Are you able to get the same professional look from a water brush as from a traditional brush? I'm just starting and the convienence of an aquabrush and watercolor pans appeals a lot more to me than tubes and throbbing hairy wooden brushes.
yeah, man. you can get a professional look from aqua brushes and pans, just like you can get a professional look from tubes and wooden brushes. (I find pentel make great aqua brushes, and for pans, that depends on your style. personally I use koi watercolors, cause they are a lot more saturated.)
>>2471095
Watercolor artist here. Waterbrushes are awesome, if you're just starting out go with them because they're so convenient and nice to use. And they're pretty much necessary if you want to work outside.
Waterbrushes are different tools and they feel quite different from regular brushes. You can't lift wet paint with a waterbrush (you need a dry brush for that) so you'll have to compensate with a dry sponge or paper towel.
I personally find them annoying at times because I'm used to regular brushes and even when you're not doing any pressure they happen to load a bit too much water in the paper. Watercolor is all about controlling the amount of water you're working with, so having a brush that's always wet has its drawbacks.
So some things work a little different but you can achieve pretty much the same results. I use Sakura Koi brushes and they held up very well over the years and they have a nice point.
>>2471181
What do you keep your paints and mixing place in? Or do you travel will a large kit?
I often just resort to just using pencil or pen, because of the inconvenience.
>>2471190
I have a really beat up pochade box and I just carry that to the location when I want to paint outside. I do most of the painting at home. Pic is my palette, the brand is Shin-han. The large wells are much better than refilled pans.
I quit using watercolors for sketching around, now I just carry a pen and a waterbrush filled with ink wash. Before then I used a typical 12-pan aluminum folding palette.
Even with a small watercolor set you need a fair amount of 'setup' so you can't really achieve much unless you sit down with the intention of actually making a little painting. I usually make 30 second gestures or 5 minute sketches at most before the person leaves or I'm not waiting anymore, so I don't bother with that anymore.
>>2471246
The setup is really the problem. I did see some artist use wrapped up leather or a simple wallet where they stuck paint to, but it just seems like another thing to hold in your hand. I do have a winsor & newton cotman sketcher's box with me most of the time, but it's still clunky. That ink wash, what's that?
>>2471258
Yeah, and that's what got me tired of it. Even if you have your little palette in one hand you'll still need to hold shit like paper towels, whatever drawing tool you're using aside of the waterbrush, et cetera. Normally it wouldn't be much but if you're just trying to sketch something interesting you've seen within a minute, it can be bothersome.
The wash is just india ink diluted with distilled water. When the waterbrush clogs I take it apart and clean it. I use that, a sketchbook and a pen, usually a rapidograph.
You can just use a fountain pen and fountain pen ink wash, it doesn't matter. I use india ink 'cause I got loads of it. The sketches I make are super loose and I mostly use 'em as reference for things I draw later.
>>2471295
I might try that with some fountain pen ink that's lying around somewhere. Seems pretty good for bigger strokes. I always use cloth or newspaper on public transport to wipe my brushes off. Sometimes the newspaper is the canvas too.
Drawing outside is the main drawing what I do, actually pretty bad, but at least I'm drawing.
>>2471318
You can probably use the waterbrush with clean water, since fountain pen is not waterproof you can just smear the ink from the lines to make washes.
>>2471329
The only fountain pens I have lying around are broad arabic ones, so I would have buy a new founain pen. I'll look into it though, thanks for the suggestion.
>>2471346
Use a gel pen like a Pilot Hi-Tec and use the FP ink as a wash. Don't waste money on a fountain pen, check if you like it first
