Tag: art

This is the third and final lightfastness test of the Lukas Aquarelle watercolor paints (original post, first update, second update). The reason for ending the test is twofold, the test strip was in the way of a window I wanted to start opening, and after ten full months of Arizona sun the verdict is in. I first hung the test strip in January 2016 in a south facing window. Expecting the paint to be faded out before the first 100℉ (38℃) day.

This is one project that seems to slip through the cracks when it comes to doing regular updates (original post, first update). The irony is that the more I forget about it the better the comparison becomes as I leave the test strip in the sun longer. This time it’s been 18 weeks since I first hung the test strip in a south facing window. This weekend is probably the last one of the spring that will see the daytime highs staying under 100℉ (38℃).

I originally planned to do more frequent updates on this, but found that there wouldn’t be much to report. It’s been two months since I hung the test strip in a south-facing window. During that time we’ve had one of the hottest Februarys on record. Test strip in window. For a quick review, see the first article in this series. Here’s the side-by-side scan of the two halves. Scan of both halves.

Lukas Aquarelle 1862 watercolors are a european brand that is sold in North America by Jerry’s Artarama. Being a low-priced paint, I wondered about the quality of the pigments. So I decided some testing was in order. I bought the following five paints: Alizarin Crimson (1064), Gamboge (1016), Ultramarine Light (1135), Burnt Sienna (1109), and Phthalo Green (1195), in half pans in a Jerry’s store. I have no idea how long they were sitting on the shelf or when they were made.

Who doesn’t love dollar day at the racetrack? This past Monday at Turf Paradise, admission, hot dogs, and soda were all a buck. I haven’t seen the ponies run in a while, and thought it would be a great chance to get a sketch in. The top level of the grandstand gives a great view of the entire track and surrounding area. I sketched and inked this during the seventh race.

As much as I enjoy my Koi watercolors, the box is just too big for a small bag. I thought about going down to the 12-color version, but wanted something that would go almost anywhere. Even a pocket! I knew there was at least one Altoids tin around the house, and it would probably make a decent everyday carry kit. A few searches for “altoids watercolor” and I had a pretty good idea of what would fit.

I recently started a series of posts jokingly titled “Fake Art School” where I look at historic art books and do drawing exercises found in them. The name was a joke that came out of nowhere. Imagine my surprise when I found out that fakeartschool.com was an available domain! So for $13 its mine for the next year at least. Right now the domain just redirects to my FAS page here on jennifermack.

Fake Art School is my attempt at learning from the old masters using primary sources freely available on the internet. Download the book from the link below and join in! Discuss and share your work on Twitter. Textbook: Elements of pen-and-ink rendering Assignment: §1 pp. 2-6, Values (PDF pp. 20-24) Chapter Overview Value was touched on in the introduction. This chapter give more detail and some exercises to do. We start with two simple drawings that show values being used in different ways.

Fake Art School is my attempt at learning from the old masters using primary sources freely available on the internet. Download the book from the link below and join in! Discuss and share your work on Twitter. Textbook: Elements of pen-and-ink rendering Assignment: §1 pp. 1-2, Introduction (PDF pp. 19-20) Chapter Overview The introduction to this section is short and to the point. But it also provides definitions of the major concepts discussed.

This is an experiment, something I’m calling Fake Art School. The name is to poke a little fun at how art education has gone from an apprenticeship to a pay-your-money-get-your-degree system. It’s also a way to organize a series of upcoming articles about going back to basics using old instruction books. Use the Fake Art School page to quickly find all these articles. Digging around in the Internet Archive, I ran across several books on pen and ink drawing: