Paletteful Packs-February 2018

          As usual Paletteful Packs provided everything you need to complete a full project from paper to sketching tools, to coloring tools and their accessories, including cleaning materials. So let us check out what is in the box.

This set of 24 oil pastels from Faber-Castell has a pretty cool range of colors in it. 

The terpenoid natural bottle and the Chamois can be used to clean brushes but also to add some mixing effects to an oil pastel painting.

For your sketching and marking needs as well as your blending needs the people at Paletteful Packs included a Tomboy Mono Drawing Pencil, Sharpie white and black China Markers, and blending stumps.

This brush is good for Acrylics and oil paints, it has a long handle and natural bristles. It is a Princeton Snap Bristle Brush.

Finally, you need something to draw on so a pad of Strathmore Mixed Media paper was included. I love this size of paper.

As you all know pastels are not my favorite form of drawing/painting media, but that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate good quality when I see it. As usual Paletteful Packs did not disappoint.

Indigo Artbox

          This is my final Indigo Artbox. I had canceled my subscription a while back but was owed one more box. They were doing too much pastels and in the end I just got bored but lately they've been doing water colors...still not enough to make me re-instate my subscription. So let us get into the package.

          I saw this stick peaking out of the package and my heart kind of sank. I knew what it was and I hoped that it was packaged better on the other end...it wasn't.

       

          Usually there is gum to hold the bristles together as well as a plastic cover that goes over the bristles at least to keep them protected. There wasn't any here and the bristles were all over the place...still I was willing to give the brush a chance. The brush is a Mont Marte Gallery Series 12 round.

          The next thing to come out is this watercolor set. As you can see from the picture the brush that came with it was small and it moved out of its place. It's bristles were also not covered and unlike the Mont Marte I wasn't going to put it into the paints so I just chucked it out. The set is a Jackson Artist Grade Semi-Moist watercolors. It says artists but I'm not really sure...

          Like every Indigo Artbox, this package also included two prints by two different artists for inspiration, and some sketch papers and watercolor papers.

          Now I decided to do something different this time and check out the supplies right away. I always swatch out my paint supplies to see what the colors really look like and sometimes I also make color wheels. So this is what I used the water color papers they provided in this package for. My first frustration was with the paint box. There was not a diagram that told me what the name of the paints was or even what pigments were used. I had to figure it out for myself when I swatched. So the names on the swatches are my own not from the company. The paints themselves were okay...artist grade though is a stretch.

I also wanted to see how they behaved when I mix them so I made a color wheel.

The colors were good with mixing but the problem was in the brush...that brush...

          The brush regained its shape when I put it in water, but the bristles behaved like squirrel hairs in that they took whatever shape you press when you paint. This means it is easy to get it to a fine point to go into tight spaces BUT if I press too hard it gets into a weird shape which makes the brush strokes too rough. I also found it retained either too much water or if I tap it against my water cup too little water. 

Another thing that was annoying is that it kept shedding in my paints and on the page. So I'm not sure if I am going to be using this brush anytime soon. The paint set however, is a good-ish addition to my collection.

Paletteful Packs May 2017 Box

          From the moment I saw this subscription unboxed on YouTube, I knew I wanted it. So I subscribed and waited impatiently for it to arrive. When it did, I didn't open it right away because I had a couple of boxes to review before it...so I hid the box until it was time to open it 😛

          Paletteful Packs on CrateJoy: They have two different boxes, the Young Artist box and the Premier Pack. The Young Artist box costs 29.95 dollars and the Premier Pack box costs 34.95 dollars. The Young Artist box has a selection of art supplies curated specifically for young artists, while the Premier Pack box has a wide range of products from pens to paint. So on to May's box.

          I was very surprised by the contents of the box, a few of the supplies I didn't even understand. I was thrilled. The box has 6 artist grade items with one of the items being a limited edition product. The theme of the box is Sepia.

          The first product I wanted to talk about is the Faber-Castell PITT Artist's Pen Set. The colour of the set...you guessed it, sepia. There are four pens with different size nib widths. It is an India ink and that means it is smudge proof and waterproof once it is completely dry. They are perfect for sketching and inking. I found them on Amazon for 13.07 dollars because they are on sale right now but normal retail according to Amazon is 17.55 dollars. Faber-Castell Pitt Waterproof Odorless Permanent Artists Pen - Sepia

          Dr. Ph.Martin's Bombay India ink is a pigmented ink which is waterproof when dry. You can use it without dilution in technical pens, airbrushes, dip pens, traditional brushes or dissolve it in water to use as a watercolour. On Amazon, the ink costs 9.46 dollars for 1 US fluid Ounce, which is the bottle I had.  Dr. Ph.Martin's Bombay India

          I...didn't know what that was until I looked it up on the internet. The information card that they had with the box called it a Sumi Bamboo Sketching Pen and that it is used for ink drawing but I still was not sure how to use it. Turns out an artist I sponsor on Patreon had a YouTube video about it so I'm going to add it here. I couldn't find the Sumi Bamboo on Amazon but I did find one exactly like it called Yasutomo Bamboo Reed Pen. It costs 10.91 dollars. 

          The next product in the box is the Derwent Intense Pencil. It is a water-soluble ink stick pencil, sort of like watercolour pencils, but it looks more like when you paint with ink. On Amazon, it costs 6.25 dollars. Derwent Inktense Pencil Madder Brown

This is the limited edition product in the box. It is a set of pastel sketching crayons. Besides the black, white, and grey there are shades of brown of which sepia is one. This product is called Conté á Paris.

I found the product on Amazon and it costs 10.99 dollars. Conté á Paris Limited Edition Tin

          To bring everything together the curators of the box included a Strathmore 80 lb Drawing Pad. This is great to use with pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, crayon, and markers. And in this box, you've got a few things that you can use with it. On Amazon, it costs 5.16 dollars. Strathmore Drawing Pad

          So, was this box worth the 35 dollars? I'd say yes and more. The total cost of all these items on Amazon comes out to 55.84 dollars. Of course depending on where you are in the world and where you shop you may find them cheaper or more expensive. For me, this box was a gold mine and I can't wait to use its products.

Interview with Jane Brideson (Artist)

Shining a Bright Light Interview 
by Morgan Daimler

**First published in Air n-Aithesc Volume II Issue II

1) What first drew you to visual arts?

          As an only child, I read voraciously and created a rich fantasy world that I expressed through drawing, painting and making up stories. As I grew older I realised that I had a keen sense of colour, (even now I feel uncomfortable in rooms where colours seem to clash)  and I continued to paint because I had to. 

          I also find that creativity brings a sense of balance and calmness to me as well as the feeling of  'rightness' I experience when a picture goes well. 

          As an adult, I went to Art College and gained a degree in Graphic Design.

2) What is your favourite medium to work in?

          I work in watercolour and gouache sometimes adding pastel to get an effect I want. I did paint in acrylics for a time but returned to water based paints as I find them easier to work with and I enjoy the fact that water becomes part of the fabric of my images and alters colours as it dries.

3) You seem to draw a lot on themes from Irish mythology and folklore; what makes you choose those images?

          I first began incorporating images from my personal spiritual path, dreams and pictures I had seen in meditation and ritual, back in the 1980's. 

         When I first came to live in rural Ireland I immersed myself in Irish mythology and folklore, listened to older people tell stories and visited many sacred sites. 

          I didn't practice ritual and did little artwork during those years as I wanted to listen to the landscape. 

       The images of the goddesses and gods, The Ever-Living Ones, came to me in a dream - so I feel that the themes chose me!

4) Do you hope that people get a specific message from your work?

          I would like the people who view my work to understand that the landscape, the sacred sites, the Irish people who are my models and the stories I portray embody older Irish traditions and beliefs which endure to this day.

Although Ireland is seen as a predominately Roman Catholic country my experience has been that below the surface belief in the Aos Sí, the Otherworld and the gods continues. 

          I would love it if people chose to visit Ireland to experience the places portrayed in the paintings for themselves and view the artefacts in our National Museum. 

          The focal point of my images are the goddesses and gods who emerge from land or water to offer the viewer a gift, a way of connecting to them. For example, Mór-Ríoghain presents us with darkness where we can face our fears and find courage and strength in our own lives. 

          My hope is that The Ever-Living Ones themselves speak directly to the viewer.

5) Do you think your own background influences your artwork?

          Absolutely. My Father's family were from Northern Ireland and my Mother's from the Isle of Man and although I grew up in Liverpool I spent my summer holidays on the island visiting family, special places and listening to stories about the fairies and Manannán Mac Lír.

6) Where do you find inspiration?

          In stories, landscape, life in rural Ireland and in people. Occasionally I meet a person whose face stands out and I know that they somehow embody my own vision of a goddess or god. Coincidentally these people often live lives or practise a skill associated with the Ever-Living Ones. For example, Fred, the model for the god of healing, Dian Cécht, lives locally and when we talked together I discovered that he holds a secret recipe for a herbal cure that was passed down to him through generations of his family. He is now in his eighties but still makes the cure for anyone who asks for it.

And Carmel Ní Dhuibheanaigh, who fought tirelessly against the building of the M3 motorway in Tara/Skryne Valley and was arrested by the Gardái for her opposition to the desecration, was the perfect model for Mór-Ríoghain. 

7) What do you feel is your biggest challenge?

           One morning ten years ago I awoke remembering a colourful, detailed dream in which I saw the Ever-Living Ones, linked to certain traditions, places and times. I hurriedly wrote about the images and the connections I'd seen before the dream faded. From then on I knew that I had to paint, write and research to bring this dream to reality. Ten years later this is still my biggest challenge and finding a publisher who will publish the finished project of course. 

8) Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about yourself of your work?

No - anything else you think your readers may want to know?

9) Where can people find your artwork online and is any of it available to purchase?

          Art cards & posters of my paintings are available to purchase through my blog, The Ever-Living Ones, where you can view galleries of my work, place an order and read posts about the landscape, myths and customs of Ireland. 

The Ever-Living Ones

For the Gods check out: The Irish Gods Gallery 
For the Goddesses: The Goddesses Gallery 
For People: The People Gallery 
For Places: The Places Gallery

I also have a page, 'The Ever-Living Ones by Jane Brideson' on Facebook.