New palette: Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI 14-color portable set

It's been almost a year since my last post. And all the while I thought I wrote something here early this year. I guess I posted it on Instagram. (Too much soc med, yes.) Anyway, maybe I'll just share with you my surprising discovery of a new palette called Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI 14-color portable set. 

A few weeks ago, I finally decided to order a graphite tint watercolor set made by Zig Kuretake. I'd been eyeing this set for a long time but often had to postpone the purchase because I've way too many supplies already and I didn't have a clear idea then how I would use that set. Years later and seemingly out of the blue, I placed the order through Lazada. I made sure to buy from the official Zig distributor here in the Philippines. 

Item was shipped immediately and was delivered in a few days. So, I was so excited and eager and all ONLY to find out that I'd been sent the wrong product. This is what I got instead: Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI 14-color portable set

Funny how I felt disappointed and happy at the same time. I had great plans for the graphite tint set and was itching to use them to add shade to my figure drawings. And then, this cute Japanesque palette came, and I felt like opening the thing and painting with it already. I mean, it's a Kuretake Gansai Tambi set, yah know. I have the bigger gansai tambi sets and I am in love with them. 

But, I didn't open THIS box.

Instead, I sent a photo of it to the seller and informed them about the mistake. I did get an instant reply... from a BOT, however. So, I sent another message. And I got a reply again, in Filipino, from a BOT. I sent another message saying that I'll just opt for a Return/Refund. Just to be fair. Since I know that this set costs twice the price of the set that I actually ordered. Ayaw naman nating malugi si seller, di ba?

The days came and went. Still no authentic reply from the seller. Lazada finally issued a refund after like 3 or 4 days. I waited 2 more days before opening the box, hoping that someone would pick it up and replace it. But no one came. 

So.... I finally opened the box with a big smile. I was unsure about how I might use the beige and the gray. Surprisingly, when I painted this red-breasted robin, those neutrals along with white and black turned out to be indispensable. I used my own synthetic sable brush and painted on a small sketchbook with 100% cotton paper. I was so happy with how this little birdie turned out. 

I made another small painting on the same sketchbook. I wanted to see how I could mix the colors to create a landscape. Once again, the neutrals helped me mute or add some colors. I was also surprised to see that I made various shades of green using this gansai tambi pocket set. True enough, you don't need much to be able to paint nature. I'll be using these watercolors for a few more small paintings while the other travel palettes can rest for a while. 

I find the palette good enough for simple nature sketches, still life paintings, and crafting projects. I must also mention that the plastic casing is hard and sturdy. I don't know the chemical engineering behind it, but I seem to prefer it over the plastic casing of Cotman, Daler & Rowney and other pocket sets from known brands. This set has a lot of mixing compartments too. And that's definitely a huge advantage especially if you're sketching outdoors. 

If you are curious about this set and would want to try it yourself, you can order through Lazada or Shopee or inquire at a brick-and-mortar art supplies shop in your own locale. 

You can also buy this set from Amazon for less than $30: 

Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI 14-color portable set

Watercolor Sketch of Flowers in a Basket

Who’s crazy about flowers? Me! I think I’ll never grow tired of looking at and painting flowers. I’m particularly drawn to flowers that can bravely cover an entire field or meadow. Wild flowers and perennials are a huge fave, as well as Autumn and Spring flowers. (Okay, maybe all sorts of flowers!)

Here’s a watercolor sketch of a variety of flowers in a basket. I seem to have a thing for flowers placed in baskets (also: old/vintage canisters). So when I spotted a picture of a basket of flowers on the cover of a green living book, I knew I had to sketch it.

This sketch was done in my Moleskine watercolor album using Winsor & Newton and ShinHan paints. I just used a B pencil for the initial drawing. I so enjoyed making the splatters!

Watercolor Sketch: Flower Market in Paris

I am forever in awe of beautiful flower shops and flower markets. I once dreamed of becoming a flower shop owner. Perhaps that dream is still in my list. For now, though, I am content drawing and painting flowers in my sketchbooks. I found a lovely photo of a flower market and decided to render it in my Moleskine watercolor album.

I'm pleased with how loose and light this one turned out. I just drew the picture with a pencil and then reinstated a few lines with a fine brush. The white letters on the black chalkboard were written using a white Sakura gelly roll pen. 

Watercolor sketch: Leaf from a Talisay tree

The Universe connects with us every time and it is up to us how we wish to respond to its prompts. Yesterday morning, after driving my little girl to preschool, I planned on doing field sketches at our parish church’s grotto. I was very eager to do so as I hadn’t done any live outdoor sketching for months already. But then, I came to think about my chores and other pressing errands for the day. So I ditched the idea and proceeded to drive home. Along the way,  a big leaf from a Talisay tree was blown by the wind and it landed on my car’s windshield. For about half a minute, I waited for it to be blown away again, but it didn’t. It got stuck on the edge of the windshield. It was then that I realized I could bring home this lovely leaf and sketch it. It is after all the leaf of a Talisay tree -- one of my favorite trees. And, you know, I've always enjoyed drawing leaves. (Ask my Botany teacher. Hee hee.)

So I stopped the car, got out, and grabbed this leaf. When I reached home, I laid it carefully on my art table and headed to the backyard to finish my laundry. The whole time I was loading the clothes and hanging them to dry, I was thinking about the leaf and how it just came to me, as if wanting to be drawn and painted. Or maybe it’s just me trying to romanticize this ordinary occurrence. Or maybe I’m just trying to find a reason to sketch. What does it matter, anyway? The important thing is, I was able to sketch that day. And I did it for the love of leaves, trees, sketchbooks, and watercolors.

Sketching in my A6 Monologue art journal

Since I resumed painting in acrylics and other media last November, my watercolor set has been quietly sleeping on the corner of my art desk. If you have followed my old blog and previous IG posts, you probably know that I was mostly into watercolor painting and sketching. When I relived my passion for art more than 2 years ago, the one medium that I chose to 'master' was the watercolor. For the simple reason that it's handy and easier to work with. (I'm a busy work-at-home mom, you see...) But late last year, I decided that perhaps I can already dabble into my dream of doing mixed-media artwork. My kids now know better not to play with Mama's acrylics and brushes, and they are now willing to give me 30 to 60 minutes of art time on a fine day. So I kept doing all these mixed-media paintings and art journal pages... Until I found myself at my art desk 4 days before Christmas, yearning to just sketch and wash. Yes, I've missed the good old stuff!

So I brought out my A6 Monologue sketchbook with gross-grained paper (a really good one for watercolor sketches), a pencil, and a drawing pen. I was stumped for a while and didn't know what to draw or paint. Then I saw my new tube of gesso and thought to use it as subject. It was midnight after all and there's just no way I could find a nice pot of flowers to sketch.  Might as well make do with whatever's there right in front of me. My husband bought the Reeves gesso for me earlier that day 'cause he knew I was badly running out of gesso. So sweet, right? 

 

To make this simple sketch, I just used the usual stuff in my watercolor kit: my Sakura Koi Pocket Field Sketchbox of 24 colors, an HB Faber-Castell Art GRIP pencil, a Zig Kuretake water brush with a large tip, and a black Faber-Castell Fine PITT Artist pen. I hope to make more watercolor sketches in the days and weeks to come. I find watercolor sketching very relaxing. It also helps me come up with quick studies for mixed-media paintings.

What have you been sketching lately?