#i cant figure out what watercolor palette to get

[sylenth-l]

Hey Sylenth! I've been following you for a long time and practically look up to you as an artist role model🤗 the way you draw traditionally and enhance it practically shows to me that its possible to create art as visually appealing as yours. Anyways I came here to ask a question that I cant really figure out on my own. I saw you show the different ink washes and I know you use them in your pieces, it's been something I've always wanted to try and just dont know how to do it. If it's not to much to ask, could you share how you do it and what supplies you use? Itd be greatly appreciated but I understand if you dont want to. Thanks in advance!🥰

Aah, thank you, I'm so flattered! 😳💙✨

I prefer to work with ink in a "slow, but safe" way: I start coloring from the lightest shade, gradually building up the tone with layering. I think this video with Shin pretty much covers it. I'm just more careful when it comes to bigger pieces, but overall process is the same. The only exception is when I want to use wet on wet technique for some cool chromatography effects like these:

In that case I fill in those places first, so that these water pools don't disturb already shaded areas AND so I can throw away redraw the piece right away if something goes wrong.

💠 As for art materials - I prefer using inks that are safe for fountain pens, so I mostly use Diamine inks for drawing. They're affordable, mix really well and have a lot of gorgeous colors available. I also have several bottles of Sailor inks and recently I've discovered some really cool chinese manufacturers like Carpink and Penbbs (the ink on the photo above is Carpink's Foggy City, for example). The thing I like the most about inks is the chromatography some of them have - I'm in love with how all those dyes separate and become visible when applied to wet surfaces. If you never tried it before, I think I can recommend to start with Diamine Earl Grey - it's a purplish grey color which dissolves beautifully into pink and blue. This ink is pretty easy to buy and fun to play around with.

💠 I've written about the paper I use in detail here, so you can check this post, if you're interested. Basically if the paper is good for watercolor, it'll be good for inks too (if we're talking about ink washes specifically ofc). Oh, and since then I've also started to draw on a transparent tracing paper sometimes! I drew Ada and half of (N)O14 on it. I like how it makes ink transitions look very soft and a little blurry; it's kinda hard to work on compared to a normal paper though.

💠 My favorite brushes to use are Art Secret sable travel brushes, I use them all the time for everything. You can see it in the video with Shin and pretty much on every Inktober 2019 photo since I bought them. I try some other brushes from time to time, but these are still the best for me.

💠 And finally, for lineart I mostly use gel pens, dip pen and a small brush. If I'm doing lineart with inks, I either use the waterproof ones (like Higgins Black Magic or Sailor Kiwaguro) or do the lineart after finishing the ink wash.

💠 Oh and one more thing! I highly recommend to get a ceramic or a porcelain palette, or even to use a plain white dinner plate (yeah, I'm serious, I bought all my smaller "palettes" in a houseware store). It's SO much easier to work with than a plastic one! The paint doesn't shrink into tiny drops, you can always see what color you're using, it stays moist longer and the surface doesn't stain at all, you can wipe it with a tissue and it's as good as new.

Hope it was useful for you! 💙

#ask #art supplies