Abstract Wash & Ink: Preclass

Welcome to the Preclass lesson for Abstract Wash & Ink! Here you’ll find supplies listed, as well as some bonus videos if you choose to pick up some watercolor sticks (they’re not required, but lots of fun.)

Before we start…a little housekeeping

I retain the copyright to the content you are learning in class. That means…

1. Do not sell or give away the concepts from my classes – you may not re-teach my instruction contained or created within these lessons.
2. Do not post a video tutorial or step by step photo tutorial of your own redraw of class content.
3. Do not repost any handouts you receive in class.

However…I love to see students making strides and taking this teaching and personalizing it with your own skills.

1. DO make your own designs and develop your own style! I love that!
2. DO gift your creations made with these techniques, of course!

At the bottom of each lesson you’ll see some ways to share your homework and ask questions, so that’ll be handy for you.

Video:

All about materials needed and optional for class; see links and more info below.

Supplies may be affiliate links – supporting my work with a percentage paid to me at no cost to you:

Watercolors/Watercolor sticks

You can use any brand and any colors for this course – but I do love Daniel Smith paints, and will be using their STICK watercolors. If you’ve never seen them before or known they could do more than be cut up to put in a pan, this video should help!  More info below….

Brushes

You can use any brushes you like – in the course, demos will be painted with these four vegan brushes, but something similar sized in your own brush collection might be just dandy. Video below on the brushes.

1. Tintoretto Feltracco Brush Series 1407 Mop #10 JACKSONS
2. Tintoretto Feltracco Travel Brush Series 1337 Round 8 JACKSONS
3. Tintoretto Feltracco Travel Brush Series 1337 Round 2 JACKSONS
4. Tintoretto Feltracco Brush Series 1408 Liner 3/0 JACKSONS

Pens

I recommend a range of widths of pens for these pieces; I love a fountain pen and refillable technical pens so I’m not tossing so much in the trash when it runs out of ink. But microns are great too! Shown below ar ones I used during the Ink Drawing Jumpstart class and can recommend them.

1. TWSBI Eco
2. Rotrings
3. Platinum Carbon Black Ink
4. set of microns

You’ll also want whatever white pen you like, and if you want to substitute a gold or silver or bronze pen on some designs, have at it!

1. Uniball Signo BLICK | AMZ | JACKSONS 
2. Copic Acrea paint marker BLICK AMZ 
3. My Acreas ran out just before filming this course so I made some other choices for white – any brand of Acrylic or Gouache with a brush can work too.

Paper

Demos will be done on good watercolor paper – some on Arches, some on Saunders Waterford. Since this class will help you practice what washes and marks look like for reference in other paintings, doing this work on throwaway cheap paper isn’t recommended – you could end up with blooms to fight, and that’s no fun. 

1. Arches Bright White Cold Press 22×30 sheet BLICK | JACKSONS
2. Arches Bright White Rough 22×30 sheet  BLICK | JACKSONS
3. Saunders Waterford High White CP 22×30 sheet BLICK  | JACKSONS
4. Saunders Waterford High White Rough 22×30 sheet BLICK  |  JACKSONS

The video below is alll about paper:

A few other materials:

Board and tape: You’ll want to tape your paper down to a board of some kind – I have an old cutting board I’ve used but found that thinner Ampersand Hardbord Panel 9×12 BLICK | AMZ |  JACKSONS is easier to maneuver around and comes in a variety of sizes. I’ll be using a 9×12 board with these 11″ x 7.5″ sheets of watercolor paper, taped down with Artists Tape.

Watercolor pencils and nail file: Watercolor pencils can be scraped on a nail file to create powder, which can make fun granulated texture in traditional watercolor. I pulled out my Inktense BLICK | AMZ | JACKSONS this course but any brand is fine.

Round objects: Find some objects around your home and studio that are the size you’ll want, depending on the size of your art piece. A compass will help with some things, but isn’t needed if you can trace a circle.

Mixing dishes of some kind: If you’re using sticks you can pull out your regular palette and use its mixing wells, or find a little pair of sauce dishes like these if you want. I’ve seen some at Goodwill!

Spray bottle: Not required but could be helpful to “float” a mist of water over your paper if it dries too fast.

Color wheel: I pulled out the big wheel for class – not a necessary tool but you may find having one around helpful!