» Have you Ever Tried a Waterbrush?
I’m not sure where I first learned of these, but I have seen them for sale in local art & craft stores. (For about $6.50 each) They are paintbrushes that contain a reservoir barrel that you fill with water and are really portable. When I don’t feel like setting up all of my watercolor supplies, grabbing a waterbrush and a small palette of paints is the way to go.
Images courtesy of Biffybeans © All Rights Reserved
As fountain pen inks are water based, sometimes I will draw with them and then touch the ink lines with a waterbrush to draw out the color as shown in the image above.
Images courtesy of Biffybeans © All Rights Reserved
On another occasion, I filled the barrel with Herbin’s Rouge Opera fountain pen ink and proceeded to draw with it. Note to self – I didn’t need to fill the whole reservoir with that ink because after about 10 drawings, it’s still half full…
Comments
I’ve been tempted to pick one up from a local art supply shop. Do you find they work well with FP inks? Guess they clog with India ink.
I remember carrying these in our shop about 20 years ago, from a company called Sakura….
David- the second image was made with the brush filled with FP ink… I have never tried it with India ink, I too would fear clogging.
Ellen – Off to check out your site!
i love waterbrush, i use to paiting watercolor with it.
its amazing on travel and urban sketch. i did some short sketches in the city (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsuveg/4483813406/), a watercolor paiting (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsuveg/4471445776/)
I have used these with other water based inks. I quite like them.
I’ve started using one with a couple black and grey markers that aren’t waterproof for a mess-free ink wash effect. Picked mine up at a Kinokuniya. I was amazed at how long the water lasts. Two hours of figure drawing and it is still mostly full. I did have a little trouble with dripping when I squeeze more water out, but since it’s just water no harm done.
Best portable tool for using watercolor pans and watercolor pencils on the go. Ever since finding my first few at Kinokuniya, I always keep a couple handy in my sketchingkits. I really do not understand why they haven’t grown in popularity faster in the USA.
http://robotninjamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/pentel-aquash-watercoloring-crayons.html
This is a favourite tool of mine – indispensable for sketching. I like the Pentel version and I use it with Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils.
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