my favourite tools and mediums

My favourite tools and mediums have changed as I've got older but I guess that's just how we roll as humans, changing what we like and don't like. We discover what we find easy to use, or we just love aesthetically. We might get better at using one medium over another or prefer how one looks to another or see something shiny and new that we want to try which we've seen on the internet.

At school, a looooong time ago, just about able to remember that far back, drawing in charcoal, lead pencils and the occasional colour pencils. There may even have been some painting at some point. But pencils proving to be my favourite here.

Waaaay back in the 80's on a Design course life drawing formed part of the curriculum. My favourite medium then was charcoal. Charcoal appealed in part, to my lack of confidence and is very forgiving as it was easy to add and remove shadow, blend and make highlights with an eraser.

And then I rarely created art for decades. There were some occasional pieces for friends birthday party invitations, a border to go around a poem. There were a few life drawing classes that I'd been to on my own but no real immersion into creating again until this year. 'Owen the Octopus' followed the Cowes illustration, 'Luna the Lobster', 'Steph the Spiny Seahorse' and and undulate ray which hasn't made it to being a printed version. Currently there are a few projects underway but a way of completion yet.

Paper

Watercolour paper comes in hot and cold pressed. Hot pressed is much smoother and cold pressed has a lovely textured surface which you can see from beneath the watercolours. It's a bit easier to pen onto the hot pressed watercolour paper but I love the texture of cold pressed!

The colour of paper can be deceptive too. I prefer working on brilliant white but some paper is much more creamy in colour.

Fine Liners

Fine liners are not all the same and may be better quality from different batches? But they do dry out quickly on watercolour paper. My favourite are Sakura Pigma Micron pens. They have archival quality ink, are waterproof (great when painting with watercolours too) and fade resistant. The size I tend to use is 003.

Watercolours

The watercolours are shiny, colour changing and shimmering and give a great depth of colour if that's the look you're after. There are some amazing creators of the most stunning watercolours which I've bought through Etsy from The Art Spirits, Reneeissance Colours and Inklings by Katy. The video below is just one example of how beautiful these watercolours are and the complex colour changes.

There are still mediums to try such as gold leaf which I've had the smallest dabble with but wasn't that impressed with my first attempt! Second, third and fourth attempts may be made on a new octopus design currently in development. Watch this space!

Please do let me know your favourite mediums and tools.