Saturday 26 October 2013

Watermedia Showcase competition

Yay! A good news: I've won Honorable Mention in this year's Watermedia Showcase competition. As such, my painting, "Old Wheels at Rest," will be published in the April 2014 issue of Watercolor Artist.

Tuesday 22 October 2013

A wonderful gift from Escoda

Wow! Received some new awesome brushes, a beautiful leather brush case and an artist brush soap from Escoda. I'm really enjoying the play with all the new brushes that arrived. Thank you very much Escoda for this wonderful and generous gift, and for producing the best artists brushes.


I am in love with both the Reserva (Kolinsky-Tajmyr Sable hair) and Aquario (Squirrel hair) series. I also like Ultimo very much.

Some new synthetics series I tried:

1. Ultimo series is an almost perfect imitation of squirrel hair, which is very soft and has a great capacity to retain liquids.
2. Prado series is an imitation of sable hair. It not only imitates its color, but also its spring.

Test results:

1. The liquid retaining capacity of natural hair brushes (Aquario, Reserva) is about 2-2.5 times as that of the synthetic ones (Ultimo, Prado respectively), and they are the best in terms of quality.
2. However, I must say synthetic hair brushes have perfect points and they don't lose their points quickly. They are more value for money.
3. Natural hairs are more softer (less stiffer) than the respective Synthetic imitations/hairs and they give an amazing feel when you play them on paper.
4. Aquario mops are great while you are painting large shapes/areas. Reservas are great for detail work.
5. Among all the synthetic brushes I have tried(Ultimo, Prado, and Barroco), I like Ultimo the most. They hold a good amount of liquid and have beautiful points.
6. Each hair has a different characteristic. Prado and Barocco have their own advantages, you can punish these brushes since they are more stiffer.