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1. Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolours in 1/2 pans
The Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolours in 1/2 pans uses high quality fine art pigments and add even more vibrancy to any artwork. Each colour has a range of different properties, from permanence and lightfastness to opacity, colouring and grain. With AA and A ratings for excellent and good lightfastness, Cotman watercolours give artists the confidence they expect from a high quality watercolour range. The large colour palette provides over 40 different shades and is ideal for beginners, advanced painters and artists. The individual colours can be mixed together perfectly and offer a wide variety of shades. New shimmering metallic colours have been added to the range, which can be mixed with other colours or applied as a shimmering effect over other colours. The pans are compact, dry and are ideal for working outdoors or when travelling. They are easy to apply with a brush and are very colour-intensive.
RRP: 3,60€ per pan
2. Gouache Extra Fine Quality Tube 20 ml White 100
Talens Gouache Extra Fine is a highly pigmented paint with a matt finish. Although gouache is popular amongst artists and designers for its intense and opaque colours, they can be made slightly more transparent by adding water. Gouache is made with a high concentration of high-quality pigments and based on dextrin, which gives the paint a smooth consistency and reduces surface gloss.
Use gouache to create even, matt colour blocks without visible brush strokes. Mix the colours with water to thin, mix and create smooth colour transitions. Gouache is not waterproof when dry, which means you can still rework the colours with water after they have dried.
RRP: 2,95€
3. KOLIBRI 8800 size 3
The kolibri 8800 brush in size 3 is made entirely by hand in Germany. The white synthetic fibers taper towards the tip, giving the brush a very fine tip. Thanks to the elastic fibers, the brush retains its shape very well and is therefore ideal for all types of paint.
RRP: 2,25€
4. SMLT Water color paper, 100% Cotton, cold pressed, 10 sheets
This watercolor pad (100% cotton) is glued with a hard back cover. It is a traditional white 100% cotton watercolor paper. Its cold pressed surface texture has excellent color lifting abilities. This paper is valued by professional and amateur creators and offers good quality at an affordable price. It’s a long life, acid free, pH neutral paper.
Thanks for being on board for this upcrate. What was the most exciting part of your work with the box and what was the biggest challenge?
- Working for the upCrate was my first job for quite a long time so i was very excited about our project. Before that i tried a lot of boxes from them and was sure we are making a very interesting and great product, as these boxes provide you the opportunity to try different mediums of different artists (especially your fav ones!) and know a little bit of their secrets. High quality materials are one of the most important things in drawing, good products give you a pleasure for work and that means a lot. Do it was a big honour for me to work with upcrate! The most challenging was using only materials from the box, without all the rest mediums i have and other favourite colours (all)
What is your artistic process like?
- I always prepare my watercolors by splitting water drops on it, that gives me an opportunity to take much saturated colours from the palette. When i work i try to fill the spaces with different colours like collecting a mosaic. My art in process looks horrible but i learned to finish every piece before making any conclusions. I never spend a lot of time for the sketch and some things are turning accidentally in my process. But it’s a part of watercolor, isn’t it? I can also call my technique unusual as it contains some graphic elements as well as watercolor spots, also looks heavier than classic watercolor art. I never studied classic arts so i have to hide some mistakes in the painting. That’s why i use colour tones that you will never see in real life.
Where do you find your Ideas for your art process?
- I believe that inspiration comes from our everyday life and everything included in it. Sometimes i see a woman in the window and just want to draw her silhouette, but it turns into a painting. Sometimes i’m on the road listening to music, that gives a lot of images in my head and i take some ideas. Being an artist means to notice small and deeper things around you, trying to understand it, trying to bring it to art process. So my answer is: from everywhere and everyone i meet!
How often do you make art and what does it mean to you?
- I do art every day of my life and trying to do a living from it. I fired from my job four years ago and still working only for myself. It’s not an easy journey, but i have enough passion to continue!
What are vou plans for the future?
- Current plans are opening a website with my merch, finally i got the opportunity to do it. Develop my Patreon page i opened a few months ago, do oil project for art fair and maybe take part in it if i pass the competition! Continue doing watercolors as well and get more professional!
Tell us, how a day in your life looks like, if you not into art :)?
- I can’t imagine that to be honest. I tried myself in different professions, but never liked it. Before my art career i worked as a school teacher and I remember these times with fear! But maybe i would become a scientist? With time and years i started to be interested in very different subjects, such as science, movies and culture, but i would choose to cook something for people. Like doing art for people – i would choose to do something pleasurable and full of meanings for them.
#upcrate53 HOW-TO-DO-VIDEO by rikibeztiki
Box 53 features a special duo: Gouache and watercolor. They blend exceptionally well to create pastel hues and more opaque color gradients. Both are water-soluble and easy to apply, so let’s get started!
As always, it’s best to become familiar with the medium first and experiment with how the colors behave. Watercolor can be mixed on both a palette and paper, and especially colors that blend wet-on-wet often produce beautiful effects.
Caution: Both colors can be reactivated and reused even when completely dried. Therefore, it’s advisable not to discard any leftover paint on the palette.
Afterwards, I transferred a detailed sketch onto watercolor-appropriate paper, aiming to draw the illustration as gently as possible to prevent the pencil from showing through too much in the end.
First, I paint the frog using various shades of blue to create more excitement than a solid blue tone. I employ a combination of wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques: I initially use a brush dipped in water to partially fill in the frog shape, then dip the brush into paint. At times, I extend the color onto the still-dry paper.
I repeat the same process with the leaves and later with the color accents, the background, and the blossom. There are two different approaches: either mix the green (or the chosen color) directly with other colors to introduce variation into the plant, or initially paint only the green and then layer highly diluted additional colors in a second pass.
Now, the dark pattern on the frog comes to life with indigo, and the green can be mixed with blue and orange to create a dark brown, highlighting the leaves from the stem.
At the very end (on the right), a touch of white gouache makes the frog’s eyes shine. Tip: With the white, you can conceal small mistakes and also enhance the background with additional colors. Enjoy experimenting!
#upcratebattle
#upcrate52 Amazing entires <3
Topic: all good things are wild and free
#upcrate53
TOPIC: interaction
the interplay of several elements creates an overall mood. Whether sunset, starfish and face or cake, party hat and laughter, show us your thoughts in the form of a composition of several elements in one picture. These can interact with each other or simply stand next to each other. The viewer can thus create an overall mood. We are excited to see what you come up with and look forward to your mood pictures, a kind of elaborate mood board.
ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS:
1. Use the materials in this month‘s upcrate. Let your creativity run free and create a great work of art
2. Post your artwork on Instagram with #upcratebattle #upcrate53 tag us @upcrate
Deadline: 26.02.24
YOUR PRICE:
a big box worth 80€
