I remember my favorite Bob Ross vid was the one where he used B&W Gesso a paper towel and some foam brushes(the cheap ones from the hardware shop) and he painted a very busy forest with a great value and very little detail. Steve, please, Bob Ross is a legend to me and all his stuff is free and I hope you do not mind me referencing(not plugging) a super hero. If there is any issues I will remove the comment.

Paint can’t fix a bad drawing either….. something else I need to remember!

Correct sir. I read them all. Thanks for the kind comment! They are great fans after all!

@@mindofwatercolor awwww shuks

So sorry for your sadness , I missed what has happened but thoughts and prayers 🙏

So true!

I have some of the squares already and I just totally abused one of the pages. I could not believe what it stood up to. It's very softly sized so not great at lifting, however it does not pill for a long time when scrubbed. It's possible treating with a lift aid might help for those who love to lift.

@@jennw6809 Thank you, that is great to know since I abuse my sketchbooks all except for my largest one and use them for composition concepts and on the go ideas.

If it was a pebeo pen I had major disaster with it as well. I switched to winsor newton mask and have used it on dozens of papers, it's never grabbed and refused to come up. Some papers can't handle mask and will tear, but it still comes up. I like a silicone nib or ruling pen to apply.

@@waymire01 Mine is a "Moltow" brand I picked up in my local art store, it appears to be made in Germany. But it's tinted blue like the Pebeo. I've used it on other papers just fine. In the new book though, some of it came up, some left weird gray smudges, and some just sank in and didn't budge! I have a silicone nib I will try next time. Hahnemuhle says this paper can handle mask... I might write and give them my feedback. (I wrote to ask a question last year and they very kindly replied and sent samples!) I hope they continue to tweak the paper, which appears to have been made specially for this book.

Not always. I like pencils too, but I do switch it up sometimes. It blends nicely with the painting. Check out the video I did explaining the process. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lZ10dNKAyJ2wkWQ.html

Well said. Yes!

It looked like it might have been a low tack paper "labeling" tape, like 3M 3051. I am curious too. I used regular masking tape in one of these sketchbooks and left it 24 hours, and it did damage the paper, so next time I will use low tack taper. Also be careful with masking fluid, I had some sink in and not come out. Other than that I love the paper!

It's white artist's tape. I have it listed in my Amazon storefront under misc. www.amazon.com/shop/mindofwatercolor?ref=ac_inf_hm_vp

There's a list in the description. The medium goat/synthetic and the Silver Fox have the finest points.

Thanks so much!

@@danahill666 You bet! don’t forget to use MIND at checkout for a discount. 😁

@@mindofwatercolor - I will! Thanks, Steve!

Its a basic "simplification" principle in art, esp. watercolor.

I do have a blog that has not been super active lately. I only share reference on Patreon though.

Either should be fine. Depends a little which brush. They make several.

@@mindofwatercolor Hi and Thanks Which of the watercolor brush markers do you recommend? Windsor and Newton or Zig Kuretake? I like both darker and bright pastels...thanks

Aren't the Wet Paint folks great? I got some free Hahnemuhle paper with a recent order, as well as the sketchbooks. I'm not familiar with Mangani paper, but it's a little unclear to me what they mean. At first I thought they meant there's MORE external sizing, which would make the paint perform differently by staying on the surface longer. That could mean brighter colors and different effects. But they also might mean that they are using internal and external sizing (as all good papers do). The internal sizing keeps paper from warping, and the external keeps water from soaking in too fast. It might just be a sort of "new and improved" thing; perhaps they have simply improved their sizing process recently. Hope you enjoy it!! PS Best way to get brighter colors is to use more concentrated paint in each wash!

Thanks, enjoy the paint!

Cant ya use a grey scale filter to recapture the image on a tablet??

I find the backlit screen far superior, not only is it more vibrant but you can zoom and pan so easily. You can also browse online for content, save it directly, and have instant access to it. I actually bought a tablet just for my painting. I still print out a photo if i plan to use my lightpad for line work though. There are lightpad apps for tablets as well that allow you to work directly over your screen but I just don't feel comfortable using it that way, I'm afraid I will damage it. A lightpad is a much less expensive risk, mine was less than $30 on Amazon.

It can be but it really comes down to how you like to work. An image on a screen is backlit and actively produces light, which you will not be able to recreate in paint. The image will tend to appear more contrast-y because of the implied greater range between your illuminated brights and your darks (the image is what it is but the backlighting tricks the eye somewhat). This isn't always a bad thing for a reference image and digital makes it easy to switch back and forth between b&w and color, which can be very helpful when working with values. However, your visual interpretation of the values and colors on a screen is much more dependent on the ambient light in the room you are working in. Think of how glaring black text on a white screen is in a dark room vs how hard it is to see that same thing in bright daylight. A printed image is more consistent in this way because you will always be viewing it in the same lighting that you are painting in and it will not change. It will also stay the same scale (no zooming in on a detail then stepping back from your painting to realize that your scale is now off) and doesn't 'go to sleep' and disappear while you're working. But you will be limited by the quality and tonal range of the printer and paper that you are using. A lot home printers struggle with fine tonal distinctions, particularly with the very light and very dark ends of the spectrum. But again, this isn't always a bad thing - by losing some of the fine value shift, you will see more of the overall blocks of value and how they play together as a whole in the image. A helpful exercise when learning to see values in color is to print the image in color and draw the shapes of the different value areas and mark them on a scale of 1-10. Then, print the image in b&w, repeat & compare the two. So it really does come down to understanding how the two methods work and their pros/cons and figuring out what works best in your workflow. I often use a combination of both - ipad for quick sketches/studies and a printed image for larger/more time-consuming pieces. Sorry if this got a bit wordy, my background is in photography and the differences between screen and print are really important.

Not especially. Maybe better details and more contrast.

In most cases mfgs. only donate supplies to promote their brand. It's an advertising expense. If that doesn't happen to a reasonably wide audience they don't have incentive. Some may be willing to donate out of good will for community charity. You just have to ask. If you're getting paid to teach the classes they probably won't.

@@mindofwatercolor ty I don’t get paid

Haha. That’s just ridiculous! This is a joke comment right? I hear the same thing about values from accomplished representational female artists too. It comes from those who have discovered value’s importance no matter who you are. And I never said color can’t make a difference or set a mood but with out foundational values you’ve got nothing.

@@mindofwatercolor As I’ve said, the values or contrast do give structure and composition, but I feel it is color that catches my eye and conveys the emotion or tone of the piece, so to me they are more important. Otherwise we may as well just do graphite drawings!

@@mindofwatercolor I’m sorry but I recently saw an example of what I’m saying: a closeup of pink flowers against a bright blue sky. The colors not the values (which are very close) are what bring together that picture; because the warm and cool colors play off each other and create the structure and the mood of the picture.

@@carolynderricks3226 Art is always a preference but the ridiculous part is saying value is a “guy” thing. I absolutely LOVE color. But correct values have to come first when realism is desired. A very well established art concept guy or girl.

Indeed!