My Watercolour sketching kit - Part Two

Key to Sketching kit

1. Pink zipped bag from Officeworks containing:
2. Derwent spray bottle
3. Small water bottle with lump of Pres-stick to hold it down
4. WN paint box
5. Zip-lock bag with cellulose sponge
6. Re-cycled travel wallet with foam core cut to size keeps brushes flat
7. Leather pen pouch for two fountain pens - Neon Coral Lamy Safari EF and Noodler’s Konrad Flex pen 
8. Pencil/pen roll from Officeworks (Australia)
9. Rosemary & Co Series 301 Golden Synthetic #6
10. Rosemary & Co 3/8” Shiraz dagger 
11. Pro-art 313HF flat #12
12. Neef Squirrel mop #0
13. Pentel Waterbrush Large
14. Rosemary & Co Travel Pocket brush #10 (fits into pencil/pen roll)

My watercolour palette is a vintage Winsor and Newton paint box. This was on the materials list when I started art class in High School - and no, I’m not saying when that was…

Originally there were two hinged metal flaps that held the paint pans in position. These became rusty so I removed them and in doing so made room for pans down the centre of the box. There’s almost too much room so this palette is not a minimal one.

When I was in Germany some years ago, I bought a Schmincke watercolour palette. It came with 24 pan colours some of which I have moved to the WN box. The pan paints certainly last well. 
The smaller box fits neatly into my pink zipped bag. The down side of this box is that it's a bit heavy. I have a lighter Cotman's Travel box (now filled with artists tube colours) but I prefer to have the double mixing flaps so more colours and washes are easily mixed.

Current colours in the WN palette are the following:

I use a number of different brands - Winsor & Newton, Schmincke and more recently some Daniel Smith watercolours. Each brand provides a favourite colour and they work happily together.

A few favourite mixes...

Here are some useful links to product suppliers. 
DISCLAIMER - please note that I do not receive anything from these suppliers for mentioning their products

Click on the highlighted name.
Rosemary & Co for brushes - very high quality and good value. If you are out of the UK remember the Vat % comes off.

Fountain pens - Goulet Pens have a comprehensive range and in addition many videos on pens and their maintainence. Regular Q&A sessions will answer all your quaetions.

Australian readers can also check out LarryPOST in Sydney for pens,ink and sketchbooks.

Notemaker, based in Melbourne is another stockist. 

Different times, different media

Years ago Marshall Mc Luhan said: ‘The Medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium - that is, of any extension of ourselves - result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.’

The different periods of my life have influenced the choice of medium in my painting.
At Epworth School– it was watercolour. “Mizz” Owen taught us well. In addtion to the fundamentals of drawing and painting, she made us pay particular attention to the care of our precious brushes. During my recent de-cluttering I found my old metal paint box and some of the brushes as well.

My old Winsor & Newton watercolour box


At Art School it was oil paint of course, with here and there a splash of acrylics. Unconventional surfaces were a favourite, I recall incorporating a wooden window frame – sans glass - to accompany an abstract painting. I don’t have any photos, because we didn’t take ourselves seriously enough to warrant documenting any of the works - pity.

There was a hiatus of some years while my children were growing up, but I then went back to watercolour. I was very involved with the Watercolour Society of South Africa  and was able to combine painting with raising a family. The introduction of collage gave the paintings an added dimension.
It was also during this time that I became fascinated by miniature art and after a talk by the founder Charmian Keneally I joined the Miniature Art Society of South Africa.



Blue porcelain & Tomatoes Watercolour on paper 57mm x 70mm
©2000 Carol Lee Beckx

 

Arch series – Abdaye Brialmont Watercolour on paper 90mm x 60mm

©1998 Carol Lee Beckx
 



Arch series – Limbourgh Watercolour on paper 90mm x 60mm

©1998 Carol Lee Beckx
 

 The attention to detail and importance of every part of the composition can become addictive. It also calls for a very steady hand – no sneezing, please!


Arch series – Maastricht Watercolour on paper 90mm x 60mm

©1998 Carol Lee Beckx
 



Eventually the detail of miniatures became too confining. I began to struggle both with the watercolour medium as well as my subject matter. I just wasn’t able to express myself fully. Many paintings were abandoned, to later be recycled as collage elements or greeting cards.

A few years ago, with more life changes, I became restless and needed something different.

So, after a break of many years, I resumed painting in oils. At first it was really hard – it was as though I had never used a brush. Gradually the medium stopped fighting me and it grew a little easier.

I began to enjoy the freedom of exploring the paint as though it were completely new to me. I felt as though I had come home.



Blue bowl with Apples Oil on canvas 500mm x 500mm

©2004 Carol Lee Beckx