Using a waterbrush

[WC Gipsy]

Me again, full of questions ;)

I decided to try something: take an extra 20 minutes or so for lunch ('till now I'd grab a sandwich and eat at my desk!), stop at one spot every day (weather permitting), and paint something from what I see there. I have just started this, second day today. If you're interested, the stuff is going up here: http://wcgipsy.pabu-host.net/category/pond-at-work/ although it's really nothing worth sharing at this point. I'm putting it up more as a way to keep track for my own self than anything else.

Anyway, I acquired a waterbrush, after seeing a few people mention them and I liked the idea of the convenience of it. However, I'm finding it hard. Particularly working on "large" areas (large in relations to the size of the paper, which is about 4"x6"!), like skies.

I'd welcome any ideas and suggestions how to use a waterbrush.

Thanks

[happypaddler]

Hi again Nic. What I do for skies with my waterbrush is to wet the whole area without any paint and then put the paint in fairly strong and let it flow. I do the same with all washes whether I am using a waterbrush or a regular brush. You are improving fast. Your second lunchtime painting is much better than the first. I became addicted to my waterbrush and sketchbook. A painting a day is a great idea.

[rgb]

I did read somewhere online about someone who wets the sky area well before adding the sky color, and I think they used touches of color in the sky area instead of a solid sky color.

Niji has a broad, flat waterbrush nib ... maybe 3/8" in width.

I've seen lot's of really good artwork done using the waterbrush, and the convenience is great.

[WC Gipsy]

@ John, thanks for your kind comments. I tried to wet the paper first, but it dried faster than I could wet it. I was also concerned about running out of water in the waterbrush. But tomorrow is another day, and I shall try again :) The few skies I've done with regular brushes have all involved wet paper with drops of colour in it.

Jenny, I'm thinking about a broad, flat waterbrush. But before I invest in more waterbrushes, I want to play with this one a wee bit longer, just to make sure I'll like it enough.

[rue d'oak]

Hey there, Nic!:wave:

To cover large areas, I squeeze the barrel to get a puddle on the paper, and then spread it, rather than relying on all the water to come through the brush itself. And then I think there is just a reality about how much real estate a water brush can handle! But the larger, flat version sounds appealing.

Jen

[Yorky]

I use the largest brush size for everything - they have a good point.

You would be surprised how far the water goes, you can paint several sketches with one filling. Yes squeeze out the amount of water you need and mix on your palette.

Here's a 14 x 10 sketch I did with the waterbrush. (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=436651)

Doug

[ElsieH]

:wave:
I have used waterbrushes in my travel palette kit and like them quite a lot.
I like idea of squeezing out a puddle of water and then spreading it to a large area is good. I've done that.
Also, I have three waterbrushes in three different sizes and that helps.
Just having more than one brush helps as you may not want to dip from one color to another if it would change what you are wanting to mix.
Recently, on a trip to Calif., I took an empty pill bottle along. In the hotel, I filled this with water and it helped to be able to wash my brushes out between color mixes. If you are at an office, this might work well for you.
Great idea to do a painting during your lunch hour.

[Studio-1-F]

I'd welcome any ideas and suggestions how to use a waterbrush. Thanks
Hi, Nic! A painting every day is an outstanding idea! Bravo to you!!!

Here is a tutorial (sorry! it's full of ads!) but it's something: http://painting.about.com/od/watercolourpainting/ss/waterbrush.htm. Not much on skies or broad washes, however. But see the 5th page (http://painting.about.com/od/watercolourpainting/ss/waterbrush_5.htm).

Here is Russ's article on the waterbrush: http://www.sketching.cc/articles/waterbrush.html. You can see that there is one with a wide flat nib, probably good for larger wash areas.

Finally, here is a WC thread: Wonderful Waterbrush (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47091)

If you anticipate doing big areas of sky every day, and if your skies are you principal subject matter, you might consider packing along one or two different colored blue watercolor pencils. You could very lightly shade the sky area with them and then soften the area with a wash of clear water from the waterbrush. Just an idea off the top of my head.

(Another idea is to just leave the skies blank and come back to them later at home, when you have your full kit available. I do this sometimes when I'm traveling. I concentrate on the landscape elements, the people, buildings, etc. when I have them in front of me. And do the skies later, in my room in the evenings, back at the inn. On the other hand, if skies are your main interest, you'll want to get them down exactly as you see them, "from life"!)

I like the fat blue Pentel waterbrushes (http://www.johnnealbooks.com/prod_detail_list/75) the best, having tried all the rest of them. I keep one with me all the time, and use it with my water-soluble pen, to get nice washes in my sketches. They are great!

Enjoy!!!

Jan

[WC Gipsy]

@ Jen, yes, a broad version is indeed appealing!

@ Doug, thanks for showing us your sketch. Nice. Glad you took artistic license and got rid of the blue rubbish bags ;) Not many castles like that in New Zealand though :)

@ Elsie, thanks for the pill bottle suggestion. I think I'll allay my fears and just bring a wee container with water, in case I run out. So far I've found that I have just about enough water in one brush to do one thing. But then, I haven't been able to completely fill the handle of the brush with water either. I have a ZIG, and find it difficult to squeeze the handle enough to get a complete fill. I'm not sure if it's my arthritis, bad brush design, or a mixture of both ;)

@ Jan, thank you for all those great links :) I know it's perfectly fine to finish something at home, but for this particular "exercise", I want to do everything "in situ". I might try a combo blue watercolour pencil/waterbrush, not a bad idea. Though getting the skies exactly as is is not generally a problem. Not lately anyway, it's been a brilliant blue sky, barely graded down.

So anyway, my current thinking is that I'll want to get the larger size brush rather than the medium one, and a broad brush as well. But that I'll keep working with the brush i do have at the moment. One of the problems of living in NZ is that all the online distributors are in the US or the UK, and shipping charges kill you, so it pays to consolidate and wait to have several other things to order. My local art supply shop doesn't carry them, and looked a bit lost when I asked if they could get them. Oh hummm.

Thanks again all for the great advice :)

[Yorky]

I simply unscrew the handle Nic and fill it under the tap.

Doug

[FriendCarol]

On the same page as Jan's last link, scroll down and you'll see the Niji flat waterbrush (almost 1/2", but measured in mm.). The price on this page looks a little high to me, though. I own several waterbrushes (including a Pentel Colorbrush, some Aquaflow brushes, and the other Niji sizes), but the Niji flat is my favorite for fast sketching, by far.

Some of the Aquaflow don't, well, don't flow very well... :D I found by taking the top part (analogous to the tuft) and making the hole that leads to the bristles just a bit bigger -- stick in a pin -- the flow is much improved.

As to more water, go to any place that still does actual film processing and ask for any clear (Fujifilm?) film canisters they have. They never leak, provide plenty of water for most sketching, and you can easily see how much water is left in them. If you want to do larger sky areas on-site, I recommend carrying a small natural sponge -- fairly cheap, very quick for large-scale coverage. (The Cotman or W/N Field Kit comes with one, as do several other tiny kits, presumably for this reason.)

When I want to refill any of my waterbrushes, I uncap it and remove the part with the bristles (unscrew it -- note that the Niji unscrew in the OPPOSITE direction of a normal screw!). Then pull out the little black plug with the tiny hole in its center, at the top of the barrel.

I purchased a couple syringe-looking things intended to dispense liquid medications to infants; about $1 in most dollar store retail establishments. These are lightweight, small, and cheap, so I keep one in my studio area and the other in my field kit.They hold about 2Tbsp, and have a soft plastic tip. Plunge the syringe into the film cannister (or any water container), and just pull up the handle to fill the syringe. Then insert the tip of the syringe into the barrel of the waterbrush, and fill it. Very, very easy. :) Put the black plug back into the barrel, screw the "tuft" thing back on, put its cap on it, and you're done. ;)

[WC Gipsy]

Doug, the ZIG brush doesn't have a big enough opening when you unscrew the handle. It's a small hole that won't refill from the tap. You have to immerse the thing in water, press on the handle and then it sucks the water in.

Carol, a syringe looks to be a good idea. I don't know that it would fit in the opening without the actual needle though! Perhaps the ZIG is a bad introduction to waterbrushes...

I'd been thinking about a film canister. I also used to have small Nalgene container, including one that dispensed liquids as drops. Used that a lot in my canoe tripping days. They've long been lost though :(

[FriendCarol]

WC Gypsy, just a thought: Russ (founder of sketching.cc) has a site in Japan, where these waterbrushes are extremely popular and there are many, many brands and types available. Is it possible he could help you order from a Japanese vendor? (He's a member of this site, too, under the name Tokyo Russ, but doesn't seem to post much here.) Shipping from Japan might be much cheaper than shipping from US or Europe, to NZ.

Cross-posted... I'm not familiar with the ZIG, but I'll look it up. ;)

P.S. This listing is very reasonably priced, even with shipping: http://cgi.ebay.com/ZIG-H20-Broad-Tip-Brush_W0QQitemZ180206700533QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0801151042a33524

[WC Gipsy]

Hi again Carol, I've seen many of Russ' posts when I searched for "waterbrush" on the forum before posting my original post ;)

I think I'll just wait a bit and place an order later in February. I'll be away from home for ten or so days in early Feb, and after that I think I'll have to get a decent palette for tubes, so I'm likely to get one or two waterbrushes at the same time. Consolidating orders like that seriously cuts on shipping cost.

[rgb]

Check eBay for good prices on the Niji and Zig waterbrushes. I can't tell the difference between the two brands. Except for the colors, they look like they came from the same manufacturer.

I unscrew the top, remove the black plug, and fill directly from the tap with both brands.

[Moufflon1]

Question from a newbie - what is a waterbrush? No-one I've spoken to here in Cyprus seems to know what they are. :confused:

Pam

[WC Gipsy]

It's a cool thing, actually :) It's a brush with an empty handle, which you fill with water. The water trickle through the brush.

Russ (previously mentionned) has a nice page on it: http://www.stutler.cc/other/sketchbook/waterbrush.html

[JamieWG]

Oh, what great tips on waterbrush usage! I have five sizes and use them all the time, but I'm learning a lot here too! Love the tip on how to fill from the syringe!

Jamie

[brusher]

Small spray bottles (plastic atomizers) can be found in drugstores or The Container Store. They are small enough to be put in a purse or pocket, very slender, and I carry one with me in my purse all the time. (I think they are meant for cologne; usually carried in the makeup section). You can simply spray the area to wet it before painting for sky or other large area.

Hope this helps.

Cathy

[allisonsteinart]

My tip: I have to squeeze my brush to get it flowing, but it oversaturates. When that happens, I dab the excess onto the back of my left hand, which leaves a little "puddle" there that I can use to dampen the brush tip when I need to.

[Studio-1-F]

I'd welcome any ideas and suggestions how to use a waterbrush. Thanks
Hey, Nic. Just one more idea on how to get good coverage from the waterbrush for large areas. I got the idea from the two waterbrushes that I keep in my bigger sketch kit. (One is loaded with black ink and the other with a diluted version of the same ink. I use them for ink brush sketching.)

How about dedicating one of your waterbrushes to skies? Fill it with blue liquid watercolor (http://www.dickblick.com/categories/watercolors/liquidwatercolors/details/)! Or maybe take two waterbrushes (like I've done) and put straight full strength blue in one and a diluted blue in the other? You would use the syringe that was mentioned earlier.

Just a thought. . . . . Heck, I just might try this myself! I have wanted an excuse to see what that liquid watercolor was all about! Thanks! tee hee

ADDENDUM!! --> MacEvoy says that there are lightfastness issues with some of the liquid watercolor brands. He recommends Robert Doak & Associates liquid WC (http://www.robertdoakart.com/page/page/5236346.htm).

Jan

[WC Gipsy]

@ Jenny, I'd missed your reference to filling up the zig directly under the watertap. I tried, but with such a small opening, there's no way it's filling up!

@ Jan, that wouldn't be such a bad idea, except for the fact that I'm really trying to go "minimal" here. One waterbrush (I'll bow down to do), a small sketchbox of pans, and paper. But it's an idea to keep in mind for future testing :) Thanks

[JamieWG]

@ Jan, that wouldn't be such a bad idea, except for the fact that I'm really trying to go "minimal" here. One waterbrush (I'll bow down to do), a small sketchbox of pans, and paper. But it's an idea to keep in mind for future testing :) Thanks

Nic, the small Koi watercolor pan set even has a mini waterbrush inside it, so if you want to go "compact" with one waterbrush, that could be a good way to go!

Jamie

[rgb]

Nic, there's a tiny hole in the black plug. If you remove the plug, it's easy to fill the barrel with water. It must be done so that the plug and barrel are not damaged.

[WC Gipsy]

there's a tiny hole in the black plug. If you remove the plug, it's easy to fill the barrel with water.

Ah HA! That's the trick! I didn't know you could remove the plug. Had a closer look now, and managed to insert a thumb nail between the edge of the plug and the edge of the handle, and the thing came out sweetly after that. This will make filling up the handle MUCH easier. Thank you Jenny :clap:

[WC Gipsy]

the small Koi watercolor pan set even has a mini waterbrush inside it, so if you want to go "compact" with one waterbrush, that could be a good way to go!
Thanks Jamie. I had a quick look at the Koi pan set. Nifty :) I'm quite happy with what I have now, I think that it's pretty equi valent to the Koi set, and I know the pigment that's in it :)

//Edit: A closer look at the photos of the Koi, it appears the set comes *with* the waterbrush, but that there is no space to put the brush inside.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/18-Jan-2008/128199-08-01-19-compact-kit.jpg

It's a compact Winsor Newton sketcher's box, with the Zig waterbrush I have. The brush with the cap is actually longer than the box itself! The W&N box measures 12.8cm x 6.5cm x 2cm (5" x 2.6" x 0.8"), which compares favourably to the Koi (4.5” x 3.5” x .875”). One's a tad longer but narrower is all :)

[WC Gipsy]

Just a quick update, I've tried Jenny's trick today and it made a world of difference, easier to fill, fuller handle, etc. Great stuff :) Thanks Jenny