I love happy accidents. Today I discovered that working with Tombow watercolor markers and colored pencils, Faber-Castell Poychromos pencils to be specific, is a match made in heaven. If you put down a layer of color with the Tombow pens and wait about a minute for it to dry, you can color over the top with colored pencils. This allows for subtle shading and detailing which can be a problem when using markers alone. I also went over the top of the whole thing with a Uni-ball Signo white pen. This also worked well. Here is a quick video with a demo. Stay tuned--I'll be doing a whole picture soon. Have a great weekend! xo
It's the most wonderful time of the year and I have a nice list of terrific gifts for your favorite coloring Vixen (or Dasher)! From frugal to fabulous, you'll find 18 gifts you will love to give or get for the holidays. 1. Craft and Coloring Supplies Organizers -- we love to color and we have a LOT of stuff! Here are a few ways to organize and carry your supplies conveniently.
Everything Mary Deluxe Papercraft Organizer $18.95 Big and beautiful and ready to travel, whether from the kitchen to the dining room or to a friend's, this bag has room for it all
Blick Art Tote $24.19 A bit more space and a few more compartments, this white canvas bag will hold everything from markers to brushes, and everything in between.
2. Nice Big Pen Sets -- Pens glorious pens! We can't enough enough. Here are some gels, watercolors, and fine tip markers for details.
120 LOLLIZ Gel Pens No Duplicates $21.99 So many pens for so little money! Gels pens are all the rage for coloring, shading, and just jotting down notes. This set lets you color in EVERY shade.
36 Staedtler Fine Tip Markers $23.89 36 fine liner shades, including six neon, for details and corners. For the coloring perfectionist.
3. Colored Pencils--for the dedicated beginner to the elegantly advanced.
48 Set of Marco Raffine $17.99 Creamy and bright, these pencils are a lovely way to start coloring.
72 Set Prismacolor $35.00 Everyone has heard of Prismas! Buttery and smooth and super pigmented, a favorite of many.
120 Faber-Castell Polychromos $186.75 Oh to have a full set of Polychromos pencils! On the wish list of many indeed!
4. Fancy Extras -- a few things you may not have thought of, but actually need, for expert coloring.
Weber's Turpenoid $4.59 to $51 Use this to blend your colored pencils. Makes colores brighter and images seem smoother.
Pretty Flower Clipboard $9.99 Such a pretty clipboard for those of us that either cut out the images from our books, or buy individual images from Etsy.
Fakus Pencil Holders $30.00 Are your eyes deceiving you? These pencil holders are actually flat!
Vintage Sharp O Matic Panasonic Sharpener $30.00 In my humble opinion, the best colored pencil sharpener around! You might have to search on Ebay or Etsy--worth the search!
Mono Eraser $4.87 A fine point mechanical eraser--gets those hard to reach places, and looks pretty slick too.
Fold Away Coloring and Craft Corner Table $199.99 Even if you don't have too much room, now you can have a coloring corner of your own. Folds away to a cabinet with a chalkboard front when not in use.
ALSO! Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for a chance to win one Gorgeous Garland Coloring Book and a set of 70 Lolliz Gel Pens. Good luck and Merry Merry to you! Hope you found something wonderful here.
Hello coloring friends! There is nothing like opening a beautiful coloring book, picking up one of the many pencils or pens available, and settling in to start a picture. It is relaxing, and even doctors are recommending it for calming the mind and creating focus. There are many types of people in the world, but I do believe that we are all born creative. When we are small we fiercely search out things to keep our mind stimulated. We looked for and found beauty everywhere. Give us two sticks, a few crayons, and a couple of leaves and we would create a masterpiece.
Some of us were sadly talked out of our relentless search for creativity for more "realistic" pursuits. I believe this is where coloring comes in. It is a way to free our inner artist without intimidation. We don't have to be Picasso to create a beautiful image. We have a reason to go to the art store and search through the Polychromos pencils, the Copic or Tombow markers, and the Conti pastels.
From the soon to be released coloring book COLORING DREAMS
Don't be afraid to try things that feel odd or different. Leaves do not have to be green! Be brave with your art, and with every stroke you will become more of an artist. Sign up below to receive monthly artistic coloring tips and art motivation from Coloring Club Press Newsletter. Click HERE to sign up now! Have a great week! xo Dea
My parents celebrated their 55th anniversary this week. When asked about their most fond memories, the first thing they talked about was their drive from New Jersey to Florida. They were going to stay at a friend's hotel for their honeymoon, and they decided to drive the whole way. First of all, the bridge going through Savannah was covered in ice, and they were one of the last vehicles allowed through. The policeman directing traffic saw their Jersey plates and assumed they could handle it. As it got darker, they entered the Okefenokee swamp. They told me they were surrounded by moss covered trees, swamp grass, and the roads were covered with over a foot of water in some places. By the time it was completely dark they were so into the swamp that there were no street lights. They kept going anyway.
After driving for what seemed to be forever, and listening to unusual night noises including what sounded like a very large frog, they saw a light in the distance. When they got close enough they could see it was one light bulb hanging from a wire, illuminating a toll booth.
They paid their dime, found out they were indeed going in the right direction, and found the next creepy little roadside inn. They spend the night, woke to see a giant swamp behind the motel, and continued on their journey. Happily, when they finally got to their honeymoon destination the lodging was lovely and they had a wonderful time. So in honor of their great adventure I decided this week to draw the Okefenokee frog. Hope you have fun drawing him. Don't forget to enter the JETPENS brush pen giveaway! It ends this Sunday. You can sign up HERE to win. Frogs were drawn with the TOMBOW brush pen from the set. xo This week learn to draw a Big Eyed Frog. Have fun!
As an I artist I love trying new pens and markers. I was looking for some brush pens because I was starting to practice script writing. I also read that many were using these brush pens to outline art or create beautiful pictures. I Googled around and found that Jet Pens had a sample set of five brush pens, one each from Kuretake, Pilot, Pentel, Zebra, and Tombow. I've used the Pentel brush pen and have a colored marker set from Tombow, both of which I am very happy with. The other three will be new to me. (Love JetPens.com BTW. Easy ordering and super fast delivery--and no, they do not pay me.) I was looking forward to trying the Kuretake pen because I heard it had a very springy tip and lasted a very long time. I was also excited to try a brush pen with a super fine and hard tip like the Zebra because I'd had no experience with them at that point. Getting the delivery was exciting. All of the pens are made in Japan, and the packaging is different from what we are used to in the USA, and it made it very interesting to open and begin. A big PLUS for me--all of the brush tips are made from felt or synthetic hair so NO animals are hurt in the process. Below are writing samples from each pen.
Below is a video describing from Jet Pens describing each pen and showing it in action.
The Kuretake pen had a nice solid tip. The ink flowed well but not too fast. It allowed for nice control. I like the feel of this pen.
The Pentel pocket pen is the most popular brush pen on the market. It is a refillable pen with a springy tip and a heavy flow. Although I loved writing with it, being a beginner it allowed for the least control of all the pens. That being said, I loved it and feel it will be worth it to continue using it and improving.
The Pilot soft brush pen is very interesting. The ink flowed very dark and nicely, but if too much pressure was applied on the down stroke the entire tip lifted, and the point of the tip would pop off the paper. BUT--that makes for very interesting lettering and the ability to stylize. It was the only pen that squeaked as I wrote.
The Tombow pen was an all-around nice pen. Good control and good ink flow.
My favorite of the pens was the Zebra fine. To me it was the closest to a Crow Quill or calligraphy pen with a nib. It offers great control and the ink is very dense and black. It also makes a slight scratchy noise as you write. I like that.
Here's a short video of me using each pen. I've just started with script writing with a brush pen so my samples are not beautiful like some other videos out there.
I have a feeling that as I improve and get used to using these pens that I may change which is my favorite.
This drawing was done with the Pentel brush pen.
If you would like to enter a giveaway to win the all the pens in a JETPENS sampler set, click HERE. All entries will be entered into Random.com on February 1st and the winner will receive the Brush Pen Sampler that I reviewed above! Winner will be notified by email and announced in a post on this blog. If there is no response from winner within one week, a new winner will be chosen. Brush pens will be sent to winner within thirty days.
So please follow my blog and enter the contest for more art, kid lit, pen addiction posts, and a chance to win!
