FEBRUARY VLOG - Inky sketchbook play, Edinburgh, shrink plastic

I made a very long vlog this month. I was very chatty! This month I focused on using inks and also went a bit wild with buying art supplies, for some reason I was in holiday mode,
I also met up with Sedem in Edinburgh, tried shrink plastic, and had a lot of fun drawing camels.
Sedem: / sedem_illustrates
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Let's Hang Out!
Patreon: / monkeymintaka
Instagram: / monkeymintaka
Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/s...
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Thanks for watching!

[@thinkerdreamersketcherspy]

Lovely vlog once again. I want to talk about supplies so bad but I'll try to refrain myself. 😂 Only that the best white coloured pencil is the Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle, but Stabilo makes couple of alright ones as well and chibagraphs are an option too... 😅 Watching your own vlogs is not narcissistic, in fact I'd argue it's important and definitely the same as reading your own journal OR looking through your sketchbook...

[@monkeymintaka]

I seemed to have misplaced ALL my white pencils somehow, so I will pop that caran dache one on the list. When I started to stream I watched a few “how to be confident streaming” videos and one too they always mentioned was to watch your streams back and if you don’t enjoy it then no one will. So I guess that’s the same kind of deal with watching videos back too :)

[@creativediva52]

Love your videos, feels like coffee with a friend!

[@monkeymintaka]

Ahhh that’s nice to hear :) I bet you could get through at least 3 cups of coffee with this one haha

[@creativediva52]

@@monkeymintaka lol

[@virginiavaccaro7695]

19:53 It has stolen my heart since the first time I saw it, in the first video I watched from your channel.

[@monkeymintaka]

🥰🥰

[@pam123469]

Hey there! For the alcohol inks you got you need to use non absorbent and non porous surfaces (like ceramic or glass). Yupo paper is specifically designed for alcohol inks (you could try a marker pad too but not as good)😊

[@monkeymintaka]

I did a little googling after when I figured I had done it wrong 😅 no idea what I’ll do with them, but the yupo paper sounds good! That’s the one wade with rocks? Or something like that 🤔

[@thinkerdreamersketcherspy]

​@@monkeymintaka it's plastic. Jackson's has Yupo, but you might find it cheaper with the brand names of Lana Vanguard (exact same product, different cover & name) or "alcohol marker paper". Plenty of non-highend art companies make it nowadays.

[@monkeymintaka]

@@thinkerdreamersketcherspy I picked some up in London yesterday so I can try it for next months vlog! Thanks for the suggestion :)

[@stephanie_smith]

I've done shrinky dinks in the past and used prismacolor pencils to great affect! And a UVnail curing lamp works well for the resin, too. Just buy a strong enough one, and you are good to go! There are so many fun things you can make with shrinky dinks, though i have never seen the white plastic kind like you demonstrated.

[@monkeymintaka]

I did buy a UV lamp that week! And so transparent shrinky plastic stuff, and even a heat gun. I haven’t used it yet, but I would like too soon!

[@KittehNow]

Watched to the end. Very enjoyable❤❤❤❤

[@monkeymintaka]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@riverAmazonNZ]

Ink is my favourite because I’m really fast and impatient. I like how fast it dries and I don’t have to wait long to layer. I use india ink colours as if they were watercolour, and india ink markers (pitt pens) with a water brush.

[@monkeymintaka]

I have noticed it dries a lot faster than paint which is a bonus. Do you mean the faber castell Pitt pens?

[@riverAmazonNZ]

@@monkeymintaka yes the faber castell pitt pens, especially the big brush/dual tip. And also the new Staedtler pigment arts pens which are very similar and really vibrant, but don’t come in a big brush nib, only small. The Stadtler pigment arts Magenta is a stunning bright intense pink that I adore and it has 4 stars lightfastness.

[@amargarettepires]

Edinborrroooo 😂😂 lovely vlog! I love your content and your relaxed way of saying "I'm just gonna do my thing". Keep it uppp pllzz

[@monkeymintaka]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@NavyAssassinOnBLAST]

Fountain pen inks, and inks in general do require special sketchbooks. I am researching them, currently. Apparently Muji, Rhodia, Tamoe River, Claire Fontaine make blank, lined and dot journals for inks. I have watched many reviews by Fountain pen enthusiasts & artists who use pens/inks. Papers for inks is as sophisticated as papers for watercolors. Like the ink has to set on top of the paper to retain it's vibrancy. I wonder if a coat of matt gel medium would make watercolor paper handle inks better. One video showed fountain pen inks are not lightfast AT ALL. They fade quite fast. 😢

[@monkeymintaka]

I will have to do more research, but I don’t mind the cheaper paper I got, it’s actually not too bad :)

[@rachelleandrichard]

Joining your Patreon and headed to your shop. I enjoyed this long chatty and varied post. Im trying not to buy supplies but this was super inspiring because it inspired me to use my supplies in different ways. I love exploring and playing the way you did with your new inks. So yummy. Rachelle, Australia xo

[@monkeymintaka]

Ahh yay! Thanks so much :) I’m so bad with buying materials. But I do go through phases where I won’t buy for months so I guess it balances out 🙈

[@rachelleandrichard]

@@monkeymintaka you just keep being you. You don't have to justify anything. You bring joy to so many people and make art making accessible for all kinds of people. What you do is important. Sending love and thanks. Rachelle x

[@SashaFitzgerald]

I loved the vlog April! So funny how excited you got over seeing the pheasant lol, I’m the same way. Loved the footage of Edinburgh, the buildings are so pretty. Your camels turned out great too!

[@monkeymintaka]

We never see pheasants now, but we saw them lots in our last house so it’s nice when we do see them 🥰 Glad you enjoyed the video sasha!

[@NavyAssassinOnBLAST]

Love the Stillman & Bern. Seems like they are a favorite for fountain pen & ink collectors, journalers, etc.

[@monkeymintaka]

It’s really nice!

[@byamiee]

Loved the vlog April! Kept me company whilst painting this evening. Although my heart broke slightly when you said purple was the worst colour 😂😂

[@monkeymintaka]

Ahh I’m glad Amie! I actually have come around to purple the last couple of years, but it has to be a very pale lilac or mauve. Baby steps 🙈😅

[@juliart5]

Haha, I saw Sarah Burns Video too and immediately bought the green fountain pen too. 😄 And I love using it, mainly for patterns over acrylic. I love watching your vlogs, April! Always so inspiring!!

[@monkeymintaka]

I haven’t given it a good go yet, but I also really loved the green ink she used in that video, so it’s on my wish list :)

[@juliart5]

Oh yeah, I looked for the ink too, but wow, it's expensive. 19,- EUR here in Germany plus shipping. :( I looked for other green inks and will try the "Senegal" or "Lotus" Antiktusche from Rohrer and Klingner, they are only 7,- EUR each.

[@juliart5]

Oh and by the way, the Tombow 312 "Holly green" is a good alternative to the Atramentis ink colour. I drew one of Sarahs pics with it and it looks quite the same. But I still had to buy the fountain pen. :D

[@BunnyOnTheCoast]

Oooooh!!!! I saw you pack my order!!!!!!🤭🥰🥰🥰

[@monkeymintaka]

🙌🙌🙌

[@NavyAssassinOnBLAST]

Great video on inks. I want to do portraits of my rehab Raccoons in various inks. I have to find various warm & cool tones of lightfast, permanent grays, browns and whites. Not sure if there's a lightfast buff titanium ink. 🤷🏽‍♀️🦝🤍🖤

[@monkeymintaka]

Sounds like a fun project! I’ve been doing lots only monochrome work for the kids book I’m working on and I’m learning a lot

[@rosaliemaguire]

You would love the colour Antelope Brown in the Daler Rowney FW acrylic inks. It's like a green/brown.

[@monkeymintaka]

👀👀 I’ll pop it on the next haul list. I need a break from purchasing for a month or so. I don’t remember buying all that this month until I edited the video 😂

[@monkeymintaka]

👀👀 I’ll pop it on the next haul list. I need a break from purchasing for a month or so. I don’t remember buying all that this month until I edited the video 😂

[@emmaneary6120]

I'm trying hard to catch up on vlogs and you go and make one that's 1.5 hours 😅. I've been using the Liquitex acrylic ink in a Hahnemuhle watercolour book (200gsm one) which has worked really nicely. I use them in a very simple way though - just monochrome pieces as I only have two colours. It's not the cheapest but I used it as a sort of art journal so only used it once a month or so. I managed to buy a second one on sale 😁.

[@monkeymintaka]

😅 Sorry Emma! I think the next one will be shorter. i haven't edited it yet though. I haven't used a hahnemuhle book yet, maybe I will give one a try!

[@artsee2000]

For some reason the white FW acrylic ink requires that you dip your brush right down to the bottom of the bottle to get to the meat of the pigment. It just never fully distributes no matter how much you shake it.

[@monkeymintaka]

Ahhh okay! I will have to try that. It was super watery

[@FrauRonja]

I can watch your videos forever! I've a few questions. 1) Do you use the royal talens art creation sketchbook also in A4 or A3 for mixed media or is the paper too thin for this? 2) What's the best option for light highlights on dark paint? My best option for color pencils are prismacolor but it's not really opaque, especially for setting white highlights. 3) Could you omit the neocolor ii and just use the colored pencils? What exactly is the difference between them (especially when not using with water but only draw on top)? I'm asking because I wonder whether I should buy neocolors ii.

[@monkeymintaka]

Ahh Thankyou 🥰 I use the royal talens sketchbook in both sizes, and I have used them for mixed media a lot, but they aren’t the best paper quality. I prefer Pith now :) And for question 2 and 3 they have the same answer. I like to use the neocolor as it is very opaque and can go over a lot of materials well. So if I was to use a light colour on a dark, I would use neocolor if my pencils didn’t show up well. I would buy just a couple and see if you like them!

[@FrauRonja]

@@monkeymintaka Thank you so much, this is really helping me. 🧡Unfortunately, the pith sketchbooks seem to be not available in the artshops in my country. I guess I will go with Royal Talens then.

[@sharonsteinbis7247]

Ah, birbfest, 100-day challenge, etc, etc.

[@monkeymintaka]

Yeah. Too many challenges 😂

[@AndraMarieArt]

"If you want a small hobby, keep painting small and asking for small prices." -Miriam Schulman the book the Artpreneur. You should totally up your prices for your originals. Your art is beautiful and it has a story attached (like being the host of birbfest). If an artist who looked up to asked for help pricing their pieces similar to yours what would you tell them? Even if you had doubled the price I would still be thinking that it wasn't enough. Your art is worth more than just cost×materials×time.

[@monkeymintaka]

What a great quote! I know I am probably underpricing my art, but it’s still early days for me selling them, so I am sure I will grow more confident :)

[@AndraMarieArt]

@@monkeymintaka You got this!

[@NavyAssassinOnBLAST]

You're not Narcissistic at all. You are a serious artist & we must study ourselves and our work history to grow. You're very healthy. I am a federal investigator in the field on the Epstein investigation. His partners-in-crime in our governments are true Narcissists. Vile bunch. Not a creative bone in the bodies, nor any original thoughts. That's why they they plagiarize & exploit true creatives. 🤬🤬 You're absolutely brilliant. It's not unusual for artists to cannibalize their own works. Go back and find some old piece and repurpose it into another project. You keep right on following your instincts shamelessly. Blessings from the U.S. 🙏🏽 🎨 🖼

[@monkeymintaka]

Ahh thanks :) I say it joking, I don’t really think I am 😅

[@stephanie_smith]

Thank you for all you do investigating our government... We need more people like you!! Our country really needs to rid itself of this kind of vileness. Seems like the US is so inundated with this scourge. 😢

[@dmitryk2905]

I loved your vlog, thank you!

[@monkeymintaka]

I’m glad!