I was moderately surprised how much I’ve ended up liking Arteza’s watercolor brush pens; and not because I wasn’t expecting much – I already own some of their watercolor pencils and they’re very nice! No, this was simply because I’m able to do “things” with the pigment I really like really easily!

Probably the most significant of those painting things 😊 for me, is being able to scumble, ie, drag paint across the canvas (when I’ve layered it with absorbent ground) or across watercolor paper.

The sensation and effect is very close to my impressionist oil work of the 2000s.

No, the pigment can’t be layered on as thickly, since the watercolor pen is fairly liquid and ready to dispense.

But yes, I can drag the brush fairly easily creating a bump and drag, skip and nick painting effect that lets me soften edges with greater modulation of texture than a simple overlay or glaze.

Additionally (see two images below) I can also more easily spread / lighten / and lift color via these watercolor brush pens than I could with my water soluble oils.

Both the gradient and dry technique can look very much like pictured above, depending on pressure applied, any water added, etc. The fine lines attribute, since the brush is real and a round style brush, can be modulated ‘tween fine and thicker, though very fine lines, unless you have better hands than my 70 year old ones 😂 will be a bit more of challenge. For me, that’s ok, as I have some fine line water soluble pens of a variety of colors – and – the effect with a true round brush of starting or ending a line thinly, with nice body before or after, is really worth the trade off.

In terms of colors, I started with the 24 color count set, and love the colors, but have now ordered the 96 color count set to get the wider range of variances and tones.

Since the colors are obviously pre-mixed to be as described below, and though a color can be washed into a fainter semblance and tone, I still didn’t have the range I like to work with as I do with tube paints, adding white or other colors. Brush pen colors will mix with each other, but one will still need white to some applications.

Though I have all the colors in tubes I probably need for awhile 😊 what excites me most about Arteza’s watercolor brush pens is their portability.

I do have watercolor pencils for outdoor painting or traveling, but water either can be an issue, or is just skipped, creating just with the pencils.

That works, but isn’t my preference. Arteza’s watercolor brush pen sets though, come with a water brush pen and it works great! With or without a separate sealable small water container, I’ve so far been able to do what I’ve wanted with small work efforts with water from this included pen – nice! 😊

I’m still experimenting with these pens, now often mixing them with tube paints in varying ways.

Below is my tweet reply (had a nice multi-day exchange with Arteza on Twitter a bit back, and this tweet shows a nice mash-up of using the Arteza’s brush pens and my tube paints.

I’ve a recent blog post with three 30 second iPhone videos I made of work I’ve created recently, and it includes the painting below and others I’ve worked up with either Arteza’s brush pens by themselves, or mixed with tube paints – I hope you’ll take a look, I’ve gotten a nice response in views etc, and hope to do another very soon of even more recent work ☺️

Here’s a screenshot I also used for that post’s header etc –

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Links to category searches related to this particular post –

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Artists acrylic paints – https://amzn.to/3nzXEHq

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About My Amazon 2020 Affiliate Blog Post Series
https://felipeadanlerma.com/tag/my-amazon-2020-holiday-affiliated-recommendations/

Well, this is my 1st post for this year, so the series link won’t show much yet – unless you’ve come across this post after I’ve a few of my Amazon Affiliate posts up 😊

My goal is to feature items from a variety of categories – art of course, but food (important during the pandemic), clothing, household items, plants/planting, and really anything my wife and/or I have gotten, liked, and can recommend directly ❤️

I don’t have a posting schedule planned, more of an “as able.”

With working to stay healthy (exercise, sleep, good eating!), enjoying creating art, and family, my blogging is very “as able” lol!

If you have a question about a product I feature in this series, please feel free to comment & I’ll do my best to try and answer or point you where one might find more info.

Thanks so much everyone! Enjoy the holidays! Moderation may be a bit easier this season than usual at least ☺️ so stay healthy! Be creative, and enjoy!

Adan

My Related Posts Here On My Blog

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My Art Searches

Watercolor instruction

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My Semi-Autobiographical Art/Artist Novella

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My Latest Posts On My Website!

• May 18, 2022 – Places In or Near Austin Texas You Can See and Buy My Prints ( Art and Photography ) #PrimalGallery #OldBakery&EmporiumMay 18, 2022
  Prints have consistently out-sold my originals if for no other reasons than they are less expensive and usually have more items to choose from. Not bad reasons at all 😊 What I want to do now though is, begin to –
• May 17, 2022 – I Have a Lot of Happenings ( art & personal ) This Week, But Still Finding Moments To Start a New Painting : Morning’s PromiseMay 17, 2022
  It’s nice to dance the surface of my canvas as needed. And able ☺️ And right now, a light step, at an easy pace, may give me the time – and energy – to get more than a handful of other needed things also done this week. Not a bad compromise. For now 😊
• May 16, 2022 – New Diptych : “Freedom” Almost Finished, Panels Need Signing ( front & back )May 16, 2022
  And what I’ve come across figuring out how to make prints of this that folks can work with, ie, close to or within standard size dimensions, was how to get a 22×28 image convert into – in 2 examples – an 8×10 or 12×18, and I came up with this as a starting prototype….
• May 15, 2022 – My Most Viewed Image this Past Week @FineArtAmerica, “Spring Rising”May 15, 2022
  I’d done a lot of deep or darker night-like paintings for a bit, so it felt pretty nice to lighten up my palette for awhile. Working back & forth, from the two approaches – playing the potential good from both approaches seems to suit my Libra middle, lol!
• May 14, 2022 – My 1st Classical Stretch Workout with Miranda Esmonde-White ( via YouTube ) in Many Months!May 14, 2022
  Though similar to SilverSneakers’ classes, Miranda’s classes focus largely on making the fascia network in our bodies more fluid. Some movements are very similar, but more extended, dance-like, reflecting Miranda’s ballerina and dance background!
• May 13, 2022 – “Angel” in AVAA’s 1st Austin Art Space Gallery and Studio Group Show in a Long Time!May 13, 2022
  Just a very quick post to announce that my 18×24 inch acrylic on stretched canvas, Angel – has been accepted into Austin Visual Arts Association’s ( AVAA) 1st group show since ( I believe ) the pandemic. Definitely been a long time coming and feels great to be able to be showing with this long time Austin art association again! 😊
• May 12, 2022 – Updated My #Twitter Header Image and Pinned TweetMay 12, 2022
  Though Twitter’s future is up in the air, or ether, or virtual landscape; and my own “footprint” there and social media in general is micro-whatever, lol! — it’s still my micro existence, and I want to care for it best I can 😊

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Thanks again, everyone! 😊

Adan

Twitter / Instagram / FB @FelipeAdanLerma
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