Hi Lovelies!
As promised,
here's an overview of my palettes, current journals & other painting thoughts.. .
Journals
Let's start with my fav journals & notebooks to sketch/paint/write in,
The one above is a belted embossed journal from Barnes & Noble which i am now pulling apart & making into a sort of Traveler's notebook/ Chic Sparrow kind of notebook which i'll do a post about soon
The one on the left is a beautiful small Apica notebook, which i really love but have a hard time knowing what to use it for ~ so far, calligraphy practice & precious words
The one on the right is a small-ish 5x7 inch leather journal with Amalfi cotton paper in it, its the first time i ever splurged on such an item & i saved up for it for a Christmas present for me two years ago.
It's from Barnes & Noble
The paper is exquisite to work on ~
i still have a few pages to work on but have mainly filled it with a $4 set of iridescent watercolors from Michaels & any cheap paintbrush i could find. Even so, the paper is a dream!
The top journal is a 6x4 inch Corban & Blair i got in Australia almost a decade ago ~ i loved the embossed ampersand & filled it from cover to cover with really old jottings for blog posts ~ i still love it a lot! I think that is one of the things about starting a journal collection, or any collection really, choosing pieces you will love for a long time! I don't like to impulse buy, i really like to look around & think about if i really really want the item, then I'm happy to wait for two weeks or two years if i have to, & work steadily towards it ~
{& pretty much every item in this post is no exception! the first, embossed journal i looked at for 2 years every time we went to the book shop until my sis finally got it for me for Christmas.. .Thankyou!
The bottom one is a dear little 3 1/2x5 1/2 inch panoramic book is covered in bookcloth which i love! i haven't used it yet but ~ it is probably one of the only spur of the moment buys, because, it was just a few dollars & black bookcloth! can't go wrong!
I'm thinking of creating illuminated letters for all the alphabet in it.. ,
This moleskin i got because i love the rounded edges that come out beyond the cover ~ its really lovely. I thought it was just a dot grid but the paper is slightly grey inside & apparently can be used with a special pen to create vectorizable images. I'll have to try that out with a frame at some point ~
This is a slightly larger Apica blank notebook & again, i love it & have used it for some sketches ~ the paper is silky smooth &
i love the ornate frame on the front!
These blank white moleskins are my fav at the moment ~ so good for quick sketches or to take places as they are slim & hardy. I've used them on cartrips, sitting in hospital waiting rooms, at the park etc
i want to use silver ink from a frame on one & also create an ornate plaster frame/door on one at some point ~
This one you see a lot of! It's about 8x10 inch with another inch overhand from the handmade signatures bursting out the edges.
i made it as a prototype & hope one day to offer these for sale!
I made it from Ostrich print leather, gifted French beaded lace, vintage stamen, silk, handmade paper & stitched the emblem on the front from a bit of satin ribbon & silk thread.
A large squared moleskin to do callig practice & work on some needlepoint pattern ideas ~
On the left, a notebook from Target my sister brought home, it has been a dear little notebook indeed!
Ink Wells/Paint Water
usually we use old cups or plastic cups, but i've started to collect beautiful vessels to hold the water or ink ~
both the silver ones i got from Williams Sonoma on special & the other one is a ceramic gravy boat i think which was from Target on sale as well
Inks & Pigments
These are my fav fav fav inks for calligraphy,
Winsor & Newton gold
& Dr Ph Martins Iridescent Silver {it's more like a pearlized white when used for painting which is my fav!}
Really Love!
They also work perfectly to use for painting so win win!
mixing them with gum arabic hasn't worked so far, i usually just put 20 drops or so directly onto the palette & use it as i go
Pigments is something new to me & so far these are my favs,
Schmicke Bronze Pale gold
It really is the perfect gold colour!
I debated for a while whether to get this as it is a little pricey,
but i have to say, i think it will last a year or two which makes it bit more affordable
& IT IS EXQUISITE!!!
just mix it with water & away you go.
i have also been mixing it with gum arabic & vegetable glycerin in my palette so it doesn't dry & and so far, so good!
Also, the jar & lid are beautiful!
The actual Bronze on the right is really exquisite as well & of the same caliber as the gold. Again, mix with water & you're off! So So precious!
& on to a new subject that is fascinating me lately:
Palettes
Here are the palettes next to each other for size comparison ~
On the far left, my current fav for all the colors it fits ~ a metal Artium palette with 60 wells, filled with Holbein Artists watercolor.
Next to that, the Mission Gold, this was my first attempt at buying watercolor & i liked the fact that we got 60 actual tubes which means we could make up palettes for everyone from the one purchase. I only dabbed out a small amount which has lasted a long time & theres still enough to make palettes for at least 3 other people with spare! {the actual plastic palette itself though isn't really my fav}
Next to that is the Winsor & Newton Travel Palette which is the first ever palette i bought, for my sister actually, & has been very well used for about 3 1/2 years, its got a lovely selection of colors & its in a beautiful off white palette!
Under that is an 11 well ceramic palette which i love to be able to mix in or pull out when i need a small palette or don't have much room ~
On the far right are two metal palettes ~
the bottom one is the Whisky Painters & is quite expensive, but the quality is really really beautiful! it would have to be my fav but the larger ones are really hefty in price! I love the shape & the feel, although i was shocked how tiny it was when it came!
These are the colors i ended up choosing to place in the largest palette vs the smallest.
Its hard to figure out where to put everything! Then for ones i knew i wanted a softer color from i mixed white or pearlized white with half the paint right on the palette & let that dry out. It's important to let the palette dry overnight so you don't waste a lot of paint!
Also, if you're like me, you will probably need a couple more tubes of white, or pearlized white {my fav!}
The middle one i bought & wasn't happy with the quality of paint so i pulled the half pans out & was going to refill them because it actually cost less with the paint than to buy the metal palette. Now i want to get the whisky paint palette full & half pan refills to put in there because they are a lot better quality ~ so at some point thats the plan for that one. I want to create a compact travel palette with it with lots of floral colors.
The tiny palette on the right is like my travel sized portrait palette/urban sketching palette for all those beautiful old stone buildings i love so much!
a few first trys with the new paints in an old journal <3
i actually love to leave the amalfi cotton paper journal open on the palette sometimes, its just a pretty bundle to behold!
This page was done a few years ago with those cheap paints i mentioned & some Martha Stewart acrylics, just for comparison ~
So, doing this post, i realized i could probably do a couple more of these about paints, paintbrushes & different notebooks i love & also mixing paints into the pans etc
if i left out anything, feel free to ask!
Have a Lovely Day!!!
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