Testing Paul Rubens Precipitating Colors and Prang Payons and the Pentalic Aqua Watercolor Journal

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Just to clarify - the Schminke PR108 with the QoR PR108 does granulate, but it doesn't separate like the others, so that's why I'm not putting it in my little palette. Plus, it doesn't fit, so there's that. 😂

[@NanaBeth1]

Those colors are absolutely gorgeous. The yellow brightens so much when it dries. I'm beginning to think you have some kind of superpower that lets you get by on little to no sleep. My mind boggles at all the things you do.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Super-power, I wish! I just love playing with my art supplies. ❤️ I love these colors.

[@Lauraisabelgonzalezart]

3:06 What a great idea... cataloging all your colors!

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

It's really fun, too!

[@CreatingCuteArt]

Yes! I’ve loved the square 5x5 and landscape A5 sizes, but the larger Pentalic is on my wishlist! Was excited to see the Prang, too, very interesting! I do love the paper so much even though it’s cellulose and not cotton, there’s just some enjoyment factor to it for me 🤗❤️👍 I loved the gorgeous swatching, fab video, Miranda!👍👍👍

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Thanks, Maggie! ❤️ I'm looking forward to trying out the sketchbook some more.

[@Pointebrush]

I know this is a test/swatch session but... I actually love this as an abstract expressionist style piece and kind of wish it was on an enormous canvas 😍

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

It did turn out really pretty and makes me want to experiment even more. Big paper would be a delight!

[@debsmith7050]

Informative! TY ...Your bloopers are always delightful

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Thanks, Deb!

[@Elvraie]

Those precipitating colours are amazing and I love your experiments. Very good for Eastern style painting. Very thorough review, too. Great video.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Thank you so much 😀

[@eileenvalachovic9435]

Enjoyed the video. Thank you. Love the Pentalic sketchbooks for water soluble ink pictures. Enjoy your presents.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Yes, I could see how in would work really well in this sketchbook. I'll be trying it eventually. Thank you. ❤️

[@fuzzydragons]

that is a huge arches pad! the paints do blend well together 🙂

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

It's one I bought several years ago, so it's probably a good idea to use it up anyway. It does kind of hurt my brain to use it for this, but at the same time, I want my swatches on really nice paper, so that's what I've decided to do now. I still have my 18 x 24 block if I want to do large paintings again.

[@zenishart2539]

I’m glad Fuzzy said it cause I was thinking it. Cringe 1. DANG that’s a big Arches pad. 2. That’s a lot of space for swatching. On the other hand, I feel like I have paper anxiety. See you use what you have is liberating. TY

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

It does hurt my brain to use that paper block, but it's pretty old at this point and I'd be even more sad if the sizing went bad before I used it. But I still cringe every time, gulp!

[@theartofetta]

Your Paul Rubens swatching is incredible 👏 they just look like gorgeous colour that I may need to add to my collection in the future😂

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Yes, they are beautiful. 😍 Thank you.

[@shadowguard3578]

Interesting and fun video, thank you!

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Thanks, Shadow!

[@shadowguard3578]

@@MirandaWatsonArt you’re welcome!❤️

[@MrsBarnabas]

Hi, Miranda! I really enjoyed watching you do what is one of my favourite play-times - water on paper and add colour at random to see what comes out!!! I can see all sorts of things in those two abstracts, including in the cellulose book, a lovely owl in the 'ugly' yellow at top right, and several overlapping dog faces, so choosing just one of those would be hard for me... That 'ugly' yellow is an absolute boon for landscape artists, for autumn leaves, beaches, gravelly areas, old walls... as well as for animal fur or bird feathers (those where you don't need the detail, but just the impression), and for so much more! 😊

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Great ideas for that yellow-ish one! Thanks, Barney. Yes, I'll need to make a point of getting back to these fun pieces and see what I can pull out of them - I really enjoy doing that.

[@MrsBarnabas]

@@MirandaWatsonArt 😊

[@xoonaniart]

These paints look so beautiful! I like the way you tested the colors.. this is very inspiring and a very creative process you share with us.. Thank you 😊 Xoonani

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Thank you. I agree; the paints are beautiful.

[@FaithAnnNB]

I’ve had a couple of Pentallic Aqua sketchbooks. I bought them before discovering Etchr and I’ve now decided to reserve the Pentallic Aquas for gouache. Although I did fill my first Aqua book with watercolour and it’s probably my favourite cellulose sketchbook. They’re *lovely* for gouache but I prefer the Etchr cotton sketchbooks for watercolour. I will warn you, I find that no matter how careful I am, when I do a tape peel, it often peels a layer of the Pentallic aqua paper with it, so be very careful when peeling tape! (Maybe applying heat to the tape would help?) Lovely gifts!! I love the big watercolour cataloging project you’re undertaking… excellent idea to have a library like that of all your colours!!

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Thank you for the warning about tape. I almost always use tape in my sketchbooks, so I'll have to be careful. I wouldn't mind a sketchbook dedicated to gouache, so this could be that for me. I do want to try a regular watercolor painting in it at some point just to appease my curiosity, but I'll keep my gouache in mind for it. Thank you!

[@shaunnaperkins9750]

Hello again neighbor (I live in Lakewood)! I have been on a buying freeze but I think I may have to buy this set. Good to see you are uploading so frequently....I personally need to start back up again myself.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Hello over there! It's fun to upload regularly because it forces me to use all these wonderful supplies. You have some interesting stuff on your channel! I would hate to see you break your buying freeze, but this set is really beautiful.

[@AnnieNoodle]

If I could pick a brand to be a brand ambassador for, it would be Paul Rubens. I just love everything they come out with. I was thinking of using these in a chiaroscuro piece I want to do with some black 3.0. We'll see what happens!!

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

I agree, Annie; Paul Rubens supplies are always fun to use and they always seem to be high quality. Oooh - you have Black 3.0? Fun!

[@AnnieNoodle]

@@MirandaWatsonArt yes!! I just got it (in a kit I ordered a few months ago)

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

@@AnnieNoodle nice. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

[@BeckyTregear]

I enjoyed the variety in this video, seeing you test the crayons in the new sketchbook (which looks really nice!). The Paul Rubens paints look gorgeous with their dark granulation, and the colours remind me of the Boku Undo set. Yellow and black do not make a pretty mix. 😂

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Now I'm dying to get out those Kuretaki paints I still have in the drawer over here from the previous art subscription unboxings. I want to play with them so badly! Maybe I can push off this Friday's video and replace it with a Kuretaki one, LOL!

[@MrsBarnabas]

@@MirandaWatsonArt 😄

[@amyhawk2006]

I bought this set of Paul Rubins paints right before Christmas. I haven’t had a chance yet to play with them but super excited! I’m planning on getting the layering set too

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Since these were so lovely, I put the Layering set on my Amazon wish-list this week. Here's to hoping! I hope you'll love playing with your set as much as I did mine.

[@amyhawk2006]

@@MirandaWatsonArt you might watch this video before buying the layering set. I think the supervision and Paul rubins is pretty similar. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWWslHVnl7OnbMU

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

@@amyhawk2006 okay, thank you. 😊

[@amypanddirtytoo1926]

Creating Cute Art was where I got the recommendation for the Pentalic! Youre going to love it! Or you do love it since this is a video and you have already probably tried it🤣 And I am a 100% cotton girl alllll the way, but that Pentalic paper acts like it!

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Oh, glad to hear it! I need to try a "real" watercolor painting on it and see what I think. One other comment said it was great for gouache but she didn't like it as much for watercolor, so it'll be fun to test out.

[@starr-starr]

Those Prang Payons look way better than I would expect. They remind me of the Staedtler watercolor crayons I just got. Kind of hard, waxy, yet look just fine when activated with water. I really like those abstract blends you did. I like to just start going over that kind of painting with ink, just following lines, and adding more abstract marks. Sometimes adding white acrylic inks or gouache and some nice opaque metallic ink or watercolor. So fun and relaxing, dont need to make it look like anything, but they usually look really nice.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

They went down on the paper so hard that I did not expect them to dissolve like that - it was fun! I like your idea to keep them abstract but play with lines. I'll probably do that on one of them for sure. Maybe even with a white gel pen. Hmm... I may have to make more of these, lol!

[@PaintinHiding]

fear of opening a new sketchbook, i think i've only juuuust overcome that this month haha~ i started 2 sketchbooks at the same time! thank you for swatching these, i've been curious about them :D

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

I'm not even sure how many sketchbooks I have going, lol! I like different sizes at different times, so I tend to switch between them quite often. These paints were so fun; thanks for watching, Vee!

[@art-alchemy]

The precipitating colors are really pretty. They look like the kuratake moody colors some of us have with esumi ink. Such beauty when you experiment with them. I normally do that with all my new watercolors so much fun!

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Yes - and that reminds me that I have some of those Kuretaki moody paints from a previous subscription box that I still need to try out - yea! That makes me happy. :-)

[@kathyhackney7950]

I've heard such great things about the pentallic. My only issue is that on amazon its nearly 30 dollars. For 30 dollars I can get an etchr sketchbook thats 100 percent cotton. Are they cheaper somewhere else or.. are they just as good as etchr?

[@FaithAnnNB]

In Canada, you can sometimes find the Pentallic books cheaper than Etchr. I like them okay for gouache, but Etchr wins every day for watercolour for me 😊. I also mentioned in a separate comment, that I find tape often pulls the fibres in the Pentallic, I have to be so careful not to rip the page.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

You're absolutely right - this sketchbook is very expensive. The 8.5 x 11 size actually went up to $43 before Christmas, and now it's not even showing available on Amazon (at least it wasn't yesterday), which is why I linked the next size down, but that one's really expensive, too. I would say get the cotton one for sure! You can't go wrong with Etchr.

[@dianethoroughman9541]

Hi Miranda, What beautiful Paul Ruven's moody paints are. I think I will eventually get a PBk 11. Right now, I am on Amazon no buy until my Amazon credit card is paid off.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

They are beautiful. Smart to do a no-buy and get the card paid off!

[@zenishart2539]

First time watcher drawn to your video because I’m interested in buying both sets of Paul Rubens SHI YUN series. Thank you for reviewing these. I enjoyed a little too much hearing you struggle with your cat. Stay out of the water, is that a cat hair, don’t knock that down, how is it possible to have cat hair on clean paper towels… 😂 I say all those and just as often but with more explicits. I actually considered calling my accounts “Cat Hair Illustrations”. Liked and following now. Keep creating. 🐈🐈‍⬛🐈🐈‍⬛🐈😻

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Oh my goodness, your comments left both me and my husband laughing so hard. The struggle with cats, LOL! It's real. Thank you. ❤️

[@bjustbee]

Pretty sure I could watch that watercolor spread and dry in high speed all day. I do love the pbk11 mixes I've seen, but I don't have a tube of that (should have remembered I wanted to buy one before the no buy started, oh well, I have a birthday coming up). I did mix up a 'moonglow' using what I had on hand. It's so pretty, not quite as good as the original or the one from Kimberly Crick's video, but still pretty.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

I just found out that I could fit two MORE half-pans in my A. Gallo palette, but I already placed my order, and my birthday isn't until Christmas again, darn it. You're lucky you have one coming up! Maybe I'll gently suggest a gift card for Jackson's for Mother's Day, although my family doesn't usually do anything for me on Mother's Day anyway, so that might not work. Actually, my daughter-in-law and oldest son always do something now that I think about it, so there's hope! Hopefully you'll get your PBk11 on your birthday!

[@E4Alabbasy]

I love moody paint and I found a Great deal on them so I bought them guilt free 😅 but I really really love them and started adding the purple shade to my other palettes as well

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

I was thinking of making some sort of custom palette with my favorite colors and adding in a few of these, too. Haven't decided on all the colors, though, lol!

[@jennw6809]

I've looked at the Pentalic books a lot, but they just seem expensive to me for not being cotton. I'll be interested to see how it goes.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

They are actually VERY expensive, in my opinion. I would have chosen Etchr or Hahnemuhle over this one, which is why it was in my wish-list and I didn't buy it for myself. But I was very happy to have received it as a gift to try out!

[@jennw6809]

AHHHH you finally reveal it's swatch cards! I started making cards at the beginning of 2022. I note the pigment, transparency, staining and granulation on the cards. And I do a masstone at the top, separately from a wet on wet gradient, so that I don't have the issue you've been having in your sketchbook. Wait - you're taping them? I cut the cards first and paint them individually. I don't tape - I made a template from cardboard - I trace the outline in pencil. Got the idea from Teoh here kzbin.info/www/bejne/fF7VgYePd51sZrc Granulation forms best when pigment flows across the surface of wet paper. So I always make sure I'm tilting the paper so that I get a good swatch of it. It's very easy when all the cards are cut beforehand!

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

I definitely prefer doing them all on one sheet and then cutting them out afterwards - it makes them quite precise with nice, hard edges, and they dry pretty flat since they are on a block. I can see some of the advantages of doing it the way you've described, but I prefer this way for now. I'll go watch that video real quick, though, just to make sure I completely understand what you're talking about. Thanks, Jenn!