A couple of weeks in the past, I challenged myself by altering my regular sketching package to a waterbrush (a big Pentel Aquash) and a small palette (see this text for extra particulars), and I made a decision that that is what I might take right down to Melbourne as properly!
I needed to see how lengthy I might final utilizing the waterbrush (as an alternative of my regular dagger brush) and the small palette (as an alternative of my regular palette – see right here) and which I might abandon first.
Are you able to guess which one it was?
I don’t like the truth that waterbrushes lead to flatter watercolour washes (with much less pigment events) and usually are not pretty much as good to make use of for giant areas. I additionally miss utilizing a dagger brush head.
With the smaller palette, I discover it exhausting to combine delicate washes (similar to a buff color – see right here) and customarily exhausting to combine bigger quantities of paint. Nevertheless it’s such a pleasant palette – it’s small, straightforward to open up and maintain (particularly when sketching standing up, which I did lots of in Melbourne).
I used to be consistently extra pissed off with the waterbrush than the small palette, so it will have been logical to desert it first. Nevertheless, I used to be very decided to get good outcomes from the waterbrush and was reluctant to offer it up.
So, I went again to my regular palette! It was MUCH simpler to make use of with a waterbrush, and I’m now comparatively proud of the outcomes I’m getting.
I’m all the time aiming to realize watercolour washes with plenty of pigment events. To do that with a waterbrush, I would like to combine washes with plenty of pigment and loads of water (greater than regular), so it is sensible {that a} palette with good mixing wells is essential.
As I’m utilizing lots of water in these washes, there’s all the time a danger of backruns. However as I really like texture and glad accidents, that’s comfortable with me.
Are you stunned that I’m nonetheless utilizing the waterbrush?