Sunday, March 23, 2008

The Joy of New Art Supplies

By Friday I finally chased down my Fed-Ex package from DickBlick.com. And although I haven't used my new Winsor & Newton Artists' Water Colour Compact Set yet, I've been admiring its beauty. It wasn't until today that I brought myself to opening the 14 colors wrapped in foil that made the tiny pans of color look like Pez candies.



Besides the beautiful compact set of watercolors, I purchased a Staedtler Pigment Liner set of four pens (0.1 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.5mm, and 0.7 mm). Since they are waterproof, they'll be great for using with watercolors. And along with my purchase, I got a free tube of SMALT (Dumont's Blue), which is a special edition Anniversary Colour. Out of curiosity I went to WinsorNewton.com and found an excellent site! There are all sorts of interesting facts about the History of Pigments and about Winsor Newton products -- one of the best brands, IMO, for watercolors.


The picture above shows how the Compact Set unfolds and has palettes above and below the pans for mixing colors, and the little water holder moves from the middle where my thumb is and attaches to the side. This is a cute and dainty feature, but I'm not sure if that little water spot will be very effective -- it's pretty tiny. But overall doesn't it look perfect for gripping and mixing it up?

After making a pile of wrappers from the half pans, I took out a sketchbook and my new pens. I ended up with a rough sketch of a plant of Shamrocks and violets with a couple little birds nearby. After I've got a decent sketch of it, I'm going to add some color! It will be fun to test out the colors. I'll be new to using the half pans -- I've just used the tubes in the past -- but I know I'm up for the challenge and change. I'll enjoy using this little set and since it is compact, it will be easy to carry with me. Who knows, maybe this spring I'll take it outside and use it? Or maybe it will eventually travel with me overseas to Paris where I can sit and sketch and paint in the park by the Eiffel Tower. A girl can have dreams, can't she? :)

7 comments:

Rita said...

Oh my gosh! A Winsor Newton Artist's travel set! Awesome! You'll have such fun playing with your new toys--can hardly wait to see a painting. :)
Always, Rita

Jenifleur-de-lis said...

I know! I'm entralled with the tiny half-pans...the colors are so rich! :) Winsor & Newton has a special place in my heart! I hope to have some artwork posted soon! Hope you have a happy bday!!

Donn said...

You will really like that set for what you are doing. I have one but never used it. As a travel set, that size is great. You'll enjoy the pens too.
Have fun.

Alan said...

New toys. Anticipation. They look nice all clean and in the wrappers but the pure joy is letting go and using them up so you can get more.

Jenifleur-de-lis said...

Donn thanks for stopping by and for your encouragement! :)

Jenifleur-de-lis said...

Alan - I like that thought...using them up to buy more! I'll try and remember that when my nerves keep me from adding color :) I'm sure once I start -- I won't be able to stop :)

Alan said...

I found that sometimes using materials I make a mistake. Half the fun is covering up the mistake. Then again you can always do over. Unlike in baseball and such there are do-overs in art. Got new toys today. Had some other things to do when I got home..so I get to mess them up tomorrow. I have a little larger travel set of watercolors but I went with tubes instead of pans. I am going to fix that though as I picked up a handful of empty pans that I am going to install in an Altoids tin like Cathy Johnson has done. I walk in the afternoons, so this summer I can poke it in my pocket and head to the park down the street.