Tag: watercolor

Altoids Tins Art Ideas

Apparently you can do almost anything with an Altoids tin. If you look on YouTube you can find EDC, Survival kits, 3D printed watercolor palette inserts (I need to try that!), “wallets”, pocket stoves (!), digital cameras, flashlights. Obviously some of those ideas take more work and parts than others. But the creativity is endless!

I found a workshop by Peg & Awl (I mention them a lot lately!) where they were making tiny pieces of art the size of vintage tins. I haven’t gone out to find any vintage tins, but I have a few tins around (once I eat all the mints!) so I am working on making small art in tins, that I can give as gifts. It fits nicely into my Steampunk and Maker kind of vibe.

Tiny Tins

I used to despair that all I like to draw is “little art”, but I guess there are lots of ways to use art that small for things anyway.

Some little mushrooms I painted, to go into the art tin.

A big (and much closer) art inspiration is Natto Soup (Becca Hillburn). You should check out her books, art, Discord, YouTube, Insta… she is prolific, cheerful, helpful, and always striving to make better and more accessible art. I am going out of my way to put some links in here because I don’t know why anyone would read a blog if it didn’t point them to interesting content.

So here are Five Specific Hopefully Interesting Links

A Painting of Dragons

Usually I post sculpture, but here is a little watercolor painting. I was THIS CLOSE to buying new watercolor pencils because new ones are always better, right? Then I realized that I really should just use the ones I already own. I fall into the consumerism trap so easily! But if I sell this for enough money to buy new pencils, I will: compromise!

The watercolor pencils I used on this are Prismacolors, and the new ones I am interested in getting are Derwent Inktense. They are VERY bright (“intense” even), and turn to “ink” when wet. Watercolor pencils turn to watercolor paint, so a second layer of color can interact with the first layer. But ink pencils don’t interact at all, so layering the effects is different.

If you are on the fence about buying Inktense pencils, I can’t say whether you will like them, but they are very bright and different than Prismacolor pencils. I am also greatly enjoying the Derwent Coloursoft pencils. Sorry to sound like a Derwent advocate.

Gentle Mother

Tea for One

I am having fun with my little (Windsor & Newton Cotman) watercolor set! Especially since I bought a new Koi Waterbrush, and a tube of Lamp Black (The set didn’t come with black because it’s a crutch, by some standards, to use black. This is because most black colors are actually filled with reflected bits of other colors and not black). I have put it all into my Moving Option pen case. (From Jetpens.com)