It’s time for PART 2 of this blog post from June of last year:  My watercolors, brushes, and other painting tools

Since that entry, I’ve added *just* a few more paints to my arsenal. Most of my watercolors at the time were student grade pan sets, but after practicing for months, I thought I deserved a good selection of artist grade watercolors that I can use for the commissions that were surprisingly starting to trickle in (thanks to my posting of work online). 🙂

After consulting with friends, doing lots of research on sites like Handprint and WetCanvas AND considering what I can afford, I chose the brands ShinHan PWC (Premium Watercolors) and Holbein. These two Asian brands are known for creamy, brilliant colors that are quite similar in behavior and quality. I chose tubes because I have a tendency to mix pan colors on the pans themselves and after a while, I can’t tell which is which anymore. Obviously I won’t have that problem with tubes if I squeeze out just enough for what I need at the time of painting.

ShinHan PWC Extra Fine Artists Watercolors in 5ml and 15ml tubes — Permanent Red, Vandyke Brown, Ultramarine Deep, Mineral Violet, Viridian, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Permanent Magenta, and Marine Blue. (Locally available from ArtWhale)

I already have a few tubes of the ShinHan Korean Colors which I already reviewed here and here. PWC is ShinHan’s top-of-the-line paint and is made with high quality pigments and the finest grade gum arabic which produces beautifully transparent but vivid, fade-resistant colors, as you can see in the swatches above. I also love how I can mix a variety of interesting hues from just those few colors in my palette.

Can’t get over how intensely pigmented these premium #ShinHanArt PWC paints are and they’re available from @artwhaleph, in sets and in individual tubes, starting today! ?? I received some tubes to test but I couldn’t help buying a few more to complete my #limitedpalette artist grade set. (Rainbow colors + Van Dyke Brown, not in photo) ?? _____ I’ll be at @steadysundaybazaaro to sell prints & shrinkplastic goodies from 12-6pm at TomatoKick Malingap St. There’ll be lots of artisan food & other indie arts & craft goods. Come and join us! ? #SteadySundayBazaaro

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Sep 26, 2015 at 5:01pm PDT

And here’s a comparison test I did sometime ago where you can clearly see the difference between ShinHan Korean Colors and ShinHan PWC.

Quick sketches to compare #ShinHanArt Korean Watercolors with ShinHan PWC. ? Both offer intense pigmentation but the Korean Colors are creamier and more opaque while the PWC paints are more transparent, blend easily and flow more fluidly. There are advantages to both so I guess it really depends on how you intend to use them. ?? (Both are available through @artwhaleph)

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Nov 13, 2015 at 12:55am PST

In my previous blog post, I mentioned that I already had a few tubes of Holbein Watercolors but that I haven’t really used them much because of the colors I picked. Since that time I purchased a travel set containing colors from their 12-tube set in pan form. The set also includes a little flask, two synthetic hair travel brushes, sponges, and receptacles for water for easy use when painting plein air.

Holbein watercolors in the Pro-Compo Mini II Travel Kit – Burnt Sienna, Chinese White, Crimson Lake, Permanent Green #1, Prussian Blue, Viridian, Burnt Umber, Cobalt Blue, Ivory Black, Permanent Yellow Light, Vermilion, and Yellow Ochre + 5ml tubes of Compose Blue, Cobalt Turquoise Light, Lilac, Violet Grey, Lavender, Jaune Brilliant #2, Opera, Leaf Green, Permanent Violet, and Indigo. (Available from Deovir Arts though my travel kit is from an indie seller on IG)

Holbein, like ShinHan PWC, is wonderfully creamy and vibrant and re-wets easily. Just dab your wet brush onto the dry paint and the color will leap into your brush like metal files to a magnet. 😀 It also produces beautiful transparent washes and intense hues. I’m very happy with my choice of paints.

Here’s something I painted entirely with Holbein:

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Jan 27, 2016 at 12:13am PST

(Lots more on Instagram as always.)

And now for the brushes I’ve added to my tool kit —

From left to right: Winsor & Newton Foundation Brushes #2, 4, and 6; Silver Brush Black Velvet #8 , and Escoda Reserva #8 which I keep in a Tweed & Twine rollup tool case

• The W&N brushes are actually from my workshop kits (so if you signed up for my Watercolor Portrait Workshop on Feb.20 at Hey Kessy, you’ll be receiving a set of these!). I got a set for myself from IFEX Philippines and I’ve been using them as an alternative to my W&N Series 7 Kolinsky brushes since I don’t want to wear those out. These ones are synthetic and have a good snap to them, making them excellent for detail work! (Available at NBS & Fully Booked branches for only P185/set)
• This Black Velvet brush is made of a blend of squirrel hair and synthetic filament and I find it very soft and absorbent. I love how the point stays in shape so I can make both fine lines and bold strokes with it. (Available locally from Craft Carrot though I got mine as a gift from a relative in the US)
• The Escoda Reserva Kolinsky-Tajmyr Sable is my absolute favorite watercolor brush because it’s an all-in-one — it’s a travel brush so it can be collapsed. It also has terrific liquid-retaining capacity and the hair holds sharp points, making it perfect for juicy washes, bold strokes, and fine lines. Also, how gorgeous is that golden brass ferrule? (Available from ArtWhale)

See also: My watercolors, brushes, and other painting tools and My favorite watercolor papers

How about you, what are your watercolor painting must-haves? Please do share!

Watercolor illustrations of various subjects
Medium: watercolor on cold-ressed archival paper
May-June 2015

* available as art prints in my online store

(I actually constructed this post as I was waiting for my turn at the dentist’s office the other day where I underwent Root Canal part 1. Hope that’s not TMI.)

If it’s not obvious enough from Instagram, I’ve fallen in love with painting all over again. I can trace this love from back when I was 4 or 5 when I received my first Guitar watercolor set. You know the one — hard, loose cakes with hardly no pigment in a flat tin case. Fortunately my parents lovingly supported my whims and bought me art books & materials without flinching whenever I needed them. For instance, this slanted drawing board which I’ve had since I was 8…

It’s filled with old memories of spilled paints, failed sunset wash attempts, and crudely cut friskets (which you can still see traces of). I can’t bear to throw it out even if there are better, less clunky, CLEANER tabletop easels out there. Happy that it’s getting a lot of use again.

I also went on a mission to unearth old sketch books from my room at my parents’ because I wanted to see them again and show them to Arnold. Out emerged a stack of moldy Corona pads filled with yellowing pages of (mostly laughable) illustrations from when I was in grade school up ’til college. Just for fun I’m sharing some of the more presentable ones:

1) These are from 6th grade when I was obsessed with painting trees and Sanrio characters. Kiki and Lala were my faves, as you can see.

2) More drawings from 6th Grade, also because we had “Practical Arts” as a subject. So here are early attempts at figure drawing and lettering. And yes, yet another tree.

3) Big jump from 6th grade to 4th year high school. I remember being fascinated with paisley patterns and water reflections. Incidentally I made a lot of oil paintings in high school. I think I’ll show them another time.

4) These sketches were for Figure Drawing 101 class in college in U.P. where I was fortunate to have had Robert Alejandro as a teacher. All the stiff-looking figures above are mine but the fluid figure guide in between the dancer and man carrying a baby is his. I remember him telling me to loosen up my lines because I was so self-conscious when drawing. I think I still am at times… Anyway. He was also my teacher in Advertising 101 so I have more plates with his signature and advice / comments on them.

5: More sketchbook drawings from college. Being in Fine Arts allowed me to express myself through illustration. This will carbon-date me but the guy on the left is supposed to be Robert Downey Jr. in “Less Than Zero.” The boy on the top right was copied from U2’s album “Boy” and the drawings on the bottom right are supposed to be Terry Hall on the cover of The Colourfield’s “Confession” album. (New Wave fan right here *raises hand*)

6) Even more drawings from the college years. I don’t recall my state of mind when I was drawing the girl and the snake but I must’ve been in an emo phase (though the term “emo” hasn’t been coined up yet. Back then it was simply called “being a teenager.”)

And finally, one of my old favorites because I think I was able to capture his likeness without using a grid…

Unearthed my old sketchbook and found this – a #watercolorportrait I did of the late River Phoenix for art class in 1990 (don’t do the math now ????) #UPCFAhits #oldschool #watercolorph

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Apr 17, 2015 at 9:34am PDT

Side note: I was a big fan of River Phoenix since his “Explorers” days — way before “Stand By Me.” I used to watch “Sneakers” and “Running on Empty” over and over (on a Betamax, lol). This painting was done 3 years before his untimely demise in 1993. I’m not even sure if it was for class, I think I just painted him for watercolor portrait practice.

Hope you enjoyed this little journey down memory lane.