Pretty sure by the time I made this painting, on the 27th May, I was all-in on using the german DaVinci travel brush I purchased as a rather pricey souvenir when I visited Brooklyn earlier this year to see my “glass” daughter, then finishing up a degree in Children's Book illustration and Graphic Design at Parsons. As it happens there were four of us, all artists, in the party, one of whom had worked in an art supply store, and assured me that the brand was a good one. (I'd never heard of it.) With f2tE cheering me on, I rationalized that we could all try it, and especially since the other three were more-or-less in the student-budget parts of their careers, that made it very nearly incumbent upon me to give them the opportunity:)
Watercolour on paper: strathmore 6x9"/15.2x22.9cm cold press 140#/300g paper. Sheet 6, obverse. painted 27may20. LumixDMC-LX100/2020LX100/20200529LX/P1140650crop.JPG
As with the previous example, I was attempting a botanical style, which I feel I was closer to achieving than yesterday's sample. —By the time I started on the leaves, I was beginning to hurt, since like most USians I don't spend nearly enough time sitting on the floor (or ground) to adequately open my hips and strengthen my back, so those got sketched in pretty sloppily.
That said, I was really pleased with my new brush, which I'd liked well enough before; but now I was using it exclusively, and really putting it through its paces with the peony watercolours.
Assembled by artisans using old methods of top quality materials, the company is completely justified in its assurances as to superior spring and water holding capacity.[1]
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As you can see from the reference, I emphasized the fact the edges of the petals were starting to wilt and turn brown. Of the drawings I've made so far, I consider this one to be closest to ‘botanical illustration’ standards.
07jun22: added peony tag
[1]What this means to non-artists is that it effortlessly goes from super thick to hair thin lines and also that it can lay down a big wash of colour, because the bristles hold a lot. Effectively, it takes less time, and gentler fine motor control, speeding up the artist's application while reducing fatigue. Add in equally professional paint, and the artist can efficiently saturate paper with large swathes of intense colour. Very nice!
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
