I’ve been seeing several online reviews about Schminke “super-granulating” watercolors; most say they like some but all can be easily mixed with existing colors and there is no more granulation than normal.
My favorite color is “glacier green” made up of PR233 and PG50 (potter’s pink and cobalt turquoise light), both of which I have. So I mixed up a pan, stirring with a toothpick. After painting it out, I think it may have needed a bit more potter’s pink.
Since I switched from a limited “winter” palette to one with lots of bright colors, I suppose it’s time to change the color card on the back of my phone as well. I purposely get clear cases that allow me to slip whatever I wish to in the back — always easily recognizable as mine when laying next to others’ phones. (I seem to be building quite a collection of these cards!)
On the Friday before Valentine’s Day we had planned to eat out at Goodson’s, a favorite restaurant in Tomball. We rarely eat out these days; when we do, we choose between-times with less people. But temperatures were already dropping with freezing precipitation expected — Houston area drivers DO NOT know how to handle winter driving conditions so we canceled our plans.
Then came a full week of snow, ice, and frigid temperatures, keeping us at home. Yesterday we finally got out to pick up some prescriptions in Tomball, then we headed to Goodson’s to eat — only to find them closed. The sign on the door said “closed; we will reopen Thursday”; that was crossed out and “Friday” written in; that also was crossed out and “at an unknown later date” written in. Apparently they had burst pipes and can’t find parts to repair them . . . There’s quite a lot of that going on in this area!
So on the way home, we stopped at a Mexican Cantina we had never tried before. Julio’s food is amazingly good! We ate out on the huge patio, sitting at the south edge with the sun on our backs — felt so good!
After our meal, we ordered a fried ice cream to share — something we haven’t been able to find since Carlos O’Kelly’s in Wichita, KS. What they served was good but it was not real fried ice cream — just a scoop of ice cream served in a fried shell with corn flakes sprinkled on top (plus chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and 2 cherries). Carlos O’Kelly’s actually rolled a hard ball of ice cream in a crunchy cinnamon coating and fried it in oil a few seconds, and the tortilla bowl was also coated in cinnamon. Texas does “Tex-Mex” best, but apparently not fried ice cream.
For the final sketch in this sketchbook, I drew our son Matt from a photograph I took last August. I used a Duke 209 Fude pen, Noodler’s Lexington Gray ink, and Derwent Graphitint pan paints. Now I’ll close it and set it on the shelf for a while. When I next open it, I wonder if the colors will look the same — or will some colors fade or change as Kate’s graphitint pencils did?
Anyone notice the feet of the ottoman and chair don’t match? The chair is a very comfortable antique from Bill’s maternal grandmother — it actually has springs under the cushion! The ottoman went with a chair that we gave away long ago. When we had the chair re-upholstered, we matched the ottoman to it. But there’s not enough room for it in our barn-home; now it sits in the woodshop for Stubby the shop cat.
All this freezing gray outside put me in the mood for some bright new color — so I cleaned out my pocket palette. This time I even added a stray purple and pale gray found in my stash.
Then since the sketchbook was open in front of me, I drew the sketch kit that currently lives in my purse. Nearly everything fits inside the larger size pocket palette bag. Of course between the pandemic and local frozen roads, I’m not actually going anywhere to sketch. But it could happen, couldn’t it?
I had some art supply funds left over from my last Etsy sale so I went “shopping” for fun. A few years ago I noticed the Graphitint colored pencils: pencil graphite combined with watercolor for muted colors with lots of granulation — both things that I love. But everyone posting reviews mentioned they are definitely NOT lightfast, some colors fading quickly even in a closed sketchbook. So I was a bit leery to spend money on these.
Reviews on this new paint pan version had better lightfast ratings so I got a set and made my own test. One swatch has been tucked in my sketchbook; the other has been taped for nearly 3 weeks in a south window in full sun. So far, no noticeable fading, but I’m leaving the window swatch in the sun another month or two to make sure. The colors are more pastel than my usual Daniel Smith watercolors.
I also tested a page of using regular watercolors combined with water-soluble graphite pencils. Paint added to a graphite sketch was too muddy; this combination works best if a bit of graphite is lifted off the end of the pencil with a wet brush, then mixed with watercolor on a palette.
Also thankful that the current books I’m reading are ebooks and can be read without having the lights on. Some are library books, borrowed before all this winter storm stuff came through.
I just finished reading Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley. I love how she puts certain poetic phrases together! I jotted one bit down on this journal page — then looked online for a door of the same time period to go with it.
“Deep Freeze 2021” continues outside — 9° F. this morning. The power companies in Texas are practicing rolling blackouts with 45-60 minutes off, 45-60 minutes on, at least for those of us on rural electric. Those in large cities seem to only have power if they happen to be on the same grid as hospitals and other emergency locations. And states north of us are much colder with wicked wind chills. Here in our barn, we are thankful for warmth, well water when the electricity is on, and a gas stove that works on propane (and our tank is full).
My favorite tea infuser’s holes were clogged with tea stains, impeding tea brewing. Normally I would soak it in white vinegar but that wasn’t working anymore. I was about to give up on it when Bill tried one of his Polident denture tablets — and it is shiny clean again! This morning’s Earl Grey steeped to a lovely rich flavor.
Yesterday I sketched the very lovable Sierra, the heifer our granddaughter is raising (from a photo I had taken — today it’s too cold to stay outside!). Bill has been around a whole lot of cows in his life and he has never met one as openly affectionate as this roan-colored Shorthorn-plus. When I go out in the morning to give the donkeys their carrots and turn the goats loose, Sierra demands her own attention — even though Mikala has already been out to see to her needs. She actually dances a little Texas two-step for a bit of carrot, a handful of clover, or best yet: some petting.
I got my fude pens out to play along. At one point, Mike mentioned a Lamy modification, reminding me to get mine out and ink it up again. This sketch page of random stuff laying on my footstool is the result.
The last photo shows scribbles and notes made while watching the video.
My own collection includes a Duke 209, a Hongdian Dark Green, a Hero m86 (body not shown here) — I removed the bent nib from the Hero and put it in a Noodler’s Creeper body, and my Lamy conversion nib — I think instructions on bending the regular Lamy nib can still be found by googling “Lamy Fude Mod”.
UPDATE: the Lamy Mod instructions can be found HERE.
During long winter evenings Bill’s Grandma Williamson and Great-aunt Winnie spent time making what they called button jars. Clay would be smeared all over the outside of a pottery jug, then various bits and pieces pressed in — not just buttons, but all manner of tiny treasures. We kept one of the jars as a special memory.
There are lots of wee toys from Cracker Jack boxes and gum ball machines — I had my own collection of those when I was a kid. Every time I look at this jar, I find something new. Shells, pieces of jewelry, a boot-shaped twig, coins, a walnut, a tiny train car, an Alf Landon campaign button, a tiny pair of scissors, beads, a tiny teddy bear, belt buckles, broken china, a tiny clothespin — today I noticed an arrowhead!
The weather has taken an unbelievable turn towards FRIGID! I don’t remember a time when the predicted lows in this part of Texas were as low as 11° F. At our old log cabin it is snowing for the second time this season, as well as in the north part of Austin where one of our sons lives. Weird!
I’m not really a football fan, but living on the same property as our kids means there will be a Super Bowl party. So we made some snacks to contribute and took them over to the farmhouse.
The Chiefs weren’t doing so well, Michael frequently commenting on the unfairness of the calls against the team. Kristen, seen on the left in the above sketch looking at her phone, added “I came for the food!”
And myself? I came to sketch. And to finish the chapter of the Susanna Kearsley book I had been reading on my phone. And I came for the food. (Kristen is a fabulous cook!) . . . Can you spot the rescue kitty, Reece’s?
The book is a crime mystery, “Every Secret Thing”. It contains a back story of 2 people working for British Intelligence during World War II that once danced to the song “Make Believe” from Showboat. As I continued to read, that song was going through my head — and it is still there now, even though I finished the book.
My current sketchbook is larger than I usually journal in; my regular stretchy bands to hold a book closed won’t fit. So I found one with adjustable Velcro straps that fits — and it holds minimal tools which is quite handy. I tucked a pencil, fude pen, pocket palette, waterbrush, and folded paper towel in it.
The planting beds in front of our converted barn home were already here when we moved to the farm, extremely overgrown and weedy. All we could identify appeared to be native Texas plants but they had thrived in neglect and grew way out of proportion. Some are actually painful to work around, being prickly or pokey. Lantana plants swallowed whole prickly pear cacti that had the misfortune to be planted nearby.
Little by little, Bill has cleared out some of the mess — those huge pokey plants, species unknown, require the truck to pull them out! Under some of the mess, I found this 3” figurine leaning and holding his jug close, and a large pedestal. No clue as to what was once sitting on the top of it, if anything. Maybe I can find a shallow bowl to place on it for a bird bath.
I made the grapevine up (loosely copying my blog banner) to unite the other two sketches — we are trying to decide between planting grapes or blackberries. Blackberries will probably win, being native to this area.
I love drawing with my various fountain pens (especially the Pilot Namiki Falcon), but I keep returning to fude nib pens. I have three of them — the Duke 209 is the one used the most, even though it’s a bit slippery to hold.
The Hero M86 was my first fude, a gift from my dear friend, Cathy “Kate” Johnson. I can manage it’s weird heaviness but it tends to skip a bit if not used every day. Perhaps it needs a wetter ink? I have tried this nib in a Noodler’s Creeper body, as Kate calls her “Frankenpen”, but I just don’t like Noodler’s ink-filling mechanism.
This past year I bought a Hongdian Dark Green fude pen — and I admit I bought it only because I love the deep teal color - perfect for my mixed turquoise ink! The nib feels a bit “chunky” for lack of a more descriptive word. It doesn’t seem as light and versatile in making marks as other fude pens. Still playing around with it . . .
