Karijn's Snailcolour Journey

Karijn's speedpaint, reviews and personal art stuff. Enter at your own risk and pleasure.

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Falling behind...

But just in posting things from YT. This is a second chance given to the Royal and Langnickel watercolors, plus a small colouring to test them out properly.

I have too many watercolors, I need to make turns to use all of them. :D

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Happy Halloween from the Book Witch

Art is personal, do not use

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Prompt from Dream332 on dA, “Last Wish”.

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The Alphabet Challenge

RULES: - 1 page/sheet for each letter - Try a different writing style for each title - Do a drawing from reference - Look on Wiki for an information about the subject that you DIDN’T know before the challenge - No less than three drawings on each page, if possible - Have fun

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If I had known you, I would have hated you less

Glorious, universal truth, for people and also for art supplies. Without any guidance over how an art supply works and how to best use it, we might end up making messes and not using said supply to it’s full capacity.

Or you can be like me and chuck it at the bottom of your pencil case, to forget you even had the audacity to spend money over it.

So, to avoid this happening to someone else, please welcome my 101 on waterbrushes or, the obvious things you could have guessed on your own but I made a video anyway, you’re welcome.

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Like Christmas

That wonderful moment when you open art supplies and you can’t wait to try them all out and don’t know where to start because you want to do everything at the same time.

*artgasm*

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Dearly Beloved

You know when you have found the paints you believe are the best ones? Not necessarily the ones you use more often or the ones you’re more comfortable with but the ones that, with a little time, could truly become the ultimate, perfect weapon to make your masterpieces?

Yep, I believe I’ve found them. The brand is Daniel Smith and, among all the brands I’ve tried (and yes, I’ve tried a couple or more), these are definitely worthy of becoming my most beloved.

I can gush for days over them. So bright, creamy and dreamy.

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Thank you @grannyspanties for posting such beautiful pictures.

Original Photo is by Genevieve Naylor

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Second Chances

Do I really need to give them? Well, if it’s a dick friend or horrid partner no, let them burn, but if we’re talking about art... Well, a second chance can’t hurt, especially if you change the parameters of the testing ground.

What I mean?

The first time I used the LeFranc Bourgeois watercolours, I hated them. I have written a horrid review about them and have tried to push them on my aunt, my father, my friend who paints, and I’ve never succeeded. Since I was apparently saddled with them, I thought that I should be wise about it and find at least some use for them.

So I used them coupled with my favourite watercolour paper. And MIRACLE! No, not really. They’re not suddenly my most beloved watercolors or anything, but I have to say that the result is not nearly that bad, and that they have pushed me out of my comfort zone in a definitely positive way.

(Or maybe it’s just the paper that is so awesome and wonderful and splendid that it makes everything better.)

Materials: - Paper: Clairefontaine's Fontaine, Cold Press, 300gsm - Watercolours: LeFranc Bourgeois 12 half pan set - Brushes: DaVinci Casaneo Round, Size 4 - Pens: Faber Castell Ecco Pigment Size 1/4 + UniBall Signo White

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Alternative Art Tools [Video can trigger epilepsy because of flashing effect of the recording]

Sometimes, after you have your imagination (the primary tool), paper and a medium, you kind of feel the need to expand your horizons and find other instruments that will help you in your art journey.

I’ve always been a messy sketcher and since I started working the day and had to start drawing in the evening, the old ‘put your paper to the window and trace’ method was no longer feasible. While I could only envy the inventive and resourcefulness of the people that build their own light tables, I still needed something similar.

This is a purchase I have never regretted, because I have used it a lot and for a long time and it’s still as reliable as it was when I bought it.

Italian Amazon: https://www.amazon.it/L4S-Tavoletta-luminosa-luminosit%C3%A0-regolabile/dp/B00J3NRAV2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470649184&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=huion+l4s&psc=1 US Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Huion-L4S-Portable-Interface-Active/dp/B00J3NRAV2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470649160&sr=8-1&keywords=huion+l4s

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WHAT CHANGED??? *pterodactyl screech*

I’ve been having some issues with my old camera, because while the pictures are still pretty good despite it being four years old, the recording quality sucks a little bit, at least for art purposes. Especially in this video you can see the difference between the first part and the second part, probably dictated by the lightning, since the first one was done at 11AM and the other at 4PM but I had hoped that the light difference would not make that much of a difference.

So I’ve been looking at a new compact camera, since my father has upgraded from his old Canon 60D and has left it to me. I tried to shoot some videos on it but... It’s heavy and I have an old, defective tripod that doesn’t really do much in terms of being steady. And since a good tripod costs around 100€ and a new compact would cost around 160-180€... Well, best to have two cameras, since I have found THE ULTIMATE SET UP EVER for compact cameras. Wouldn’t work with heavier ones, but for compacts it’s the best.

Also, the picture was done using a photo reference here on Tumblr. Since I lost the credits, if anyone has seen it, can you please provide me with a link so I can give proper credit? Thanks. <3

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Take a picture, it lasts longer

I have always loved photography, which for me is very representative of the ability to take a single moment in time, that specific subject, light and feeling and preserve it as it was in that moment.

Which is why I have always been very reticent to draw en-plein-air from a live subject. Because I could be not fast enough and the light could change, or maybe I change positions to be more comfortable and my visual point of view shifts...

Which is why drawing from a photograph has really opened a world to me, and now I can draw the places I’ve been to and have a more personal reminder of that experience.

The place is a small fountain on the northern east corner of Central Park, NY.

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Mix Supplies, See What Works

Sometimes you tend to buy a lot of art stuff to try out to find The Perfect Combo for you, and this leaves a lot of supplies to catch dust and be ruined in their old time. Which is why sometimes it’s nice to mix it up, use a favourite one with a less favourite one, or even a hated one.

This paper I’ve used, for example, hates water and has a toilet paper texture. Which is why I paired it with my most beloved watercolours and brushes. <3

Materials: - Paper: Tiger Watercolour Paper, 300gsm - Watercolours: Daniel Smith + Finetec Aztec Gold - Brushes: DaVinci Casaneo Round, Size 4 + W&N Series 7 Miniatures Round, Size 4 - Pens: Faber Castell Ecco Pigment Size 2 + UniBall Signo White

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Follina, Italia.

When the foreign tourist comes to Italy, it’s obvious that they will choose to go for the more important centers of interest for art; Venice, Rome, Milan... Unless they want to go to the seaside which, believe it or not, it’s always sand and sea water.

So I think it’s important to share also some lesser known small towns, just in case the odd tourist is in the vicinity and wants to see something not advertised to the wider public, but still worthy of being seen.

As always, the photo can be used for reference or stock, just give credit.

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Draw What You Know

Sometimes it’s hard to decide what to draw. Maybe you have no idea or you’re simply too tired to be bothered to think of something and so you start developing... Not an art block but something really similar, like an idea void and sluggish lazyness that turns into days of not drawing anything.

I’ve seen that something that works really great for this is to snap pictures to whatever catches your eye when you’re out. Everyone these days has a phone with a camera and hardly ever goes out without it. So maybe you see a tree that you like, a sky that has some bright colours, a strange house, a crooked road sign, the random person on the street, anything.

So when you don’t know what to draw you just have to look through your phone gallery and decide on a pic you should either draw or draw inspiration from.

Another idea can be, to draw what you know. Sometimes people just want to draw something stunning, aesthetically pleasing, something particular, that they don’t see everyday but I say, isn’t the motto, ‘draw what you know’? So why shouldn’t I draw my workplace, despite it being just functional and not the peak of architecture? Or why shouldn’t I try drawing my bathroom, or my unmade bed, or the contents of my fridge?

I say, as long as you like what you’re drawing, draw whatever you want.

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Branching out is not so bad

You might discover that, in fact, sometimes it turns out way better than the projects you are used to and you think they turn out well.

For me, landscapes, buildings and architecture have always been an unusual subject that I shied away from, confident in the fact that I didn’t really have any interest in them and they probably didn’t like me a lot either.

Strangely enough, I am more satisfied with them than other drawings I do, about subjects I am more used to draw.

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Haha, sucky camera and sucky set up, I swear I’ll do better next time. T_T

The 'Non Professional' Brands

When you first start delving in watercolours (or any traditional mean, really) you will always look for the best materials you can get at the most reasonable price for you at that moment. When you start out, a $15 brush costs a little too much, but after some time and some practice, it starts to be quite tempting and, finally, cheap and must be obtained right away. So you are faced with three kinds of materials:

- Student Grade aka 'I am a Professional Art Supplies Maker but I know you're starting and are poor and for now you can use these' Grade - Professional Grade aka 'I am a Professional Art Supplies Maker and this is the best you can find in the world' Grade - Mall Grade aka 'I don't sell art supplies, but I see art supplies being cool and hip and many people buy them so I am making them as well' Grade

I started out with the first, then evolved to the second and then... Then started experimenting with the third. Because when I go out shopping and I find something watercolour-y that doesn't cost too much compared to quality, I buy it. So the video is an unboxing and swatching of a watercolour set by Tiger, which is a Danish company of shops dedicated to house supplies and cute things you definitely didn't need but yeah.

Of course, it being a cheap set (€8) and from a company that sells everything BUT art supplies, I didn't have high expectations. I was not disappointed.