I finally emptied one of the original pocket brush pen ink cartridges about a week ago, so I ordered a new brush pen, syringes, and ink, and (after waiting patiently all week for the ink!) I now have a lovely turquoise brush pen! Thank you so much for showing how you do this! I had so much fun! :D
A question since I'm coming to this from the world of fountain pens: are you finding any challenges in using water-soluble and waterproof inks together? Do you start by using your waterproof inks and layer the turquoise atop those? (I never need an excuse to buy and try more pens! I have the Sailor Fude DE Mannen 40-degree brush pen loaded with a waterproof ink.) Would you swap out your Lamy Turquoise for, say, DeAtramentis Document Ink in Cyan?
Thank you in advance for continuing the discussion! Can't wait to experiment!
Inspired by your CMYK posts I spent the summer drawing with CMYK brush pens (not homemade sadly) and it’s really helped me think about colour. My niece and nephew challenged me to draw their brown tabby cat and I think it turned out better than if I’d sketched it with an unlimited palette. I’ve now added 3 more pastel tones to my stock of brush pens to broaden out the range of colours I can achieve a little more. Thanks so much for sharing this idea; it’s really helped me keep up the habit of drawing in a sketchbook because now it’s really about testing ideas!
I have just recently joined the subscription and am loving all your work Austin. I am officially red green colorblind, and have stayed away from art over the years, I think, because of that but I’m now just jumping right in and having a great time. I can see colors, but I’m not good enough to discern what color is what, especially shades, so I have to label my pens and markers if I want to know what I’m doing (if I just want to be creative it doesn’t matter, but then I’m not learning as much as I might be). Since I just joined I have missed any other posts or comments you may have made about dealing with color blindness and art. And I’d love to know if there are some back issues or things you’ve written about it. thanks!
Love this idea to customize brush pen ink, I’m looking forward to trying this. Fun craft project: to customize the exterior of my brush pen I borrowed my daughters nail polish (watch ‘water marbling technique’ videos in YouTube or TikTok) to dip my pen and ‘paint’ a cool marble design on the pen. It was fun to combine my interest in pens with my daughters interest in painting nails. Be forewarned, watching finger nail polish design videos can be mesmerizing!!
I just discovered these Sennelier brush pens. Their zillions of colors are crazy and rich, the brushes are lovely. Give them a whirl, Austin. https://amzn.to/3EuFMY8
Love the colors in your journal (and your "X" design!). Looking at the image of the three Coconuts, I'm reminded of the red/blue 3D glasses from when I was a kid... With your layering your blue and magenta brush pens, it might be fun to get a pair of those and look at your writing, see what pops out! :)
Thanks so much for your generous posts including this one, Austin. There's something about hacking practices that makes art-making even more gratifying for me and so I really appreciate the build-it-yourself approach you create and promote. I get color inspiration from just flipping through magazines and seeing color combinations that are new to me, that are pleasing to the eye but that I would've never thought of myself--magazines, especially those massive fashion inserts that come sometimes in NYTimes, are my go-to resource. Rich color combinations are really everywhere, just sitting there waiting to be discovered...like the tapestry rug on my floor right now!
Hi Austin, I think color blind is NOT the best term ever invented. So many of my favorite artist have this ability, and I love the work they do with color. It should be called color sight! ps: customizing tools is such a cool idea!
Well, I am just beginning. My first year and I am trying it all - lol. But one thing that is really teaching me alot is just using one color. Taking Connie's Monopalette classes (once a week for a year and they are free). This month we are working with Shell Pink besides the color we are working with we can also use white and black. It is really teaching me to be very experimental with color. Also I have a hard time starting, knowing what to do and one of the teachers that I have through other workshops has told me just to experiment with everything I had - separately, together and build up my consistency. oops - sorry - back to color. So, I am still learning color - found that my Christmas cactus (which only takes one month off during the year) gives me a BEAUTIFUL rosy pink that I can use as watercolor or build into Titanium White for Acrylic ;). Blueberry tea gives me a nice stormy color. Curry gives me a beautiful deep yellowy color ;)
I find that learning color is a lifelong process and my taste in color has changed through the years. I turn to artists I love but I think you have to experiment and play with it yourself. Because how difficult is it to replicate colors you see in books or on screens or in nature? VERY difficult. I like making swatches and color wheels but also, abstract pages using colors and combinations I believe I hate. Yes to water brushes for ink.
I haven't quite gotten to syringe level, but I LOVE my Rapidosketch. It has a refillable reservoir, and ink comes in these bottles with a thin spout for (relatively) easy filling. Best part is permanent/waterproof/non smelly ink. It's permanent & opaque on plastic film, which comes in clutch for burning screens for screenprinting!
*However* it's a thin technical line, and I'm trying to branch out. I'm spoiled for waterproof ink, which is tricky in a brush pen. Anyone have a fave refillable waterproof ink?
The best I've found are Faber-Castell India Ink brush pens which are very non-fillable!
I learned a watercolor paint hack: instead of dealing with messy tubes, I bought watercolor sticks and empty watercolor pans, cut off pieces from the sticks, and mashed them into the pans. Also, I attach 12-14 half pans inside an Ice Chips mint tin with rubber cement to make my own little palette (Ice Chips come in tins with white insides, making it easier to see what I'm doing when I mix colors).
I learned about color from my quilting. After using hundreds of fabrics over 20+ years (and getting advice from talented quilters :-) ), I can tell now if a fabric combination will work for what I have in mind. This knowledge doesn't directly translate to paint because it's a very different medium, but it gave me a base to work from. I've been painting for about nine months, and it's a blast. Love your ideas about the Pentel brush pen--just starting to explore them with fountain pen inks I have on hand.
I love this idea of refilling the spent cartridges of the Pentel brush pen and creating less waste! I love that pen too. One of my hacks is using the Sailor Pen with Fude nib. I THINK "fude" means "bent". In anycase, this pen can give me a wide range of line widths. Plus, it comes with cartridges of water soluble ink. With this pen and ink combo I can sketch outlines and do some hatching then use my water brush to activate the ink to get shading/ I like to sketch while out nature walking but I don't want to have a heavy kit so this I why I like this pen. Just one pen, a water brush and my sketchbook and I have everything I need in my pocket. Using your hack means I can experiment with different colors instead of gray scale.
I finally emptied one of the original pocket brush pen ink cartridges about a week ago, so I ordered a new brush pen, syringes, and ink, and (after waiting patiently all week for the ink!) I now have a lovely turquoise brush pen! Thank you so much for showing how you do this! I had so much fun! :D
Hello Austin!
A question since I'm coming to this from the world of fountain pens: are you finding any challenges in using water-soluble and waterproof inks together? Do you start by using your waterproof inks and layer the turquoise atop those? (I never need an excuse to buy and try more pens! I have the Sailor Fude DE Mannen 40-degree brush pen loaded with a waterproof ink.) Would you swap out your Lamy Turquoise for, say, DeAtramentis Document Ink in Cyan?
Thank you in advance for continuing the discussion! Can't wait to experiment!
ldp
Inspired by your CMYK posts I spent the summer drawing with CMYK brush pens (not homemade sadly) and it’s really helped me think about colour. My niece and nephew challenged me to draw their brown tabby cat and I think it turned out better than if I’d sketched it with an unlimited palette. I’ve now added 3 more pastel tones to my stock of brush pens to broaden out the range of colours I can achieve a little more. Thanks so much for sharing this idea; it’s really helped me keep up the habit of drawing in a sketchbook because now it’s really about testing ideas!
I have just recently joined the subscription and am loving all your work Austin. I am officially red green colorblind, and have stayed away from art over the years, I think, because of that but I’m now just jumping right in and having a great time. I can see colors, but I’m not good enough to discern what color is what, especially shades, so I have to label my pens and markers if I want to know what I’m doing (if I just want to be creative it doesn’t matter, but then I’m not learning as much as I might be). Since I just joined I have missed any other posts or comments you may have made about dealing with color blindness and art. And I’d love to know if there are some back issues or things you’ve written about it. thanks!
Love this idea to customize brush pen ink, I’m looking forward to trying this. Fun craft project: to customize the exterior of my brush pen I borrowed my daughters nail polish (watch ‘water marbling technique’ videos in YouTube or TikTok) to dip my pen and ‘paint’ a cool marble design on the pen. It was fun to combine my interest in pens with my daughters interest in painting nails. Be forewarned, watching finger nail polish design videos can be mesmerizing!!
oh NICE. Will look up!
I just discovered these Sennelier brush pens. Their zillions of colors are crazy and rich, the brushes are lovely. Give them a whirl, Austin. https://amzn.to/3EuFMY8
Oh wow! Danny Gregory subscribes to Austin Kleon! Lol are Maira and Lynda here too?🥰
But of course! I wouldn't miss it.
Love the colors in your journal (and your "X" design!). Looking at the image of the three Coconuts, I'm reminded of the red/blue 3D glasses from when I was a kid... With your layering your blue and magenta brush pens, it might be fun to get a pair of those and look at your writing, see what pops out! :)
(Like these: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Handcart-Pairs-Cardboard-Glasses/dp/B01CUIXHVS/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=anaglyph+glasses&qid=1650472732&sr=8-4)
I'm obsessing over that FILL YOUR POCKETS (sticker?) - Postnote: Found it! https://www.reddit.com/r/WitchesVsPatriarchy/comments/t33yzv/created_this_in_honor_of_brave_ukrainian_witches/
I think I can get you some, friend! Email me
Thanks so much for your generous posts including this one, Austin. There's something about hacking practices that makes art-making even more gratifying for me and so I really appreciate the build-it-yourself approach you create and promote. I get color inspiration from just flipping through magazines and seeing color combinations that are new to me, that are pleasing to the eye but that I would've never thought of myself--magazines, especially those massive fashion inserts that come sometimes in NYTimes, are my go-to resource. Rich color combinations are really everywhere, just sitting there waiting to be discovered...like the tapestry rug on my floor right now!
Hi Austin, I think color blind is NOT the best term ever invented. So many of my favorite artist have this ability, and I love the work they do with color. It should be called color sight! ps: customizing tools is such a cool idea!
Well, I am just beginning. My first year and I am trying it all - lol. But one thing that is really teaching me alot is just using one color. Taking Connie's Monopalette classes (once a week for a year and they are free). This month we are working with Shell Pink besides the color we are working with we can also use white and black. It is really teaching me to be very experimental with color. Also I have a hard time starting, knowing what to do and one of the teachers that I have through other workshops has told me just to experiment with everything I had - separately, together and build up my consistency. oops - sorry - back to color. So, I am still learning color - found that my Christmas cactus (which only takes one month off during the year) gives me a BEAUTIFUL rosy pink that I can use as watercolor or build into Titanium White for Acrylic ;). Blueberry tea gives me a nice stormy color. Curry gives me a beautiful deep yellowy color ;)
I find that learning color is a lifelong process and my taste in color has changed through the years. I turn to artists I love but I think you have to experiment and play with it yourself. Because how difficult is it to replicate colors you see in books or on screens or in nature? VERY difficult. I like making swatches and color wheels but also, abstract pages using colors and combinations I believe I hate. Yes to water brushes for ink.
I haven't quite gotten to syringe level, but I LOVE my Rapidosketch. It has a refillable reservoir, and ink comes in these bottles with a thin spout for (relatively) easy filling. Best part is permanent/waterproof/non smelly ink. It's permanent & opaque on plastic film, which comes in clutch for burning screens for screenprinting!
https://www.dickblick.com/products/koh-i-noor-rapidosketch-pen-set
*However* it's a thin technical line, and I'm trying to branch out. I'm spoiled for waterproof ink, which is tricky in a brush pen. Anyone have a fave refillable waterproof ink?
The best I've found are Faber-Castell India Ink brush pens which are very non-fillable!
I learned a watercolor paint hack: instead of dealing with messy tubes, I bought watercolor sticks and empty watercolor pans, cut off pieces from the sticks, and mashed them into the pans. Also, I attach 12-14 half pans inside an Ice Chips mint tin with rubber cement to make my own little palette (Ice Chips come in tins with white insides, making it easier to see what I'm doing when I mix colors).
And +1 on water brushes. They're so handy!
I learned about color from my quilting. After using hundreds of fabrics over 20+ years (and getting advice from talented quilters :-) ), I can tell now if a fabric combination will work for what I have in mind. This knowledge doesn't directly translate to paint because it's a very different medium, but it gave me a base to work from. I've been painting for about nine months, and it's a blast. Love your ideas about the Pentel brush pen--just starting to explore them with fountain pen inks I have on hand.
I love this idea of refilling the spent cartridges of the Pentel brush pen and creating less waste! I love that pen too. One of my hacks is using the Sailor Pen with Fude nib. I THINK "fude" means "bent". In anycase, this pen can give me a wide range of line widths. Plus, it comes with cartridges of water soluble ink. With this pen and ink combo I can sketch outlines and do some hatching then use my water brush to activate the ink to get shading/ I like to sketch while out nature walking but I don't want to have a heavy kit so this I why I like this pen. Just one pen, a water brush and my sketchbook and I have everything I need in my pocket. Using your hack means I can experiment with different colors instead of gray scale.
Ooh I need to look up one of these sailor pens!