Art Materials (Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor)

Hi All,

This week I'm jumping back to watercolor with, "Hydrus Fine Art Watercolors," from Dr. Ph. Martins. A liquid form that is highly concentrated, lightfast, and in thirty-six colors; convenient for those who like watercolor but don't need a hundred different colors. Links found below.

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan Parks

http://www.docmartins.com/

Art Materials (Speedball, "Encaustic Compatible")

"Encaustic Compatible"

Sorry folks, I started a new job so it may be a little chaotic for awhile, BUT, I wanted to mention Speedball. They make a variety of tools that can be utilized for encaustic and a lot of other useful material; so check them out.

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan Parks

http://www.speedballart.com/

Art Materials (Watermedia)

Previously I said that I would elaborate on watermedia; the reason for which the last post was featuring Lyra. Watercolor, or water media is often my backup medium. This is not to say that it is of less value. Unlike watercolor, other media such as encaustic or oil are prone to bulky or awkward requirements. But I won't get into that. There are many options for watermedia: pencils, inks, liquid paint, solid dry paint, wax based, straight pigments, soft pastels, gouache; not to mention all the brushes and palettes to choose from, the list is endless. However, I am a firm believer in simplifying things; you don't need all that fancy stuff, dozens of brushes, or elaborate travel sets. I would also like to mention watercolor is not to be taken for granted; it is a difficult medium to master- the trick is not to get caught up in all the fancy techniques or the endless supplies.

Brushes- you really only need a few small ones for any details, and a couple of bigger brushes to do a wash (unless you are painting really big). For the washes, a nice large and medium hake will do just fine- they are cheap and easy to find from any major art supplier. As for the small brushes, you really can't skimp on quality, sable is probably your best choice, but that doesn't mean you have to pay out the nose- Blick artist material makes a fine set of inexpensive sable brushes, as do many other companies.

Palettes- while working at home or in your studio- a large ceramic WHITE bowl is great to have, as well as a few small dishes for your paint (as many as you feel you need at one time). Squeezing out all the liquid watercolor into a palette for it to dry up, defeats the purpose of it being liquid in the first place; of course someone might argue that some companies make palettes specifically designed to keep your paint fresh- really not necessary. If you want dry paint, buy dry, otherwise keep it in the tube unless you need it. If you are on the move, traveling, or just working outdoors, then you really only need a small jar (use the paint right from the tube, off of the pencil or crayon. I've been using a Script brand glass ink jar that was designed with a divided well inside (as to where to get one: I bought mine from a junk store- it is about 15-20 years old, I'm guessing)

I could go on forever, but..... I will probably just feature some of those items later. If your curious about something particular, it never hurts to ask, and maybe I will talk about that next time.

Have fun, and thanks for reading,

Jonathan Parks

Painting: "water" by Jonathan David Parks

Art Materials (Lyra, "Encaustic Compatible")

"Encaustic Compatible"

This week I would like to introduce Lyra (see link), predominately a pencil manufacturer. Lyra makes anything from makeup pencils to encaustic crayons. If it were not for their long history I would be wary; however, many of their products I would recommend from watercolor pencils to just your basic graphite.

Thanks for reading.

More to come later.

Jonathan Parks

http://www.lyra.de/index_pc.html

Art Materials (Caran d'Ache Neocolor II, Water-soluble Pastels)

This week I wanted to switch gears and take a look at watermedia; which brings me to one of my favorite art supplies to come around in some time- Caran d'Ache Neocolor II, Water-soluble Pastels. Found under, "children," supplies on Caran d'Ache's website (links found at the bottom of this post), this is a great item for those who paint outdoors and travel a lot. They are in a compact dry stick form, opposed to a tube product; in addition and for those who work small, they seem to last forever. I have been using this particular product for three to four years and I still have the same tin with all the colors (Take a look at my paintings of waterfowl on my portfolio page, to see an example).

Thanks again for reading and don't forget to tune in for further info on watermedia.

Jonathan Parks

http://www.carandache.ch/

http://www.carandache.ch/m/la-couleur/enfants/les-pastels/neocolor-ii/index.lbl

Art Materials (More on Pigments; Encaustic Compatible)

More on Pigments

"Encaustic Compatible"

Last week I talked about Sennelier pigments; however, Sennelier is not the only company to make quality pigments. In Sennelier's case, I simply have a personal preference, because I use their soft pastels as well as many of their other products. Almost any well known paint company will offer a line of their own pigments: Old Holland, Gamblin, Sinopia, are just to name a few (View a link list of companies that provide pigments at the bottom of this post). The key to combining any art material with another, well...., it helps to stay within the same brand. This is not to say combining two different companies products will create a lot of problems, just that often minor issues may occur. One example of a minor issue is in the case of color reaction; simply put, blue and yellow typically make green, but depending on what brand, the chemical makeup of combining different companies blues and yellows will give you a whole different range of greens. This is particularly the case when combining three or more colors; and more importantly in encaustic, where combining many colors (often as few as three) will give you this funny purplish muddled grey color.

Thanks for Reading

Jonathan Parks

Maimeri

Old Holland

Sennelier

Sinopia

Williamsburg Paint
Kama Pigments
The Earth Pigments Company
Kremer Pigments

Art Materials (Sennelier Pigments "Encaustic Compatible")

Sennelier Pigments "Encaustic Compatible"

I have been using Sennelier products for some time (about ten years) and would recommend them to anyone looking for a good pigment or soft pastel, oil, egg tempera or any other one of their products (will feature later). Below is the link to the English version of their website and a pdf file of their pigment catalogue. You can easily purchase them from any major art material supplier. Those of you looking to make your own encaustic, there is a, "how to," on my Encaustic Resource Pages (How to Make Encaustic Medium and Paint).

http://www.sennelier.fr/en/home.php

http://www.sennelier.fr/en/catalogue/pigment.pdf

Art Materials

Hello All,

I have been wanting to create a regular topic on art materials which I could post on a weekly or biweekly basis; particularly ones that I use, have used, and most likely will continue to use. These products may be common items or actual known brands. I will try to provide links to their websites, or where one might purchase them if and when possible. In addition, and keeping with a focus on encaustic, posts that can be used with encaustic will be labeled, "Encaustic Compatible."

Enjoy and Thank you for reading.

Jonathan Parks

Featured Art Materials

Under revision. Until then, here is a general list of...

Alvin
Ampersand Art Supply
Arrow
Caran d'Ache
Dr. Ph. Martins
E C Lyons
Evans Encaustics
Gamblin Artists Colors
Golden Artist Colors
Hardboard
Hot Cakes Encaustic
Kama Pigments
Kremer Pigments
Koh-I-Noor
Lana
Lineco
Lyra
Maimeri
Manfrotto
Moleskine
Natural Pigments
Nielsen Bainbridge
Old Holland
R&F Handmade Paints
R&F
Rite in the Rain
Sakura
Sennelier
Sinopia
Speedball
Strathmore Artist Papers
STUFF (Laura Stanziola)
STUFF 2
The Earth Pigments Company
Williamsburg Paint

Legos

Legos used to be a necessary part in my daily existence- this article might be interesting to you, even if they were not part of yours. "Miss Modular"

Am I an American Artist

This is a question of cultural consideration and requires an understanding of what makes an American artist. Is this an ideology perceived from each individual artist or part of a conglomerate of the so called American.

Those who commented: If I am an American and an artist, therefore, I must be an American artist. Well, the devil is in the details. I suppose I should also ask if I can be culturally identified as American through my work as an artist; assuming American is a culture.

Statistically speaking, I am American, family of various cultures and nationalities long since forgotten. Considering what makes an artist American, statistics are not particularly my concern, nor do I think they should be. Perhaps I have complicated the question and/or maybe it is not up to me. Does the American artist create political, patriotic, opinionated, or nationalistic works.

I do not sway either way, patriotic or not. I do not create nationalistic works. My art is not imbued with apparent political substance. I have opinions, but who doesn’t, and they are not stereotypically, American. So, what makes my art American. Freedom to not paint the aforesaid. Subjectively instilling my art with images of flora and fauna from the North American Continent.

I have more on this subject, however, I would like to see if it gets any type response before I further elaborate.

My Wife is Graduating!

Sonya's (and others) "Graduate Art Therapy Art Exhibition" on Saturday, April 18 at 6:00pm.

Event: Graduate Art Therapy Art Exhibition
What: Opening
Host: Sonya Briones-Parks, Mt Mary College Art Gallery
Start Time: Saturday, April 18 at 6:00pm
End Time: Saturday, April 18 at 9:00pm
Where: Mount Mary College

Art for Conservation

Now you can make a difference through donating or purchasing.
"I donate a percentage of my profits though the purchase of my art to nature conservation. I also accept personal donations that help me create more artwork that will indirectly help in conservation efforts."
All purchases and donations are extremely appreciated; know that I promise to do my part through my work in helping conserve our environment through your generosity.
To donate go to the Donations link.
Thank you,
Jonathan Parks

Cleaning up and all that....

Hello all,
I have been quite busy, lookin for work, makin art, creating an Etsy store and everything involved in that mess. Its time to clean up this joint, get more focused. I will be getting rid of things I don't find pertinent, like my photography page: I figure most of the pictures I put on there can go on my biography page anyway, and maybe I will use it for a 'how to' on photographing artwork. I've been hard at work on my book, and other paintings, but I'll try to get back on here and make some updates on the encaustic pages.

thanks for reading.

Hmmm, I'll look at this myself soon.

An artist career guide, is that possible? Will I learn anything new? Or is this just the same stuff as a hundred other places? http://www.artistcareerguide.com/book.php

Don't know, haven't looked at it yet. I will let ya know.
IF I CAN FIND THE BLASTED THING.