Night Glob Artisan Watercolor
Mar. 27th, 2020 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellerWhat do you do when you're quarantined and can't indulge in your due round of therapeutic shopping spree? You buy new watercolors. Out of sheer boredom I decided to invest in some handmade artisan watercolors, which was a bad decision. THEY SUCK. Seriously, why do etsy sellers just mix some pigment with who-knows-what, fill it in pans and ship it as "artisan paint" to customers without ever testing their own product? (It's actually a charitable assumption on my part that they did not test it and ship it anyway...)
Soooo, this was the third time I received seriously bad handmade paint, and always from different sellers. I'm learning. Apparently, with artisan paints it's like in fairy tales: you can live happily in that castle UNLESS you unlock that door. Your marriage is happy UNLESS you give that seal skin back to your wife. Artisan paints are a good investment UNLESS you try to actually paint with them. (The only good handmade watercolors I ever had were those my friend sent me along with that bright yellow sketchbook. Tellingly, she doesn't sell those on etsy.)
I got extremely frustrated, and that's when I had the idea: I don't have to buy shitty paint, I can make my own shitty paint! And that's how Night Glob was created.
What I was going for is a transparent (!) blue-black that's not too saturated, and that most importantly doesn't overwhelm black lines when I paint over them. Basically, I wanted a "shadow color" for my sketchbook, one that works in monochromatic pictures. And because I'm, well, me, I added some sparkle to that, too.
Of course I cheated, because that's just my nature: I didn't just use pigment and that weird-tasting honey from the kitchen (the one that only tastes of sugar, not of honey; finally a good use for that product!) but also mixed some pre-existing watercolors in. My goal was not artisanal purity, I was aiming for watercolor paint that's actually usable. Just for fun, I'm presenting it in a way an etsy seller would do it.
Yeah, Night Glob is not a typo... Remember, this is shitty paint. The whole time, while making this stuff, I was thinking that if only I had some more Lawful Evil tendencies, I could give it a fancy name like "Night Glow" and sell it on Etsy. (Turns out I'm not quite evil enough for that...) Because I had no experience with watercolor binders and the handling of mica pigment, at some point the whole thing turned into, well, a glob of goo. At that point decided, okay, this stuff isn't "Night Glow", it's "Night Glob". I kept the name because I think it fits.
The first thing I tested my new paint on was this brush-pen drawing of a raven. I rarely draw animals so it's far from good art, but I'm very happy with the way I can get dark shadows with "Night Glob" but the ink lines underneath are still visible! This is exactly what I wanted, so in some weird way the experiment can actually be counted as a success.
Annnd of course I had to paint a botanical. Just because. I wanted to test if Night Glob works as a shadow color on white objects. (Shadows on white are tricky...) Yeah, I think I can work with this.
Soooo, this was the third time I received seriously bad handmade paint, and always from different sellers. I'm learning. Apparently, with artisan paints it's like in fairy tales: you can live happily in that castle UNLESS you unlock that door. Your marriage is happy UNLESS you give that seal skin back to your wife. Artisan paints are a good investment UNLESS you try to actually paint with them. (The only good handmade watercolors I ever had were those my friend sent me along with that bright yellow sketchbook. Tellingly, she doesn't sell those on etsy.)
I got extremely frustrated, and that's when I had the idea: I don't have to buy shitty paint, I can make my own shitty paint! And that's how Night Glob was created.
What I was going for is a transparent (!) blue-black that's not too saturated, and that most importantly doesn't overwhelm black lines when I paint over them. Basically, I wanted a "shadow color" for my sketchbook, one that works in monochromatic pictures. And because I'm, well, me, I added some sparkle to that, too.
Of course I cheated, because that's just my nature: I didn't just use pigment and that weird-tasting honey from the kitchen (the one that only tastes of sugar, not of honey; finally a good use for that product!) but also mixed some pre-existing watercolors in. My goal was not artisanal purity, I was aiming for watercolor paint that's actually usable. Just for fun, I'm presenting it in a way an etsy seller would do it.
Yeah, Night Glob is not a typo... Remember, this is shitty paint. The whole time, while making this stuff, I was thinking that if only I had some more Lawful Evil tendencies, I could give it a fancy name like "Night Glow" and sell it on Etsy. (Turns out I'm not quite evil enough for that...) Because I had no experience with watercolor binders and the handling of mica pigment, at some point the whole thing turned into, well, a glob of goo. At that point decided, okay, this stuff isn't "Night Glow", it's "Night Glob". I kept the name because I think it fits.
The first thing I tested my new paint on was this brush-pen drawing of a raven. I rarely draw animals so it's far from good art, but I'm very happy with the way I can get dark shadows with "Night Glob" but the ink lines underneath are still visible! This is exactly what I wanted, so in some weird way the experiment can actually be counted as a success.
Annnd of course I had to paint a botanical. Just because. I wanted to test if Night Glob works as a shadow color on white objects. (Shadows on white are tricky...) Yeah, I think I can work with this.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-27 04:38 pm (UTC)Joan of Art's Neon set is SUPER fun. It's like having a CMY palette.
31PurpleFish I had some problems with her shipping methods, but she fixed it up for me no problem. The paint seems nice so far, I just don't like the pans she uses. (Really shallow makeup ones that I know can be prone to rust, but mine are currently fine).
Poems About You is a little chalkier than I usually like, so if that bothers you I'd avoid them. Their earth colors are very beautiful, though, and to be fair I've only tried 2 of them.
Texas Wild Color is a novelty paint for me. Most of them are dye-based, but the guy who makes the paint FORAGES THEM HIMSELF. He makes all the dyes from local plants, and is currently in...Africa, I think? Gathering some more. And he's super open and honest about his paints, lightfastness, etc. My paints came really wet and they've now dried so cracked and brittle they're falling out of their pans. They rewet nicely, though.
Noooooot that you asked about any of this, but since you mentioned maybe checking them out, I thought it might be useful. XD
no subject
Date: 2020-03-27 10:12 pm (UTC)Right now, I'm making more color, though. It's surprisingly fun!
no subject
Date: 2020-03-28 02:15 am (UTC)