ARTdiscount Blog

There are many Watercolour Brush pens/markers on the market and a lot of them perform differently to each other, this can be somewhat confusing for the novice or beginner who would like to add them to their repertoire of art materials in their tool box!  Doing your research is vital for saving time and money. 

EVENTS & FEATURES

To help to give direction and a personal goal to aim for, we have listed below artistic competitions and call-outs for 2021, beginning with January deadlines, which we will update throughout the year.

MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES

Watercolour pencils differ greatly from non-watercolour pencils. The difference is in the binder that holds the pigment. Whereas normal coloured pencils have a waxy or oil based binder, watercolour pencils have a water-soluble binder offering a wide variety of application from dry to wet. Once the colour has been laid down and water added, the vivid and vibrant hues are released, dissolving into beautiful washes or deep areas of colour.

EVENTS & FEATURES

With museums and galleries closed across the world, many of our arts organisations have moved online, putting together programmes and activities you can access from home, creating communities to share ideas and artwork.            

EVENTS & FEATURES

As the restrictions during this current pandemic of 2020 look set to become more rigid as we go into 2021, we explore creative learning, available online. 

 EVENTS & FEATURES

This festive season the tram stops along Blackpool’s famous seafront will be taken over by several local artists, displaying their work in a unique open-air gallery.

MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES

Alongside our christmas cards, we have been filling our sketchbook with wonderful festive artworks.

Episode 8 'Creating a Landscape'

Our final episode of 2020 brings together all the techniques showcased over the last 7 episodes along with new techniques, to conclude with a final piece.

Episode 7 - 'Creating Textures'

Our episode shows you how to create texture using non-specialist supplies such as sponges, rock salt and clingfilm.

MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES

As our beloved Museums and Gallery doors close once again, let's open up our studio or kitchen tables to the Arts and Crafts for Christmas!

Episode 6  - MASKING & RESIST TECHNIQUES

We are looking at Masking and Resist watercolour techniques in this episode.

Our In-House artist Ellie Jakeman takes you through resist techniques using both tea-light and Taper candles plus masking techniques with our own ARTdiscount masking fluid and masking tape.

MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES

Using watercolour Glazing techniques from episode 5 of Watercolour Wednesday, Ellie guides you through some festive creating to make your own Christmas cards using techniques shown in our previous episode.

EPISODE 5 - 'Glazing Techniques'

We explore Glazing, an important technique for all watercolour artists, especially when using a limited colour palette.

EPISODE 3 'Exploration of Brushes (Part 1) Round Brushes'

This episode, Ellie Jakeman, guides you through how to use your new brushes with mark-making, textures and patterns......

MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES

All great art starts with a sketch 

Picasso owned an impressive 175 sketchbooks filled with ideas at the time of his death. Pencils are a great way to sketch ideas quickly or make beautiful, detailed drawings. Using a good range of graphite pencils allows you to explore a broad tonal value and achieve varying results.

EPISODE 2 'Creating a Colour Chart'

Create a colour chart with your new watercolour pan set or tubes

EPISODE 1- 'Creating a Dilution Chart'

Welcome to our first episode for Watercolour Wednesdays! We are joined by artist Ellie Jakeman who has extensive experience using watercolour both as an artist and an art teacher, designing courses for large classes and small groups