Welcome,
So let’s accept we all love materials, reviewing & buying art stuff, browsing, rationalising why we need more. There!! I’ve said it and it’s out of the way and we are not dwelling on the psychology about that whole topic. What have you been buying? - or in my case making.
If you enjoy my work here and in the notes it would really help if you could share and recommend this publication, thank you.
As I said in my last newsletter the sketching tool has now proved itself after some site testing. You can read about the details of it here but suffice to say I’m very pleased with it, so much so the amazon magnet order is going in soon. Here is a reminder of the little beauty.
‘Waiting for Fish’ is a life size bronze sculpture by Holly Bendall and has the message behind it of the importance of small-boat fishing in Cornwall1 More affectionately known as Dave & Bird he can be seen watching over the harbour entrance at Porthleven.
This little gallery of images is from the recent motorbike day trip to Porthleven. As you can see it was fine weather - maybe the last of summer. I’m sure some of these may appear later in one of my sketchbooks.
I did commit out loud to rein in my accumulation of art stuff a few newsletters ago and I think a diy sketchbook aid doesn't break that commitment. There was of course the little slip with the additional sketch book into the basket on Amazon, but that is minor right!
My paint section hasn’t really changed and I will make time to get some video for going through some paint swatches and colour mixing with my palettes in future episodes of these Materials edition newsletters.
Brushes
One thing I haven't covered before are the brushes. As with a lot of things I did probably go in way too enthusiastically with brushes before researching the topic. This selection is probably too large as many do not see that much action!
As you get to read about and use more brushes it becomes a very personal choice but the natural (sable, squirrel etc) more expensive brushes seem to get the professionals choice and the synthetic cheaper ones for everyone else. I stopped buying brushes a while back to settle on using what I had (see note at end of this section)
The Fuumuui brush set (orange wood effect) get all the use indoors with the four rounds getting the most whilst the dagger and larger v shape rarely see action. I understand these are sable but are the cheaper end compared to what you can pick up.
The next three pictures are the Fuumuui travel set with four nicely packaged brushes threaded in metal cases. These come out with me everywhere and the smaller ones gets the most use.
Then there are a small selection of x3 W&N Riggers No. 0, 2 & 4 from the Pro series for the fine lines indoors, with a W&N No.4 round that rarely gets used.
Next there are a couple of mid/low price point Proarte specials that are for detail although they don’t see much action. The flat lends itself to brickwork quite well but I tend not to concentrate on individual bricks in my drawings.
Finally this selection of flats was a very cheap buy for getting a lot of water onto the paper for my larger efforts.
This next selection of photos show the W&N Pro travel set with its built in brush. It gets a fair amount of use with the Fuumuui travel set above. This is the smallest brush for more detail when I’m outside with the sketchbook. It will either be this set or the ROSA Gallery palette.
This is a selection but also includes W&N 19mm Cotman mop and ProArte Prolene 3/4 flat that both see occasional use for the more traditional larger pieces I might try at home. A Cotman fan No. 4 is useful for some grass effects now and then. A few Cotman rounds No. 00, 2 & 3 also sit in the tub with a Daler Rowney Filbert Graduate No.4 watching from the sidelines most of the time! These are cheap starter brushes often found in beginner paint sets. Other Daler Rowney Graduate brushes are tucked away and come out when the grandkids turn up and we get stuck into Arts and Crafts!
In summary
I find the amount of water retention is important as this is quite frustrating when the brush just doesn’t hold the water and dries very quickly. It means lots of dipping into the paint or water. My other comment on brushes is how well they form a point for more control and detail in the finer areas you are working on. This is one area where I may end up improving my selection. I have my eye on the Silver Brush Limited Black Velvet Round range but they are a little on the expensive side for me at the moment. They have sat patiently in my Amazon wish list and will remain there for the time being😞
Sketchbooks, Sketchbooks and more sketchbooks
It would seem I’m not the only person with a penchant for sketchbooks. Have a look at
& her sister video production #3 One Line Wonders where the first 7 or 8 minutes is quite something and certainly gives the game away on how we should all feel about sketchbooks 😊 Very entertaining.Anyway, with my DiY sketchbook nearly finished (yay sketchbook review 💚) and the Seawhite of Brighton landscape still in regular use, I’m switching to a recently purchased unbranded 6” x 5”, with perforations, pocket, bookmark and elastic. I can’t even remember where I got it from but I do like the way it lays flat! (see image below)
I’m going to be using this to attempt some pen work drawing for #inktober. I haven’t fully committed to the 31 day marathon, or even a half marathon for every other day, but more of a 5k for a weekly sketch with a warm up and warm down maybe added in! So if you fancy joining in with me, you can find the prompt list all over the interweb or check out my chat thread where it sits as prompt #20. Pop your drawing efforts in there as I’d love to see them.
Some recommended reads
I came across this article by
called Outdated expectations kill creative dreams and is well worth a read. It may resonate with you in more ways than you think.Also within this read there is a piece by
about being the Artist in Residency of you local area or anywhere else for that matter, explained better in The Self-Appointed Artist Residency, Explained.It is a phrase I hadn’t come across much until I started with substack. I keep coming across it and it is very relevant to people who like to capture their surroundings in a sketchbook and really does help frame the perspective of creativity and what it means to you and what you may want to do with your creative endeavours.
Gallery
The gallery is being populated with my work regularly. I try and keep it in chronological order so there may be new stuff appearing further down the page.
Drop me a comment if you find this useful. I think it is for subscribers only.
Also…
Capture your World in a Sketchbook is a free newsletter.
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Thank you for reading, I’m always happy to hear from fellow enthusiasts in the comments. 👇 Anyway ‘till next time, happy sketching. CJ
https://porthlevenarts.com/project/waiting-for-fish-sculpture/
Enjoyed the article, good to see Porthleven, and I appreciated the links to other articles and videos🙂
Great introduction on brushes. Fuumuui brushes look really cool!