Joyful Purpose

New Pen Joy!

I have been experimenting with sketch pens as of late and this little baby just came in the mail - Lamy Joy Pen

Check out the video to see how it operates ....

Eye Candy, Oh My!

I love magazines!

.... the look, the feel, the new smell!  I am a glutton.

Do you get smitten with the eye candy and make a stack?

Do you feel guilty when you leave the store and realise that you have spent a gazillion dollars on MAGAZINES!

To ease my guilt I try to repurpose them!

So try this ~  indulge yourself with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and site down with your lovelies and savor the deliciousness of them and THEN...

Tear out all the pages that call to you.

Make yourself a nice little stack of images.

I keep mine in a drawer in the studio and when I need some inspiration or don't know where to start I just grab one and get painting.

It kills the I don't know where to begin and you get a little bit more for your dollar!

and by the way if you are wondering what mags have the best images in my opinion ....

Martha Stewart

Victoria

County Living

Artful Blogging

Country Living British Edition

Color My World

A few new colors to play with from

American Journey Professional Watercolors

 

Half Pans - They're a SWEET THING!

Half pans of watercolor paints are fabulous in my opinion ;)  

They last forever,

are affordable,

you can mix and match them,

and they fit in travel

 

KREMER PIGMENTS Watercolor Box, 4 rows, empty

Daniel Smith Boxes

and studio palettes

You can start with a set and replace them or change them up!

Schmincke Horadam Aquarell Artist Watercolors - Half Pan Set, 48 Colors 
Schmincke

Maimeri Venezia Watercolor Metal Box Set of 24 - Size: 1.5ml Half Pans 

Sennelier French Artists' Watercolor Sets - Half Pan Metal Case, Set of 24 
Sennelier

You can buy them prefilled

Lukas 

Sennelier

Windsor Newton

Maimeri

or you can buy them empty and fill your own with tube paint.

Traveling Paints~ it's a SWEET THING!

When traveling with my carousel of paints I wrap them in saran wrap - the little ole half pans stay put!  All I do is unwrap and I am ready to go!

If you want to know about the palette - here you go ;

85 wells!

and they fit a half pan perfectly!

So you can slip them in and take them out and put them in your travel pans when you are on the go!

I know, right!  It is a beautious site!

If you are a freak like me ;) and must have one contact - [email protected] and tell him I sent you ;)

 

Its a SWEET THING - carousel of colors

Here is my new palette ;)

it has 64 wells - deep wells

it is on a carosel so it spins

it has mixing palette inserts so you can take them out and wash them

it has a lid that covers it for protection

I started out by laying in my colors the way I wanted them.

Abashedly, I needeed to edit them as I have more than 64 ;)

then I used a sharpie and labeled the wells

they can hold a whole tube of watercolor paint and then some.

That's as far as I've gotten 

more to come ......

Never Enough Colors!

Look at these fabulous color palettes of Chris Kalina's!

I never tire of looking at them!

 

Inspiration from Susan Branch, Maryjo Koch and Sara Midda

 

One of my favorite things to do is sit down with a book to work in my watercolor journal. I find it so inspiring to copy from a watercolor artist that I admire. It gives me a chance to hone my skills without having to think too much. There is a reason why art students of old were made to copy master works!

 

Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Susan Branch

 

 

Sara Midda

 

Maryjo Koch

Here you go!

For those of you who have asked :0

To See All of my Referenced SUPPLIES GO HERE  there is a catagory list on the right side bar

 and for the Papaya Bags HERE

New Inspiration ...

I thought I would share of new inspiration that is winging my way ...