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Last week we used Arteza Water-Based Real Brush Pens and tried to learn the techniques necessary to make a successful painting. This week I wanted to see how using actual #WatercolorPaints would compare to using of the Arteza brush pens. It is an interesting experiment when analyzing and comparing these 2 products. Both mediums have pros and cons and will take practice to become proficient.
Supplies
- Strathmore Series 400 watercolor paper
- DANIEL SMITH Watercolors Pink Opera, Purplite Genuine Orange
- Clean Water
- Salt (Any type)
- Sakura Micron 05 Archival Ink Pen (permanent fine liner marker)
- Painters tape
- #10 Round watercolor brush
- Rigger or Liner watercolor brush
- Tape off your work area with blue painters paint. This step can be skipped if plan on using the entire piece of paper.
- We will be drawing lollipops and balloons. These are all circles. I encourage you to not use a pencil. We all know the shape of a circle. It starts and ends on the same point. Take a chance and draw it with your permanent pen. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
- You will need 4 lollipops and 4 balloons. The bottom of the lollipop is a stick, note: the closer the lollipop is to the front the wider the stick. The balloons have a bottom part that the string attaches to. Once again, you are encouraged to not draw this in pencil first. On the strings we are trying to draw curly-ques in it.
- I chose DANIEL SMITH Watercolors Pink Opera and Purplite Genuine and a little orange.
- You will need clean water and watercolor brushes.
- Follow the video and use the water in varying amounts.
- I explain why we can use orange next to purple. Make sure to try this.
- Finish your picture off by adding the grassy sections under the lollipops and try to add some salt to areas that have different degrees of dryness.
- I end by showing you how to remove the tape. I have seen comments from people and have been told that the paper is tearing. The key here is to use the correct type of tape and to remove it slowly one bit at a time.
Now we compare the last week’s lesson with water-based Arteza Real Brush Pens to this lesson with watercolor paints. The brush pens control the amount of water that mixes with the color, this eliminates the learning curve you will initially experience when using watercolor paints. These Real Brush Pens have a true brush tip letting you feel like you are watercolor painting mores than if you were using a water based felt tipped marker like the @Tombow Dual Brush pens we used in the Mother’s Day Card lesson. When using water-based brush pens, you have more reliable color consistency from project to project (you know that you will get very close to the pigment color readily available in the pen). Watercolor paint must be reactivated with each use and the color will vary depending on the water:pigment ratio. This ratio is a variable that you have the ability to control more precisely with practice. When we create a watercolor painting I prefer to be able to control the color concentration by adjusting how much water I use. For this reason, I will never trade in my watercolors. I can see how useful and convenient the water-based brush pens are and will plan to use them in future projects when indicated. I also see how they might be the preferred tool for others. For example, I do not want to carry my good watercolor brushes, watercolor paints, tray and water when traveling. There is great convenience with a pack of brush pens and a pad of watercolor paper allowing you easy access to supplies you need to create a beautiful picture on the go.
We look forward to seeing your beautiful creations and welcome any questions, comments or feedback. Share your finished projects with us in the comments, tag us(Sandy, Jacki, Gazing Through Glass) on social media, and/or use hashtags #GazingThroughGlass and #FreeArtForAll.
This is an honest review and comparison of these products that we purchased and is not endorsed or sponsored by any company or supply.