36 hour days

[altivo]

Did lots of stuff today, which kept me out of touch with news for a few hours. So, has the obligatory conservative religious loudmouth pronounced that the Chilean earthquake was God's judgement on the world yet? Have the right wingnuts tried to blame it on Obama like everything else?

For a change it's not terribly cold outside. In spite of a biting north wind all afternoon, right now it's just barely below freezing. And here I brought in a wheelbarrow full of firewood and stacked it in the garage so as to avoid a cold night. ;p

I think art is going to happen again. I got some paper ready using the proper sort of gummed kraft paper tape that I prefer, and two new sponges. A blue one for "has glue" on it and a green one that "is clean." See how small things can amuse me. One does have to avoid smoothing down damp paper with a glue-contaminated sponge though.

While we were out shopping this afternoon I hunted for Pitt or Copic artist's pens but found none. Guess I'll have to mail order them. I picked up a set of four black Prismacolor pens that will do for now, but they really aren't as black as I'd like. The ink is indeed waterproof and doesn't smear once it's dry, which is the big consideration. And they have nice points of varying widths and softnesses. Reading the label, I was amused to learn that Prismacolor is now owned by Sanford (who once upon a time made nice fountain pen ink and pens but now mostly make cheap office supply pens) who are in turn owned by Rubbermaid. Rubbermaid? Eeek.

Fed all the horses, cleaned up after them and the sheep, doctored Tess' dry hooves with Hooflex. Did not go out for lunch, but had weird ramen instead and then tonight Gary made Thai for dinner. That was good. Laundry is going, bread is rising, paper is drying, and I'm going to bed I think.

Comments

[mondhasen.livejournal.com]

Sponges! hmmmm I was afraid of their crumbling and leaving residues behind. I liked Rags-in-a-Box, on sale of course, for dabbing and such.

Rubbermaid? Eeek.

*Picturing a large inflatable... snicker* Funny name when out of context ;o)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, sponges aren't forever, of course, though the real natural ones do last a long time without crumbling. These are the synthetic cellulose ones, but I've used them before without trouble. You just have to reserve them for a single task and never let them be contaminated by anything else. Also make sure they dry out completely before storing them. A zip lock makes good storage to keep out dust and stuff.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Sponges?

Now and ad from our sponsor:

"Do you have dry hooves then use "Hooflex" and say ta tah to dry hooves."

I just use these pens I get from the newsagent and that my dad and housemate gave me. They're probably not the best but my art isn't good enough and I don't know what is good in the way of art supplies XD

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Actually I think you do very well in the comic style I've seen. Generally we think of comics as ephemeral rather than something that gets archived in the original form the way some art does, so any materials that work for you and allow you to get to the end format, like scanning for online, should be fine.

On the other paw, I find that using better quality materials makes the process much more pleasant and does reduce some frustration. Paper is a critical part in the watercolor process, and I've used some really cheap paper in the past. Unfortunately, the really good stuff runs as high as $10 or so for one sheet, which I can hardly justify. But I do find that spending more for the paper makes the work much more satisfying and it will probably last longer as well.

You might find it's worth shopping for a few real artist pens for your drawing. The ink flows smoothly, they don't dry out easily, and the black or colors are really intense. Faber-Castell, Copic, and Prismacolor are good brand names here. Or Ko-Hi-Noor if you really want to splurge.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, sponges. Watercolor is sometimes worked on wet paper, and you can use a clean sponge that doesn't shed crumbs to wet the paper evenly or blot it if it's too wet. You can also use a sponge to dab on paint when you want a natural texture for something like rocks or bare earth.