Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😊

In my local Müller store. But that was several years ago, and I haven't seen it since.

@@NelaDunato found that shop online, but they don’t have it any more. I have decided to make my own, I have some lovely soft leather that will work. Thanks anyway. Love your video.

KUM 4-in-1 Pencil Sharpener

Thank you for sharing this information! I avoid toxic pigments in general so I'm not worried about it personally, but it's good for others to keep in mind.

​@@NelaDunatoI try to avoid them also, but most professional watercolors are toxic, and many artists aren't aware how very toxic they can be. Thanks for writing back! ❤💐❤️

@@OneTrueWord1988 "Most professional watercolors are toxic" - what are you basing this statement on? Professional watercolors may contain *some* toxic pigments in their lineup (like cadmiums, cobalts), but the vast majority of synthetic and natural pigments used today are not considered toxic.

I'm glad you found it helpful! 😊

Thank you, Katja! 🌹

Thanks for letting me know! 😊

😄 Qué idioma, inglés? Qué personaje?

Thank you 😊 They are really fun to paint with!

Thank you 😊 I don't have a Reddit account. But if you or anyone else is willing to post it, feel free!

Wonderful, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! 😊

Thank you!

I agree, it's such a clever solution! 😄

I love watching them too 😁 I hope you like the pen! I know many artists love Lamy pens, but I've always found their nibs too thick for my taste.

@@NelaDunato Many nibs make thicker lines. Fine line nib that draws lines in consistency is a good alternative to Micron pens. Thank you again for sharing ❤

I cut them off from a larger set of 5-6 that I found at a supermarket. Similar ones are available on Amazon, it's called a paint pot strip. They come in different sizes.

@@NelaDunato Thanks!

Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you, Melissa!

Glad you liked it 😊

Yes on this primed page (gray base is matte acrylic paint) I'm only able to use water on the first layer. After that if I need to blend, I use my finger (damp or dry). Neocolor II (and Stabilo Woody too) are soft enough to blend dry. I haven't used Mungyo crayons, but supposedly oil crayons are soft too, try it out. On pure unprimed paper you could perhaps use water on the second layer as well, thar might depend on the crayon brand. Neocolor II doesn't require a lot of scrubbing to blend so the first layer is not disturbed. But if you notice that the first layer lifts, just proceed with dry crayon.

I don't think there is a difference. But all the talk about emotional labor I've seen so far has been focused on jobs in medicine, mental health services, care services, education, food service, and the like, and literally zero mention of creative jobs. Creatives have been left out of this conversation and don't even realize it applies to them. That's why I created this video.

Thank you for your reply. True. As long as people can get burned out, they experience emotional labor. I think it's a good thing professions that contain intrinsic properties (like artists' love for art, or the caring nature of healthcare employees) show us that those qualities should be valued. If we love doing what we do, should other people value it less? Of course not! But reality is different.@@NelaDunato

@@Agleae Yes, the reality is that others exploit our love of art or helping others. Employers know that people will be drawn to those professions no matter how poorly they're paid. I really hope to see this change in my lifetime.

Well said! Thank you for sharing that.

I'm glad you've found it helpful 😊 Lots of artists deal with this, but it can get better over time.

Van Gogh open stock pencils exist, but it's incredibly difficult to find them outside of Netherlands. Even the sets are not available in most art stores that carry other Talens products (I was only able to get them from Amazon). Art stores are not ordering the pencils, Talens is not pushing and promoting them... It's a product neglected by everyone, and it's a shame.

Thank you! 🌹 The many years of time difference really show on that spread. I used to draw every individual rock, but now I'm trying to portray atmosphere with fewer details.

It's so hard that it smudged and burnished the pigment, kind of similar to what blender/burnisher wax pencils do. I used the same pressure on all 3.

I've seen a popular KZbin color pencil artist recommend them too so surely they can't all be that terrible... But I've tried 3 from the same series and they were all the same. Bad luck I guess?

@@NelaDunato Wow, I was shocked to see what that eraser did to u! I would love to try the ones you showed there but Blick doesnt carry them and Amazon for me is not an option. Too much struggle to get to my island. And where I live, the SUPER LIMITED options of the so called "art supplies stores" here, is ridiculous! I always say that if Blick would open a store here, they would have tons of clients. So many artists in Puerto Rico, but our options to buy local are a joke! They majority of us need to look elsewhere. Is a shame, really. And to make this even more frustrating, half the time the people who work on those stores dont even know what one is looking for, nor they can get it overseas to sell in their stores either. 😓

Yeah, access to art supplies in small countries sucks. I'm in a small country too, though it's a mainland country, so I can order stuff from abroad. But it still comes out way more expensive than what someone in the US or UK would pay. I have a whole video about it on my channel called "Art supply envy". It's unfair.

I'm glad it was helpful! :)

Thank you for your kind comment, Lesley! I sometimes feel like a fossil when I reminisce about the "good old times" when the Internet was made by and for humans, before corpos took over almost every corner. I'm glad there's more of us that haven't forgotten. The current creator climate can be demotivating, so I really appreciate your encouragement. I do it for the people that care, and that's enough for me.

@@NelaDunato I'm old enough to miss the internet of the late 90s and early 2000s. If you're not already familiar with it, you may appreciate the work of Cory Doctorow. He and others are leading an effort to combat the "enshittification" of the internet.

@lesleyegbert4807 I've read his article about enshittification, but I haven't seen updates or actions if there were any? If there's a project dedicated to making a more humane internet, I'd love to get in on it.

@@NelaDunato He's got a book coming out called "Chokepoint Capitalism". The last half of the book includes a series of detailed proposals on how to start fixing the problems. It seems to be focused on audio/video streaming and ebooks rather than visual art or design, though. Whatever happens in this space would probably serve as a roadmap for visual artists/designers as they start the fight against AI companies.

@@lesleyegbert4807 Thank you for the info, I'll look it up. Hmm since visual artists and writers were the first one to be hit by AI, I think it's the other way around... There are a few landmark lawsuits currently being fought by independent visual artists against the most prominent AI corporation. The results of this battle might determine a precedent for how things will go down the road.

Thank you for your kind words 🌹 I hope you'll enjoy the other videos as well! No worries, I've met lots of lovely people from the US and I'm always happy to connect with more. Sadly, often the most uninformed folks (of any country) tend to be the loudest 🙄

That's a very common issue with gel pens, and unfortunately I don't think there's a way to completely prevent it. Your local climate may have an impact as well? (I'd assume they tend to dry faster in high temperatures with low humidity.) There are videos with tips on how to revive them which don't always work, but you can try them out. The one in my pencil case lays horizontal most of the time, and the ones in a jar I always point downwards. I just checked and out of 8 gel pens in the jar (white, metallic & glitter), 5 are completely fine, 1 is "railroading", 1 is skipping (maybe I can save it), and one has totally dried with about 5mm of ink left.

@@NelaDunato thank you...I do live in Arizona where it's quite hot 🔥 and dry.

Thank you for sharing! I'm glad you've enjoyed the videos and articles ☺

That's so cool! Yeah they're really nice, I'm glad you'll be enjoying them 😊

I've never seen another one like that either! I definitely use both zippers because it can be tricky to fish out the shortest pencils through the top.

@@NelaDunato Yeah, I have a standing pencil case that I love that folds down to about halfway (similar to the Kokuyo NeoCritz, but little things like erasers and paperclips still disappear in the bottom. I'll definitely keep an eye out for this hybrid style in the future!

I love to see other artists plein air kits. You would laugh to see mine… I always have a chair a back pack a tripod, sometimes a cooler- looks like I’m going camping 😂. I was recently challenged to make a small watercolor/sketch kit. I have done it and it’s so freeing not to bring my whole studio on my back!!! 😮‍💨 😅

@hannahcrumley3103 Wow, that's some dedication! 😄 I have a tendency to overpack and it bugs me to return home with a bunch of unused supplies... So I'm trying to stick with the essentials, and my shoulders are very thankful for it!

Thank you! Indeed, conforming to quality standards such as ASTM increases the chances of colored pencil art being taken more seriously by art collectors in the future. Ironically, soft pastels are respected as a "more serious" (=more traditional) medium in the art world, but ASTM only recently developed the D8330 standard and their initial results across different professional brands are quite disappointing. Artists truly have no idea what they're buying.

It’s nice to learn the correct way to pronounce names, however, I think you could have taught us without being demeaning.

Thank you for your comment, I agree my tone was snarky. I'm quite annoyed by being *repeatedly* "corrected" by commenters and I snapped. But if my tone prevents people from doing it again, I'm fine with it.

I thought your comment was a funny way to remind us not to be so harsh on others- I did not find this snarky or demeaning at all! You will never please everyone- people are so easily offended and are so quick to correct everyone else! Just be yourself and don’t worry about it! If people are really paying attention to you they will realize that you have a very sweet nature about you! I appreciate all of your content. It takes an enormous amount of time and effort to share your skills!

Thank you for your kind and understanding comment, Hannah! I appreciate it a lot. I've been online for many, many years so I try not to take every critical word to heart. We can't please everyone, that's for sure!

Well, ya know how we roll. It has to be the way we say 😁 I feel bad for “Brazil”, there has never been a “z” in that Country’s name since Euro colonials stepped foot onto the landscape and named it. It’s Brasil but we insist on a ‘Z’. No mind, you are fine. You keep on pronouncing Van Gogh correctly and ignore those not knowing.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :) I live in Europe and don't subscribe to American (=incorrect) pronunciation of European names. I try my best to pronounce names accurately.