Winter Wash & Ink Preclass

Another in the Wash and Ink series, this course is perfect for the holiday season and wintry projects! More techniques will add to  your repertoire for year-round art-making. Let’s talk about the supplies you’ll want to have on hand for class.

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: the supplies 

Supplies:

The lists below contain options—if you have other supplies you love, feel free to substitute, just know some projects could come out differently with alternate materials.

Paper

The demonstrations are completed on Arches ROUGH paper, and sometimes the bumpy texture changes the line thickness when it comes to the pen and ink work. Use what’s comfortable for you.

• Arches Rough 9×12 pad (natural white)
  1. BLICK
  2. AMZ
  3. JACKSONS
• Arches Cold press 9×12 pad (natural white)
  1. BLICK
  2. AMZ
  3. JACKSONS

You might also try buying a sheet – especially if working on a large number of cards for the holidays; it’s cheaper per square inch even if it takes a bit of trimming down to size. I start by folding the 22×30 sheet in half several times til the fold is broken, then tear it along that edge; tear sideways rather than pulling “up” to keep the edge from tearing the paper. Repeat that process til the paper is small enough to fit in a paper trimmer. 

Also note that the price often comes down when buying 10 sheets at a time. And watch websites to see what free shipping threshholds might come your way.

• Arches Bright White Rough 22×30 sheet
  1. BLICK 
  2. JACKSONS 
• Arches Bright White CP 22×30 sheet
  1. BLICK 
  2. JACKSONS 

Brushes

Only two brushes were used in this course’s demonstrations. A large and small brush of whatever brand should be fine, but these are what was used:

• Da Vinci Maestro Kolinsky Sable Round 10 (natural hair, pricey)
  1. BLICK
  2. AMZ
  3. JACKSONS
• Synthetic alternate: Silver Brush Black Velvet Round 10
• 1. BLICK
  2. AMZ 
  3. JACKSONS 
• Da Vinci Cosmotop Spin Brush Round 3 (synthetic, inexpensive)
  1. BLICK
  2. JACKSONS
  3. AMZ (size 4)

Watercolor

The demos in this course use traditional watercolor – delivered in “sticks!” (see video later in this lesson for much more on sticks.) But you can use tubes, pans, any brand, and and change up colors as desired. I’m linking to the Daniel Smith colors here, but many others will work just fine.

Daniel Smith Lavender (it’s a nice dusky sky color for winter):

1. Stick: BLICK  – JACKSONS
2. Tube: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS

Daniel Smith Raw Sienna (Yellow Ochre would be a fine substitute):

1. Stick: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS
2. Tube: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS

Daniel Smith Burnt Sienna (Transparent Red Oxide would be a fine substitute):

1. Stick: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS
2. Tube: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS

Daniel Smith Moonglow (a Purple, dulled down a little with Raw Sienna, could work nicely instead):

1. Stick: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS
2. Tube: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS

Daniel Smith Pyrrol Red (Anthraquinoid Scarlet would be nice too):

1. Stick: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS
2. Tube: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS

OPTIONAL Daniel Smith Sap Green (any green you have is fine, it’s barely used):

1. Stick: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS  
2. Tube: BLICK – AMZ – JACKSONS

Moonglow, Lavender, Burnt Sienna

Masking

Masking fluid covers an area to keep it white, and we’ll be using that. You’ll need a few inexpensive items. The fluid comes in different colors, and I prefer ones WITH color so I can see what I’ve applied; Pebeo will be used, and is least expensive.

1. Pebeo Drawing Gum (blue)
   • BLICK –  AMZ  – JACKSONS
2. Grumbacher Miskit (orange)
   • BLICK  AMZ
3. Daniel Smith Masking Fluid (white)
   • BLICK  – AMZ –  JACKSONS

To remove the fluid, a “pickup” is helpful; you can rub it off with fingers but that deposits too much oil on the paper for my liking – plus your finger can leave dirt behind too.

1.  Grafix rubber cement and masking fluid pickup
   1. BLICK   – AMZ
      

You’ll apply the fluid with any small brush – I used the Round 3 listed above, protecting the bristles by dipping it in a little dishwashing liquid so it rinses out right away nicely. 

Pens

Here’s another place you have lots of flexibility! In the demos, an extra-fine fountain pen is used; there’s also a very fine Pilot listed below if you’d like to try that out. Inks here are waterproof in case you need to add a dash of watercolor on top; but you can use non-waterproof inks/pens on top of the watercolor if not painting on top.

1. TWSBI Eco Fountain Pens Fine nib
2. TWSBI Eco Fountain Pens Medium nib

Below is a comparison chart of some pen options – for this course the FINE nib for the TWSBI Eco is the one used for 80% of the line work; the MEDIUM is used for some parts but you can get just the fine nib, or one of the other pen widths that looks close, like a Sharpie Ultrafine..

Other items

You’ll want to have a spray bottle (any kind) on hand, baby wipes, paper towels. Any hard surface can be used to anchor the paper, I use hardboard, and the tape I prefer is artist tape.) You may also want to have a hairdryer or heat gun handy to keep things moving! But you can also let your paper air dry.

1. Pencil and kneaded or other eraser
2. Artograph LightTracer light boxes – or you can tape the reference photo to a window and  your paper over it, on a sunny day.
   1. BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
3. Spray Bottle for getting that artsy look!
   • Holbein Spray bottle BLICK  AMZ
4. Baby Wipes or dampened paper towels as needed
5. Hardboard big enough to tape down your paper to
   • Ampersand Hardbord Panel 9×12 BLICK  AMZ
6. Artist tape or whatever you like to adhere with
   • ProConsole Artist tape 1/2” AMZ
7. Heat gun or a hairdryer for the impatient 🙂
   • Wow Dual Speed Heat Tool AMZ

What IS a watercolor stick?

As promised….all about sticks!

Ink or wash, which comes first?

A bit more info – we’ll be using the watercolor first in this course.