Monday 24 June 2013

Busy, busy...

I just can't seem to get back into the swing of things. 
Please be patient with me.
I will get there!

Life has been very busy with helping Beau move back home 
as well as going house-hunting with Michelle (daughter).  
Yes, she and her hubby are looking to buy a house. 
All quite exciting!!

I did treat myself to more art goodies. 
All of which are fantastic books that I pore through
at every opportunity.

I filled my large watercolour palette with
artist quality watercolours.
I hope I've done it right as I still feel
quite the novice when it comes to watercolours.
Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to trying them out.


After doing some colour swatches of my new Derwent watercolour pencils, 
shown in a previous post,
I decided to do the same for my little travel watercolour sets.

Kuretake watercolour travel set


And my Koi watercolour field set

The following pics are of an Allamanda vine growing on a fence 
right across the road from the bus stop. 
Gorgeous to look at but highly poisonous! 



And being that it's been forever since I posted a self-portrait shot,
I thought I'd throw one in for good measure.
My hair has that 'just washed' frizz that I dislike
but what's a girl to do?

I'm hoping to get caught up on laundry today and
if I'm lucky, I might find time to sketch.
OH, how I miss my sketchbooks!

25 comments:

  1. Hi serena, glad to see a post form you, and liking all those lovely colours in your watercolours, and looking forward to seeing a watercolour pic by you soon!

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  2. Good to see you! you have had a full plate of late but I hope you find time to sit with your sketchbooks and color pallets and just let go and play. I know it will make you feel so good!
    ~Dawn

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    1. Thanks, Dawn....hoping to find time to sketch very soon.

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  3. So nice to see you, Serena! And fun to see your color experiments... Make me want to run and play with paint now... LOL! Hope all goes well for your daughter & hubby getting a house--wonderful! Be taking good care... Happy Days ((HUGS))

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  4. Those books look like such fun! And your new palette--wow!! I'm drooling over the new paints. Doing the color charts is such a good idea. They look great, lady. Sounds like it has been really hectic over there, but you are looking good. Your hair doesn't look frizzy to me. Hard to believe that gorgeous yellow bloom is on a poisonous plant. I hope you get to use your sketchbook soon. *love and hugs*

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    1. Thanks, Rita. I'm so glad I did the colour charts. I'm missing my sketchbooks A LOT....hope to find an opportunity to sketch over the weekend. Love and hugs to you. xo

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  5. very busy!

    its always the pretty plants that are poisonous :/

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    1. Still feel like I need to come up for air. lol

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  6. I am looking forward to seeing what you are going to with the gorgeous water colours.

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    1. Thanks, Shashi....I'm looking forward to playing with my new palette. :)

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  7. Yummy yummy colour charts!!!!!

    Your vine reminds me of my time in Cairns.

    Your hair looks great!

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  8. Those art supplies look so yummy. I am sure some wonderful work will be created with them soon. You look great in your new self portrait.

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  9. Such a colorful post - loved seeing the photos and you look great - hope Michelle has found a house by now. I don't blog or visit blogs too much anymore. I spend too much time on FB, ha.

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  10. Thanks for the lovely comments, everyone. I hope to be back on board very soon. xo

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  11. Oh my goodness what a delight to come and visit your blog! How wonderful!!

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    1. Thanks for the lovely compliment, Vanessa. :)

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  12. Is the Kuretake Watercolor Travel Set this one?
    http://www.zig-kuretake.com/Images.aspx?PIFID=3691

    Thanks!

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    1. Hi Renato,

      I looked elsewhere for further details and found that, while my set had different packaging, they do bear the same part number so yes, they are the same.

      My set bought in Australia (everything on it is in Japanese writing).

      More detailed info on the pic you provided . The leaflet in my set shows the same Part Number.

      Hope that helps. :)

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    3. Thanks, it does help! I looked all over Internet - even Kuretake website - and I couldn't find a single picture of the content of the package and I was wondering if it was the same since I also found this 14 set elsewhere.

      If you don't mind, I have another question. How do you compare the Furetake Zig 14 set and the Sakura Koi 24 set, in both terms of quality and flexibility. Because although the Sakura has 10 more colors, the Furetake is usually more expensive, do you feel that the price is related to the quality? And does the extra 10 colors make a lot of difference?

      I'd prefere a more clean, less grainy one but I can't find a lot of reviews out there.

      Thanks!

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    4. You are so right....I tried to look for reviews that might help you make an informed choice and there was barely any. None on the Kuretake set at all. I did find this one on the Koi set.

      I'm not sure my opinion will be all that helpful as I still feel quite the novice when it comes to watercolours....being self taught and all. I bought both these field sets with the plan to eventually fill them with artist's quality tube watercolours once I used up the original paints. That said, I love how both watercolour brands perform. I like the extra colours in the Koi set for times when I'm a little lazy, however with my acrylic art background, I'm happy to mix my own colours so having less colours with the Kuretake set isn't a drawback.

      You mention that you like clean and less grainy paints. I didn't find either grainy like you would get in the cheap student/craft watercolours. If I had to cut it down to the line, I'd say the Kuretake transparent watercolours are a tad more smooth....but only a tad.

      Sorry, I know it's not much to go on but I do hope it helps.

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    5. I'm also a beginner and a self taught, I had a very cheap set that I bought just to test it out how watercolor works and I really liked it so I'm looking for an upgrade. I have some pens and brushpens from Kuretake and I really like them, specially the brushpens, I also bought the waterbrushes and in a way it's making me inclined to buy the Kuretake one. Although I have no painting background, at first I don't mind having to create the colors by myself.

      The Sakura Koi has some videos on Youtube, there is even a Sakura channel on Youtube that shows some people using it and explaining it a bit.

      I had read that review but I kept looking for one with more images to be able to see the colors they produced. What I liked about your post is that you posted a pic of the samples of each color, you are probably a very organized and meticulous person... hehe...

      Thank you very much, all your replies and insights really helped me a lot. It gave me enough parameters to think about it instead of buying it blindly.

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    6. I think I try to be organised and meticulous but it doesn't last long. lol I do find colour swatches helpful though being that watercolours are a new medium for me. This link shows a simple sketch of a tree I painted using my Kuretake set for the first time. Note that I only use these sets when I'm out and about for day trips etc., which hasn't been very often over the past few years....I hope to change that. I'm glad I was of some help to you and I'm sure you will enjoy your new watercolour travel set whichever you choose. Have fun.

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