Mixed media paper sounds vague to me. What is it really for? In this review, I got to find out just how versatile mixed media paper pads can be. In this case, the block of paper coming from Fabriano, a company that is well known for making quality art paper. Let’s take a closer look.
White paper is certainly the tradition when it comes to drawing and a quick browse through any art store will give you an array of white papers to choose from, for many different uses. Every one of us has, at some point, drawn on white paper, and what one learns, is to use dark lines and tones to build up the form to create a picture.
I think I might want to be Diane Shearer when I grow up. Yep, a funny way to start a blog interview, but if you’ve had a look through her website and Instagram posts you will understand why a nature-lover like myself would be enthralled. Diane is an adventurer at heart with a creative soul and has found the perfect way to combine her two passions. Her images speak of someone with a love for high and wide places and remind of a birds’ eye view. I love the details she inserts so effortlessly into her sketches – flowers, trees and interesting cloud formations adorn her contoured images. She enjoys suggesting movement and life and I can feel the energy in her drawings.
The debate about whether brush quality makes a difference to your painting continues. Something along the lines of the amateur blames his tools if the work is not good enough.
Inktober is upon us, folks! What better way to start this auspicious occasion than with the release of our very own Artsavingsclub exclusive Inktober Art Box! We are so excited to be releasing this box filled with amazing inking art supplies, perfect for Inktober and professional work alike. We’ll be touching on a few of the items included in the box throughout October, and how to get the most out of them. Now, we understand that not everyone knows what Inktober is all about, so allow us to explain…
Somerset West was the setting for the biggest international art event in South African history. The IWSSA (International Watercolor Society of South Africa) recently hosted the 1st International Watermedia Festival, Colors of the Rainbow Nation, which featured 150 artists from 26 different countries. The exhibition itself took place from the 4-16 September at the Art Curator Gallery, Lourensford Wine Estate, but that was certainly not the only element of interest surrounding this event.
Coloured Pencil seems like a medium anyone should be able to master quite easily. It is – aside from crayons – most probably one of the first mediums you were introduced to as a child. It’s simple right – buy a set of 120 colours (how many can one possibly need anyway), get a good quality paper and TADA! You are all set to be a coloured pencil genius.
What makes watercolour such a challenging medium is that you can’t cover up mistakes as you can in other painting mediums. As watercolour is translucent and requires that you work from lightest to darkest values, it is extremely important to preserve your whites. In some cases, you can just paint around the shapes but when it comes to more complex or very small areas it becomes nearly impossible. This is where the masking fluid comes in. Essentially masking fluid is liquid latex which you can paint onto areas you want to preserve and protect from paint – and once it’s dry it can be peeled off, revealing the untouched whites below. It’s a bit like magic!
Pastels are a wonderful medium to work with. You only need to look at Degas’s sublime use of pastels in his ballerina paintings. You can work them delicately or with boldness and the colour is always powerful. The pure pigment in artist’s quality pastels is a pleasure to behold. It is a pity then to use poor quality paper on which to paint. I have tried many papers over the years of varying quality. Recently I tried out two pastel pads from Canson. Their Mi-Teintes pastel paper pads and Touch pads.
It’s probably the scariest three-letter word out there if you are just starting out in drawing realistic animals. I remember looking at fur and thinking it couldn’t be too hard. Just a bunch of lines right?
