Watercolor Sketch weekend

The image above can be viewed much larger by clicking here.

A Sketchcrawl in the new year. Saturdays are for drawing. You look forward to it (feel the fates are keeping you from it) until the day of and then you're thinking Saturdays are for sleeping in. After you push yourself out the door it's all momentum. I had a great time. Enrico and I had a relaxing afternoon with about 60 other people in the city. Jamie Baker and Matt Jones joined us for coffee at Japantown's New People building.

I was lazy and didn't start drawing until way past lunch. This was a lady who was seated two tables away and did not deserve to be bothered by my gaze. I hope I didn't ruin her afternoon--much. There's no way to ignore the fact that I was drawing her and she endured my attention with grace. She was a lovely subject.

I love the grain of watercolor washes seen up close. To view her larger click on the link below the image. Oh, heck do this right here.

Skethcrawl

Watercolor Brush with reservoir: A fan's demo

Sketchcrawl would not be as portable for me as it has been without this little helper. These are the essentials: mechanical pencil, small sketchbook, watercolors, and this plastic wonder. I found mine at the Kinokuniya supplies store across from the Kinokuniya bookstore in Japan Town in S.F. I'm sure you can find it elsewhere (the Yasutomo Waterbrush I found online is not the same as mine but must work the same). I'd annotate these photos, but really, it's as complex as chewing gum. It will take some getting used to for traditionalists, I mean sometimes you just don't want that much water with the pigment--a small quirk of the tool that one can live with, I think. I hope this is instructional. Post a comment for specific questions.



Check out the watercolors in these posts (1 2 3 4). All were done with this brush on Ingre pages of the famed Fabriano Classic Artist's Journal.

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UPDATE:

Found the brushes, as mentioned by Justin. Went to Longs and found the Royal Langnickel Aqua-flo pack of three brushes. Small medium and large. Made in China. Quirks of Art Link

Niji Waterbrush by Yasutomo is sold in single brushes also at Longs. Made in Japan. More expensive than the three pack Aqua-flo. Maybe price equals quality. Art Supplies Online.com Link

Pentel Aquash is the one I use and, for my money, the best. Though I can't seem to find net source inside the U.S. Link Link

The "Website of Russel Stutler in Tokyo" has a rundown on his experience with the waterbrush here.

Wetcanvas.com has a thread on people talking about our fabled plastic brush here.