DS Watercolor Sticks

[lalflen]

I was fortunate enough to be in Bellevue, Wa this week and stopped by the Daniel Smith store for some goodies. Among the goodies were a few new Watercolor sticks. I wanted to get the primary colors in both a cool and warm shade, so I now have Hansa Yellow (light and medium), pyrrol red and quin. coral, cerulean Blue and Ultramarine Blue, yellow ochre and burnt umber.

I used a waterbrush and the watercolor sticks to do these two 4x6 paintings




These are great fun to play with and am looking forward to doing more with them.

PS> Am working on getting good GRAYS which has always been a challenge for me!!

[Studio-1-F]

Linda, these are both pretty great! Bravo! Did you use the waterbrush to pick up pigment from the sticks? Or did you wet the sticks and use them like crayons? Or did you lay in the pigment dry from the stick, and then spread and blend with the waterbrush?

Or some other technique? I'd love to know. Thanks!

Jan

[lalflen]

Hi Jan, I used the waterbrush to pick up pigment just as i would with pan WCs, the difference is that the DS WC Sticks seem juicier. When I spread them on paper, they are more like tube WCs. I'm anxious to try different techniques and will let you know how they turn out!

Thanks for the kind comments!

[Studio-1-F]

Originally Posted by lalflen

I'm anxious to try different techniques and will let you know how they turn out! Thanks for the kind comments!

Excellent! I will be watching. Thanks.

Jan

[HarvestMoon]

These are gorgeous! Thank heavens I cannot stop by DS! It would be the last straw financially! You did a wonderful job with your sticks. I have a few and have not quite figured out how I want to use them!

[dougmccallum]

I agree with Linda. These are gorgeous. I also agree about not having a DS store here. I would get in trouble even more than I do now

Doug

[lalflen]

Hi All, here are a few more WC sketches with DS sticks and ink and stuff. The first is pretty traditional, a heron with his feathers fluffed. The next is a Franken-painting I'm working on of the Lake Michigan dunes (a favorite subject). I used salt and masking fluid. This one isn't done, but I like it because it portrays whimsy. Let me know what you think.





Have a great night!

[Faafil]

Oooo, nice work with your watercolor sticks! I haven't taken the plunge with them yet, but I like effects you're getting! I think your Franken painting is wonderful - nice and loose, great palette..

[KreativeK]

Sooo glad to see someone use these sticks then post examples of their work. Linda, I really like these effects, the last one in particular. I've not yet bought any but might do so now. Years ago I called the DS store in Seattle and asked them if Dan might be related to me and if so could I have a discount?

[robertsloan2]

Linda, these are coming out so strong and gorgeous. Beautiful work. You got good grays! You're definitely getting there on good grays!

[virgo68]

Hi Linda, great stuff! I don't see any probs with your greys at all - and love the vibrancy of the second one posted - very rich colour!

[artbyannalisa]

Yeah, I hear ya about living too close to the Dan Smith store :O Getting outta there for $50 is a miracle. If I didn't already have a bunch of tube WC's and am now into Chinese Brush Painting, which requires different WC paints with a different binder, I'd be all over these sticks. Not only can you do so many things with them (I admit to long sessions of "play time" at the display while visiting the store), but I think they are actually more cost-effective than tubes, especially for certain pigments. Your stuff is great and the greys will just keep getting better, they are already good!

[rogerw]

Originally Posted by lalflen

Hi Jan, I used the waterbrush to pick up pigment just as i would with pan WCs, the difference is that the DS WC Sticks seem juicier. When I spread them on paper, they are more like tube WCs. I'm anxious to try different techniques and will let you know how they turn out!

Thanks for the kind comments!

DS wc sticks are amazing. I use mine much the same way breaking off a third of each to put into pans and saving the remainder to use as sticks. I like your gray tones alot was that umber and ultra marine. I have yet to try there graphite wc stick.

[blissofsilver]

How is the texture of the ds watercolor sticks like? I was always interested in them but couldn't believe the price. Are they really that pigmented?