Surprise Art Supply: Aqua Brush Set

Today I wandered through a Barnes & Noble because, why not? Just for funsies, I decided to peruse their art supplies and found these:

I found a random set of aqua brushes! If you do not know what aqua (or water!) brushes are, they are a type of watercolor brush where the water is stored in the handle and fed through the bristles so you do not have to have a water dish to paint. Good for painting on the go, however it can be tricky to control the amount of water. One of these does actually fit in a wooden paintbox I am working on. I decided to do a quick look-see and first impressions post. Note that I do not often use aqua brushes so I am not the biggest expert on them, in fact the only one I owned before this was one that came with my Sakura Koi Sketchbox. But why not experiment? To break it down:

    What: Studio Series Aqua Brush Set
    Price: $12.99 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers
    Manufacturer: Peter Pauper Press, Inc. Of White Plains, NY, USA (http://peterpauper.com/)
    Where Was it Made: China
    First Edition
    Not for children aged 0-3 (just quoting the package here)

It would seem that Peter Pauper Press is primarily a journal and stationary items, but they do have a decent selection of children's art and educational activities as well as a few art supplies. I cannot say as I have really heard of them before, but then again I generally a shopping for books at Barnes & Noble, not art and journaling supplies. Let's take a closer look at the brushes themselves:

Three brushes made of white nylon. Why do they always seem to make aqua brushes with white nylon bristles? The bristles are inevitably going to stain, but I digress! Looks like a 1/4in flat (size 6, maybe?), a round (size 6ish?), and a mystery brush that looks kind of like a rounded round but it is not very dense so *shrugs*.

They have squeezy barrels,so in that way they are similar to my Sakura Koi one, but the barrel is much narrower and the brushes/caps look to be interchangeable.

The caps fit over the "butt" of the brush so you can post the brush and not worry about losing the cap, which is nice. Let's look at each brush individually!

First up, the flat

The nylon hairs come together nicely when dampened. I squeezed the barrel to release a few drops of water.

It also comes to a very fine chiseled edge, which is nice for detailed work. I am going to do a few swatches with this brush in my Strathmore Visual Journal using my Windsor and Newton Cotman paints. I figure student grade paper and paints are a nice middle-of-the-road option.

I used sepia here.  I did have some trouble controlling the flow of water and you can see the varying intensity of the paint. That being said, the reason I had some trouble controlling the flow of water is because it self-feeds, once through the initial dampening of the bristles, I did not have to squeeze the barrel in order to get enough water to keep going and going. I can also get a super fine line with this brush, which is cool because it means I can get some line variation in my stroke if I want to do lettering. I will confess I went over the broad stroke twice because the brush dumped most of the pigment out in the first few inches, which is a bit annoying.  All and all though, the automatic feed is nice, I find myself frequently having to squeeze the Sakura Koi aquabrush to get the paint wet enough to use so the fact that I don't have to do that with these is nice.

How about the round brush?

It, too looks proficient when wet. This round is the only one that seemed to have the slight coating so common to brushes when you buy them that helps keep the bristles together. It is usually something water soluable, like gum-arabic or glycerine and easy to rinse out, this is no different.

A better look at what happens when I squeeze the barrel, yay water drop! Round brushes, I am familiar with, let's see what this one does!

Similar results to the flat, only in Lemon Yellow Hue. Once again, I went over the broad stroke twice for the same reason as the flat. I can get a slightly wider broadstroke than with the flat, but my narrow line is not quite as narrow. In all, this act pretty much like a typical round brush does, nothing earth-shattering here. A nice multi-purpose brush, but lacks the precision afforded by the flat.

Now for the "mystery brush"

Once wet, it does semi-imitate a round brush, but you can tell from the tip that this brush is much less precise than the round with those furry edges. It is also less dense than the others. We will see how it reacts to paint and paper.

This is definitely a wild-child. It is too soft and to sparse for any sort of precision. Note how the strokes (in Alzarin Crimson Hue) created using this brush are irregular. Probably would be okay if you like watercoloring very loosely or going for an abstract look. I don't foresee myself using this one all that much, but it does paint.  And yes, I went over the broad stroke twice, just like the others.

Lets give a final look at all three brushes:

Of the three, I like the round brush (the yellow) best, but then again, the round is closest to my comfort zone. The flat is nice as well. I am not really a fan of the mystery brush, personally, it is to difficult to control, but it came with the set so I am stuck with it. Maybe I will find a use for it the future?

Bottom Line:
Aside from the weird mystery brush, this seems a decent aquabrush set. I like the auto-feed, I like how sleek and narrow they are. I can fit them comfortably in my smaller hands, but the aqua brushes are fairly long so they would probably be comfortable for up to medium-large hands. I have not seriously tested how long you can keep painting on one fill, but because the brush heads are all interchangeable, one could fill up all three brushes and as one runs out of water, but you still need to use the round, say, you can simply switch the round to another barrel. It would be nice if some reservoir lids (like the Sakura Koi) were included so you could stow the brush handles and brush heads separately or even leave the brush heads you don't want to used at home and just take their barrels out for plen-aire work. If you divide the price between the three burshes, these retail for about $4.30 (USD) each; a bit pricier than other options, perhaps, but not by much. Not issues with backwash or anything, just issues with my inexperience.

Let's Talk Watercolor Paper!

Probably the most important part of learning how to watercolor, strangely enough, is actually the paper. You do not have to have the fanciest paints or even the best brushes to learn how to watercolor reasonably well, but without a decent paper, it is going to be extremely difficult if not IMPOSSIBLE to master some of the techniques needed to have good results. Unlike drawing where you can generally get decent results even with cheap notebook paper, or acrylics where you can paint on just about anything you wish to paint upon (providing you have the proper permission, of course). For watercolor, you really need watercolor paper, computer paper simply is not durable enough to have good results and, to an extent, price matters for watercolor paper. Here is a collective image of the watercolor papers I currently own:

Seeing as I am very much a novice, I have had some trial and error in finding good papers to work with in order to improve. I will cover each of these papers briefly to give you an idea of what I have learned, with the intent of doing more extensive reviews later on. I will include example paintings when available. The papers I have are all cold press and include: Artists' Loft Fundamentals 90lb (and a "block" I made from it), Canson XL 140lb, Strathmore Artist Tiles 400 series 140lb, Strathmore Windpower Series 140lb, Strathmore Visual Journal 140lb, and Strathmore 400 series Watercolor Block 140lb. 

Before I get into the individual papers, I  will unpack certain terms that may be strange to watercolor newbies like me!
   - 90lb (185gsm), 140lb (300gsm), 300lb(640gsm), etc: this refers to the weight (read: thickness) of the paper. The higher the number, the thicker your paper will be. The weight comes from weighing 500 sheets of said paper before it is cut down to whatever size it is sold at.
   - Cold Press, Hot Press, Rough: this refers to the texture of the paper itself. "Cold Press" is by far the most common option for watercolor paper, it is lightly textured and is generally good all around; "Hot Press" is very smooth, good for those who love doing a lot of sharp detail or working very wet; Finally "Rough" is, well, a very rough texture, good for gritty earthy artworks.
   - Pad, block, sheet, sketchbook, etc: this merely refers to how the paper is sold. While there are more forms of watercolor surfaces, I am merely going to cover the more common forms. Watercolor paper is available for purchase in individual sheets, usually quite large and can be cut down to whatever size you wish and is typically the most economical way to go; unfortunately I only have one brick and mortar store within an hour of me that sells sheets in-store so while it is available, it is not always the easiest to find. A "pad" is the most readily available form of watercolor paper I have found and is typically gummed  at the top and can be removed like paper from a notepad to be taped down to a surface and painted upon. A "sketchbook" is watercolor paper sold in a, well, book; generally not intended to be torn out, but many sketchbooks do include perforations if you want to do so. A "block" is like a pad, save it is gummed on four sides leaving a small gap somewhere to slide a palette knife and remive the top sheet, you do NOT have to tape down a block so they are very convenient, however that convenience comes at a premium, blocks are the least economical way to purchase watercolor paper.
   - Acid Free: if you ever locate a watercolor paper that does NOT have this printed upon it...RUN AWAY. Acid will degrade your paper and artwork over time . . . that being said, I have never found a watercolor paper that was not labeled "acid free".
   - X% cotton: This deals with the paper composition. The best watercolor paper is 100% cotton, however, it is also the most expensive which is why I do not own any yet. Some papers are made from a blend of cotton and wood-pulp and will say "25% cotton" or what have you. Some paper is made of only wood pulp which is okay, providing it has good sizing, I believe all of mine are wood-pulp.
   - Sizing: this has nothing to do with the size of the paper, it has to do with a coating of something, usually gelatin (sorry, vegetarians), but there are other ways to "size" watercolor paper if that is a concern. Sizing helps the paper fibers resist water so you have more time to work and blend. All watercolor papers should have some type of sizing, even the 100% cotton ones. Wood pulp especially is extremely absorbent and will swell, which lead to buckling, absorbing pigment so you cannot blend, and so on.
   - Stretching: this is a technique used to minimize buckling with watercolor paper. It generally involves saturating the paper (but not so much that the sizing is removed) to swell all the fibers to their largest and then attaching it to a surface to dry flat. However, you usually do not stretch purchased blocks and you can usually get away with not stretching 300lb paper because it is so thick. Watercolor boards also do not need to be stretched.

Okay, now that we have the vocabulary down, lets get into the individual papers I have. First up is the Artist's Loft Fundamentals Paper:

Brand: Artist's Loft
Acid-Free
Line: Fundamentals
Form: 9inx12in (30.4cmx22.8cm) pad, 25 sheets
Weight: 90lb (185gsm)
Texture: Cold Press
Composition: wood-pulp
List Price: $4.99 (Michael's Craft Stores)

Review: This was the very first watercolor paper I purchased along with some cake watercolors. Not knowing any better, it was a pad  of paper that said "watercolor" and the price was right. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that merely saying "watercolor" is not enough. This paper is really not good for learning how to watercolor. Let us look at some illustrative photos:

Here is a, admittedly not good, painting I did on this paper using Daniel Smith paints and a reference photo from "paint my photo". What I want to point out though is the blue streaks in the sky. I had maybe a minute between laying down those streaks and reaching for my next color to lay alongside the blue to allow it to blend all pretty-like, but the pigment had AREADY DRIED and no matter how much water I added, even soaking the sky over top, I could not blend those edges away because it had been absorbed into the paper. I am working under an LED light in an air-conditioned house, no extreme conditions to affect the speed of drying and even so, I should still be able to re-wet the paint and blend it out somewhat. But this paper gave me absolutely nothing. On top of that, even from this angle you can see how much it buckled, in spite of being a very small size (approximately 5"x4") and being painted on a "block" that I made of of this cheap paper.

here is a side-view to show the warping in greater detail. Again, this paper was secured down onto a block. Now, it is a very thin watercolor paper which does contribute somewhat to the warping. If warping was my only issue with this paper, I would simply get a heavier version, but it's not. Sizing is almost-non-existent and it is not fun to paint on, so I am hesitant to try any other "Artist Loft" Watercolor paper.

Bottom Line: DO NOT RECOMMEND, spend the extra dollar or two and buy at least 140lb. Or even better, just buy one of these:

Brand: Canson
Acid-Free
Line: XL
Form: 9inx12in (22.9cmx30.5cm) pad, 30 sheets
Weight: 140lb (300gsm)
Texture: Cold Press
Composition: most likely wood-pulp
List Price: $10.49 (Michael's Craft Stores, Wal-Mart, Blick, etc)
Review: This paper is worlds better than the Artist's Loft, not only is is a heavier weight, it does so much better at allowing you to blend. I picked up mine from Wal-Mart for about $6, for $1 more, I have more sheets of much better quality paper than the first pad I bought. Still, this is a student quality paper, so it will eventually start to absorb pigment, especially of the staining variety. Let us look at some illustrative photos:

 Here is an image I painted some time ago while following along with a "Mr. Otter Art Studio" video on YouTube. I used Windsor & Newton Cotman paints here and this was actually my second attempt at this painting. I did tape this one down and I believe I even "stretched" the paper before I used it (another post). Even though the colors do not blend smoothly here, mostly due to my inexperience rather than the paper, you can tell my student grade paints on this paper definitely blended better than my artist quality paints on the cheaper paper.

Also this painting is much flatter.

Bottom Line: EXCELLENT STARTER PAPER for the price. Between this and the Artists Loft pad, this one wins hands down, there really is no contest. This paper is generally enjoyable to paint upon and you also don't have to worry about "wasting" the paper as much as you are learning because it is relatively inexpensive. But if you would rather work in a journal or sketchbook form, might I suggest:

Brand: Strathmore
Acid-Free
Line: Visual Journal
Form: 5.5inx8in (14cmx20.3cm) journal, 22 sheets
Weight: 140lb (300gsm)
Texture: Cold Press
Composition:wood-pulp(?)
List Price: $9.69 (Blick, Amazon, etc)

Review: I love this little journal. It is super cheap, I got mine from Blick for about $5 or $6  and the size is super convenient for travel. However, there is a 12inx9in size available if you want something a little bigger. The wire binding means it can be opened 365 degrees and technically the sheets can be painted on both sides, making it a 44 page journal, however the backsides of the sheets are a different texture.  The pages can take a lot of abuse and water with minimal buckling. The downside is because the bages are wire-bound, the do shift a bit so some pigment may spill over onto successive pages if you enjoy painting all the way to the edge of the page.

I mean, just look at that bright bold color. I used my Prima Marketing "Tropicals" set. My skills are limited, but I did a TON of glazing and lifting and wet into wet on this page and still the paper holds up.

eve with all that abuse, the page is still mostly flat, If I wanted to, I would have no trouble framing this.

Bottom line: AMAZING! I will recommend this to high heaven if you really want an excellent inexpensive paper to practice on. The only downside is they can be tricky to find. They are not widely marketed and I found they do not typically come up if you perform a search for "watercolor paper" so you will need to look for "Strathmore Visual Journals", but to help you out, I will link Blick's online shop here. But if you want something a bit more luxurious, might I suggest giving this a whirl:

Brand: Strathmore
Acid-Free
Line: 400 Series
Form: 6inx6in (15.3cmx15.3cm)  Artist Tiles pad, 10 tiles (sheets)
Weight: 140lb (300gsm)
Texture: Cold Press
Composition:wood-pulp(?)
List Price: $8.25 (Michael's Craft Stores, Blick, etc)

Review: These are a fun way to experiment with the 400 series to see if you like using the paper before buying full pad or block. I love that it is "Made in USA", as are all Strathmore papers. I have not worked a ton with these, so I am limited in what I can say about them. I have no complaints, really, either, I shall have to play more. Anyway, here is a painting I did do upon a tile. Once again using my Windsor and Newton Cotman paints and a Mr. Otter Art Studio tutorial:

I did do some lifting in the sky, but nothing really major.

Also, very little warping.

Bottom Line: Definitely the way to go if you want to try out Strathmore Papers, however it is a bit limiting on the size of the finished artwork. However, if you like these, you might enjoy

Brand: Strathmore
Acid-Free
Line: 400 Series
Form: 9inx12in (22.9cmx30.5cm) block, 15 sheets
Weight: 140lb (300gsm)
Texture: Cold Press
Composition:wood-pulp(?)
List Price: $17.49 (Michael's Craft Stores, Blick, Amazon, etc)

Review: I have not had a chance to try this one out yet! But it is definitely the priciest option I am including today, even though I picked up mine from Amazon for  $10.41. There is still only 15 sheets and unlike the pad, cutting down the size of the paper defeats the purpose of buying a block in the first place.

Bottom Line: NOT FOR PRACTICE! This block is lovely, but it is better for final works because of the price. If you just want something to practice on, go for a pad or individual sheets, they have greater versatility  because you can cut the individual sheets down into smaller sizes if wanted and they are cheaper to begin with. And if you really want to try a block, they are relatively easy and inexpensive to make from the cheaper papers. Heck, you could probably just "block-ify" a pad and have the best of both worlds. However, maybe you are really into the "green" movement, you could check out:

Brand: Strathmore
Acid-Free
Line: Windpower
Form: 6inx9in (15.2cmx22.9cm) pad, 15 sheets
Weight: 140lb (300gsm)
Texture: Cold Press
Composition:wood-pulp(?)
List Price: $7.95 (Michael's Craft Stores, Blick, Amazon, etc)

Review: Another one I have not used a ton. I feel the quality falls somewhere between my Canson XL and my Strathmore 400. However, I love the concept of using wind energy to make paper.

I only have a very poorly done sketch and this unfinished sketch in this "pad", I really don't consider this a pad, more a journal type thing. If I want to remove a sheet, I will need scissors or an exacto knife, I don't expect it would tear well. Still a nice pad though
Bottom Line: GO FOR IT if you want to try out some "green" art supplies. I have no major complaints about this paper.

There you go, I hope this post is somewhat helpful. I realize I have mostly Strathmore, I enjoy supporting USA companies when I can, plus I like working on their papers and they generally are not unreasonably expensive either, which is a plus. Go out and find a paper you like painting on, but don't go into debt for it. THE SUPPLIES DO NOT MAKE THE ARTIST, however a decent paper for watercoloring will go along way in helping and individual become a better one.

Many Greetings!

Welcome to my polychromastic blog! I may have made up a word there, but . . . eh, Shakespeare made up many words, so do as you do. As a twenty-something adult who no longer has school responsibilities, I randomly decided one day that I wanted to learn to use watercolor. Now, it has been quite a few years since I have been in a visual arts class of any kind (well, with the exception of 1 "paint and sip" class) as my focus in college and beyond has been almost exclusively performing arts, and by that I mean theatre. Granted, I did do some set-painting/designing, but painting a table is a bit different than painting a picture. I thought I might record my journey. Now I will not call myself an absolute bare-bones beginner, I do have some knowledge of color mixing and color-wheel relationships and stuff, but my drawing and shading skills are, shall we say, rather elementary. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I will have to master this if I want to reach the kind of results I want. Unfortunately, the art classes around me for adults happen to occur at really inconvenient times for me so I cannot exactly attend one. To the internet it is! It's so nice to have access to *free information at your fingertips.
                *by "free", you do have to have an internet connection, lol

Some of My Art Supplies!

I plan to do product reviews in the future on the supplies I have acquired over the past year or so since I decided I wanted try to learn watercolor and possibly show some of my "attempts" at using this medium. But I also want to look at things other than watercolor, too: I have dip pens, cross stitch, and who knows what else will capture my attention. Look forward to discussion of papers, paints, tools, non-traditional sources for supplies, and more. In the mean time: here are some youtube channels I have discovered that I enjoy and have helped me on my journey so far:

- The Frugal Crafter: https://www.youtube.com/user/thefrugalcrafter/featured
      Lindsay Weirich posts daily videos showcasing all sorts of craftiness, including but not limited to: watercolor, stamping, scrapbooking, storage, tutorials, reviews, etc. Very personable and bubbly and quite responsive to her viewers.

- The Mind of Watercolor: https://www.youtube.com/user/mindofwatercolor/featured
     Steve Mitchell offers tips, tricks, demos, tutorials, and reviews almost exclusively pertaining to watercolor. He will also highlight other youtubers which can lead to even more people to follow. Can be a bit offbeat, but so can I. Don't forget his co-host Reese!


- Owings Art: https://www.youtube.com/user/owings64/featured
     Marty Owings provides product reviews, painting demos, tips, and more. More laid back and straightforward than some of the others on this list, but still friendly and helpful. An excellent alternative for those looking for a slightly more serious feel to their art videos.

- Mr. Otter Art Studio: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvmMvsUlfoy6TZ-YtpCSR_w/featured
     Two moms share tutorials, tips, tricks, etc and not just limited to watercolor. I have only utilized their watercolor tutorials, but they provide simple, easy to follow instructions. Bonus, they use affordable art supplies like PRANG watercolors so it is a nice step away from the tutorials done with all the expensive supplies.

- Emily Artful: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRetroFaceYT/about
     Emily posts weekly videos, she does tips, comparisons, reviews and more. However, be warned, this is a NSFW channel, there is adult humor and some swearing. She freely admits as such and describes herself as a straightforward, no-BS channel. If you would rather avoid "colorful" language, I would avoid this particular channel. 

- HulloAlice: https://www.youtube.com/user/Rainingwaters/about
     Alice is a talented young woman who has some nice instructional videos for watercolor newbies. Not as active as the others on this list, but the videos she does post are peasant to watch and she has an awesome tutorial for making your own paint-box, which is always fun.