark.

What IS your favorite thing to draw or paint? Do you have an UNfavorite thing to draw or paint? I like drawing pineapples. I hate when strangers ask me to draw them. I want to punch them in the face.

When did you start picking up the paint brush and taking your works to the canvas? What do you enjoy about painting vs. drawing? The first time I painted was in my high school art class, I think like most other Americans. I was using tempera, so it sucked. But I started buying acrylic soon after. I think painting and drawing is kind of the same thing, or least I just paint like I’m drawing. I don’t think it was a strange transition.

What’s a typical day like for you at home and in the studio? What’s your process like? I fill out internet orders sometimes, or a wholesale order. Sometimes I draw. Mostly I get up and look at my email and go, “I have a lot of stuff to do and this is gonna suck”. I don’t really multitask, so it’s usually me filling out orders for 8 hours and trying to get to the post office before 4:30 while watching dumb shit on the internet, or me helping a friend screen print in my garage, or if I have a show just ignoring everything else in life and painting for two months.

A few years ago I kind of got burnt out of making a living with just painting. So I was like maybe I should make more t-shirts and prints. So I ended up moving to Fort Bragg and screenprinting more stuff and making more drawings toward that. But now my days are filled with me screen printing and filling out small orders or hanging out on my computer photoshopping all day. So now I’m in some other kind of hell.

What are your go-to art tools? A Pilot Hi-Tec C (They’re called G-Tec 4s in other places) pen. I use the .4, but should probably switch to .5. You have to have a light touch with them or else they’ll jam. 

Right now I enjoy using Mitsubishi pencils, but the cheap Mirado Black Warrior pencil you can get at most stationary store is just as good.

Been filling a sketchbook using Opaque markers. Posca’s are pretty good, but the color choices are limited, so I started buying Molotow. The Molotow’s can be refilled so they might end up being a better value.

Lately I’ve been painting with cheap $2 craft paints mostly because I don’t like mixing colors. Just bought a few of the Martha Stewart’s at Michaels. I still buy Golden and Liquitex, but it’s nice to mix in other stuff.

Not only do you draw and paint, you are always printing and creating zines of your works. Do you remember your very first zine you made? Are you working on a new zine? The first zine I made was pretty horrible. It was staple at the top corner, and I gave it out to my friends when I was in high school. I put everything precious in a box before I left for college and when I came back my dad had threw it out. At the time I was pretty bummed, but now I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that. I’m always working on something. Sometimes things take a really long time. I drew everything I ate while in England and Scotland several years ago and just now getting it all together. I’ve gotten rejected from a bunch of zine fairs, so there really isn’t a urgency to get it finished. I’m thinking of making one for the tiny town I’m in, and other that’s like a newspaper, but filled with just my gibberish drawing of words.

Do you have a favorite zine maker out there you’d like to share with folks? I’m pretty excited to  be tabling at Comics Art Brooklyn. Last year  I sat nearby Evan Cohen (http://www.evanmcohen.com) who I had just bought zines online from a few weeks before so that was kind of unexpected. He makes rad work. There was a few other artists there whose work I enjoyed. I came home with a lot of nice prints which I never really get from strangers. Stuff from Natalie Andrewson, Tiny Splendor, most everything Peow Studios publishes, and Jen Tong. I like this zine called Terror House by Sammy Harkham that I’d buy a few to give out to friends and the zines my friend, Evah Fan makes.

What are you constantly inspired by? And who are some of your early and current art influences? I think what keeps me going is random problem solving with how I paint. Or maybe the natural world. I don’t really know if I’m being totally honest.   I grew up reading Peanuts. It has it’s good moments. I think I became comfortable with not always having to be in the up. I really like Tove Jannson’s work.. I’m not a fan Tintin, but I like the way Hergé uses color and lines. I was lucky enough to come to the Bay Area while the Mission School was around and Yoshitoma Nara had a few shows, so it made it okay for me to make paintings the way I do.

What do you do when you are not painting, drawing or making zines? How do you find yourself unwinding? I watch a lot of dumb shit on youtube and take long walks. Each week I go to a game night where I do board games (Catan, Ticket to Ride, Dixit, Pirates Cove are in the usual rotation). I like to cook and have people over. I actually unwind by drawing and watching a lot of basketball while listening to basketball podcasts.

What advice would you offer to an aspiring artist who might wanna follow in your footsteps? Be nice to everyone you meet ever. Always try to learn. Don’t get caught up in what people think of you or your work. Know that if you keep on doing something you’ll get better at it. Pick up different hobbies. Make friends with other artists. Be open to all opportunities. Get used to rejection.

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks? Some random wisdom you learned through your personal journey or just while making art? You know I don’t know if I’m the best person to get advice from since I sort of carved out this weird existence. When you’re young, it’s easy to get caught up in weird things and maybe a person should just get caught up in those things. I do meet old school mates who have regrets about how their time in art school was spent, but I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way of doing it. I think there really isn’t any rush, and also if you feel like you “failed” you can always just get back up because no one is really paying attention.

I think I hear a lot from folks who worry that they’re too old to try painting or doing art for a living. And I’d hear this from someone who’s like 25 or 30. But there really isn’t a deadline to any of this stuff and also no one really knows how old anyone is. I think everyone’s trying to get to some sort of finish line, but really just existing and making work is all there is.

What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t an artist? In an alternate universe, what career would Deth find himself doing? I’d probably be working in tech if I’m being honest with myself.

What’s a question you never get asked in an interview that you wanna ask yourself and answer? There really isn’t.

What are your favorite style of VANS? My favorite Vans were the slip ons with a grey herring bone pattern on them. I had 4 or 5 pairs, but I think they switched to a smaller pattern because I couldn’t find them again.

What’s coming up for you the rest of the year or into the next? Comic Arts Brooklyn (http://comicartsbrooklyn.com), a solo show in January at Spoke Art (https://spoke-art.com) in San Francisco. I’ll have stuff at a print fair in Oakland (https://www.oaklandprintfair.com), and an art book fair in Berlin (http://www.friendswithbooks.org/content/about) through Vanilla Studios (http://vanillastud.io).

FOLLOW DETH | INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE | SHOP

[leonisdumbasallhell]

i hope you don't mind me asking, but what types of mediums do you use for your bigger pieces? is there a specific kind of watercolor? they're always so vivid and colorful. ive wondered what your process behind them was! :)

HI FIRST OF ALL, I’m sorry it took so long to respond to this, tumblr keeps deleting my response and i was out of town when you originally sent it, SECOND THANK YOU FOR ASKING ABOUT ART SUPLIES I AM A DUMB ART HOE AND I CAN AND WILL YELL ABOUT PAINT FOR 10 YEARS This is onna be a long post so there’s a read more

So for most of my paintings i use a combination of watercolor, which makes up most of the piece, ink, acrylic ink, acrylics, indian ink, posca marker, copic marker, gauche, colored pencil, gel pen, and glitter!

FOr the specifics, I usea varitey of tubes, mostly winsor & newtons cause they’re p cheap at Blicks, but sometimes I splurge a lil and get something fancy like holbiens. there are two of my fav colors that I use. 

and then I have 3 main palletes I use, and then paper plates for my other stuff cuase i don’t use them as often. I have one home pallete for watercolor and he is a chonky boy

These are my gauche and watercolor travel pallets, which are what i primarily use, I only really use my home pallete if I’m streaming cause uhhh, I paint in bed a lot lol. 

Here are some pics of my other supies includung my watercolors, gauche, markers and india ink. For actual outline inking I mostly use Microns .005-.05 mostly, (for twshlb I use .01and brush pen exclusivly) , and then I also have a  Pentel Pocket Brush pen. 

SO THEN I KNOW YOU DIDN’T ASK ABOUT PAPER BUT i”MMA TALK ABOUT PAPER ANYWAY

This is my fav paper evver, it’s arches hotpress watercolor block, I use the 9x12 and 10x14, tho i wanna get some of the smaller blocks for travel and also little paintings r cute. I love these because the pages are tarred together so that when you paint you don’t have to worry about the paper warping or about taping the paper down so it’s still portable. You just take a razor or box cutter and cut the tar apart and Bingo! Nice clean sheet with little to no warping!! 

So then I also have my sketch box which has all my sketching suplies 

it has all my microns, sketching pencils, which i use colerase wood pencils and Pilot Color Eno mechanical for sketching, a couple normal mechanical pencils, some crayons, my bruch pen, and my watercolor brushes, as well as a razor blade, erasers, a pencil sharpener (that i don’t use, i just use the razor) and some gel pens. and also some extra lead for the pencils i use the most (yellow and pink) 

Also, i wanted to say that you really don’t need this much or fancy of stuff, like if you’re just starting out or are a hobiest, you can use stuff thats A LOT cheaper, I also use Canson Mixed media paper which is much MUCH cheaper than the Arches, same with the watercolor, You can get like the lil palletes i used to use Yarka 12 pallete, which is really nice and only like $12 a pallete. I used that for YEARS. You don’t gotta blow the bank to make shit!! I’m just dumb and like my fancy shit. (wheres that gif of Contra Points talking about wanting to live in luxury, thats me with my $75 paper)

ANYWAY THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK I LOVE TALKING ABOUT ART SUPLIES I LOVE m Y art suplues so much!!! Feel free to ask me more questions!! Thank you, sorry for the long ass post lol!! 

[mindlesshues]

Hey guys! Its been a couple days. I have clearly stopped inktober so at this point 😅 but I will continue to draw more drawings in this format. I used Posca pens, Molotow acrylic markers and a black Pentel brush on a Handbook Journal sketchbook. . . #poscadrawing #poscaart #poscapen #poscamarkers #posca #molotowone4all https://www.instagram.com/p/CGVMLLlhGFN/?igshid=1k8ztlebxqpt8

[pictishus]

Hey guys! Since I’ve been asked a few times about my materials/methods (and it’s inktober, and TMI Tuesday go figure), I thought I’d make a post for those interested about the stuff I use. The majority of it is inexpensive, which is just another good point in that you don’t need super great materials to make something neat! (Watercolours and inks are an exception though because low grade ones will be muddy and less vibrant)

1. Brushes

Up until recently I’ve been using mostly synthetic brushes, because they’re inexpensive, the bristles don’t fall out all the time and they’re soft. Plus, if you treat them nicely, they last a while. The ones I have now are a bunch of Raphael squirrel hairs. You can buy them separately or in packs but I had to upgrade because my synthetic ones were on their last legs and wanted to try something a bit better. Sable is the best, if you can afford it. Don’t buy cheap ones though, the bristles fall out all over the place even if they do feel wonderfully soft.

I recently got a glass dip pen as a birthday gift, before that I was using literally anything that came to hand, though it usually wasn’t good for holding ink. Skewers, toothpicks, screwdrivers, chopsticks, bits of balsa, whatever. Everything makes an interesting mark so give it a shot!

2. Technical Pens

I have mostly been using Sakura Microns, and before that was using Faber Castell Pitt, and Prismacolour. Prismas work out a little too chunky for me though the refillable metal one does feel nice and weighty. Pitts are okay but they don’t quite feel...’perfect’ to me in my hand, if that makes sense?

I was using Microns for a long time before I finally upgraded to a set of Rotring Isographs. They’re probably the most expensive piece of my kit but worth every penny as they’re refillable and the nibs don’t wear out easily. (Micron is felt, Rotring is steel. You can buy them together or separately, I have a bunch of spare .2 microns because I go through them a lot.)

3. Inks

Okay so this is the most important part of my kit. 

I use bottled acrylic inks, like Daler FW, liquitex, and was recently gifted a Winsor and Newton Gold by my dear friend which is AWESOME. It works like brilliant watercolour, but you need to give ‘em a shake to mix the pigments. You get a lot of bang for your buck out of these bottles if you’re not throwing them casually at everything, and even then...

They’re relatively inexpensive but I’d suggest limiting yourself to a couple a time because the price really does add up. I have a lot now but I started with just buying black and sepia and going from there.

My water jars are literally jam or preserve jars. That’s it. Sometimes they’re salsa jars. Nothing fancy.

My palettes are usually old plates, or snack trays, like the family nibbles you can get from supermarkets? I usually save those up after parties and stuff, wash them out and use them. The egg holder thing was a gift from a friend and useful for working limited colour palettes. You can collect stuff like this and crockery from boot sales. (My cutting mat is usually expensive new for that size but was picked up for almost nothing at a boot sale...)

4. Misc tools

So here are a handful of other things I tend to use...mostly steel ruler and scalpel for slicing stuff up, some derwent sketching pencils I’ve slowly been eating at (this is my second set, they’re really great) and the derwent inktense I bought on a whim but honestly haven’t used very much. Mostly for touch-ups since they’re water-soluble.

A bunch of different erasers - kneaded, soft and plastic for different situations.

Paint pens - I have a white fine nibbed posca which I got recently and is pretty excellent. Same with the signo gel pen, if it doesn’t work on a surface, use the posca. There’s a sakura micron with a thicker nib, and it’s good if you use it frequently otherwise it has a tendency to dry. Just put it in a sock (with the cap on) and swing it around a bit, centrifugal force will make the ink go back to the nib - you can use this tip for any paint marker.

And finally my acrylics - these are the same I used to paint my slimes, though I mostly use rougher, flat brushes, with fine rounds for small details. I’m not fond of using 50000 brushes so I just keep like 3-4 and a few big ones. These acrylics are just common store grade stuff. Sometimes I buy liquitex but that can get expensive and as I don’t use them super often...you can easily pick up deals on ‘student’ packs like Daler Rowney or the store’s own and they’re usually just as good. (I swear by liquitex though, they’re pretty solid and do a great range of mediums too.)

That’s basically it! I have pastels and stuff I hoarded from the one time I tried art college (it’s not for me, and that’s okay. Some people are better at learning alone, find your strengths!) ..but I’m useless with pastels. They get muddy and messy really fast and I find it offputting to work with.

If you got questions, feel free to ask, and thanks for reading the obscenely long post!

[nouraachan]

Most Helpful Travelling Art Supplies

As a person who lives extremely far away from where I work, I spend about 3-4 hours in transportations daily. It is a regular routine, and it does waste time unless you know how to make use of it. As art is my fav hobby, I tend to search for solutions to find some time for that hobby during the day, and I found that in using the following art supplies.

Ps: This review includes only art supplies that I managed to find, and better supplies could be available somewhere else. The following art review focuses only on travelling and usability. So quality-wise some of these might not be your favourite.

1. Posca Pens

Posca pens are perfect to colour comics. You can easily carry them in a regular purse and just use the colours you need whenever you need them. Try to Avoid small paintings or drawings when using anything while travelling. If a speedbump surprised the driver you are riding with, you will regret it. Of course, if you travel by train like me, that won't be a big problem. Try using a water brush on the markers for a fade-out effect while colouring. It is fun.

2. Highlighters

You read that right. Highlighters are probably the weirdest thing you might think about while drawing or colouring, however, they do the job, and they do it well. As a beginner at work, I had no idea what I will bring into the office yet, so the first thing I ever used to colour and draw was a couple of pencils provided by the office and a Fabercastle highlighter set.

3. Travel Sketch Pad

You might wanna check the thickness and type of paper you are using in this case, but if you are using simple tools, any brand will work. I used to use a simple kids sketch when I had nothing but a pen and an eraser, however, mixed media paper became my fav after starting to use Posca pens more and more. I use Strathmore or Canson, mainly. I also use an Egyptian brand called Dokan Elfan sometimes. They are incredibly cheap and easy to find.

4. Fineliners

Staedler Fineliners are probably my favourite art supplies when on the way. I simply doodle with the colours, and the shaps look happy. I don't usually draw seriously on the road, kinda hard to focus. However, I do like doodling with coloured pens. I use a small set of 6 Neon Colors to doodle, and they give the results I need.

Generally, when using any art supplies on the road, I tend to search for the smallest and quickest to carry around so even the posca pens the collection I take with me in a pen holder is just 12 pens. The highlighter set is also 6 highlighters. I also mainly use 6x8 sketches to carry around. You can do wonders with too little, don't focus on the amount, focus on enjoying what you do.

If you want to check out some of my drawings, colourings, etc. Check out my Instagram