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.

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.

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.

For a quick review, see the first article in this series.

Here’s the side-by-side scan of the two 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. I got the last of the yellow, blue, and brown. So either those are popular colors or they don’t get restocked regularly. I didn’t think to ask about it.

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. I decided to color it at home because I wanted to bet the last race. I’m glad I did. My $1 quinella came in and paid $9. After admission, lunch, and mixed results on earlier bets, I left up $3 on the day.

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.net.

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)

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 renderingAssignment: §1 pp. 1-2, Introduction (PDF pp. 19-20)

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.