Watercolor Pencil Hex Charts: Q&A plus tips

[@andrealavigne7824]

First off, Sandy, I LOVE your new intro - that jazzy music is so cool! Thank you for sharing these tips on the hex charts (& for making them). I would like to point out that Epson DuraBrite (inkjet) inks ARE waterproof. I use them to print digital images for both colored pencils & watercolors, & have never had them smear. They will smear If I color with my water-based markers (Tombow & Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers) on smooth bristol paper, and if I ink blend with Distress inks (on any cardstock). I haven't tried Distress Oxides, but I would think they'd smear the ink, too. Not sure if it's a chemical reaction or what, but cardstock doesn't seem to make a difference in that case. Anyway, with my watercolors, the printer inks have always held up. As far as I know, the DuraBrite "model" inks are the only ones that are waterproof, & I believe they can only be used in regular Epson printers or all-in-ones. Their EcoTank models don't use the same ink formula, unfortunately. I once printed something onto regular 20 lb. copy paper, and inadvertently left it out where it got rained on. I swear to you - the paper broke down more than the ink! LOL That's just another option for people to use to print hex charts for watercolor pencils. As far as watercolor paper with Epson printers, it probably varies how well they will print. Mine won't take 140 lb. paper in full letter-size sheets, but I can adhere smaller non-rounded panels to a piece of copy paper & run it through that way. I don't know if I've ever tried a letter-size sheet of 90 lb., though. If I can find some, I might try. I only have automatic feed on mine, however, so maybe one that has a manual feed would work better. Anyway, thank you for all you do. I hope you are doing well & adjusting to life sans Mama. Take care, & have a wonderful day! :)

[@Froglynn33]

So I was thinking about how I could make this work for myself since I do not have a laser printer and not too sure what any print shops would do with a sheet of actual watercolor paper. But then I realized, I can print onto card stock and then try coating it with some translucent watercolor ground. Might have to try different products to find one that won't obscure the smaller print. Mostly when I have been swatching watercolor pencils I've been using an inexpensive spiral bound water color sketchbook and painstakingly stamping shapes on it with permanent stamp ink to fill in while hand writing the pencil numbers with a water proof liner pen...yes it takes a while to do it that way.

[@SandyAllnock1]

Remember the acetate trick-that can deal with the lettering 😛

[@hollyzessin2886]

Just like ink for stamping some move with water others don’t. I have been printing on an inkjet and using watercolor on the print page for over 15 years. Inkjets are much friendlier about thick and rough texture paper printing nicely.

[@lisamont8182]

Hello Sandy, can you tell me which pencil case you’re using? Thanks for any help

[@SandyAllnock1]

I have a bunch of different ones, depending on how many are in the set. The one you see is this one bit.ly/4eBlkpQ

[@jtpaar1732]

How about use a blank hex chart and paint all the appropriate colors on the corresponding hexes and when it's dry, run the painted paper through the printer to print the hex outlines and paint names onto the already painted spaces? Or I just print the names of colors down the left hand side, giving me plenty of room to paint the color swatches in, on the right-hand side. It's not fancy, but it works for me.

[@SandyAllnock1]

I tried that and the printer didn't line everything up in *exactly* the same way. Being off even 1/64th of an inch looked terrible. Also, releasing my charts as blanks only encourages thieves. :( The internet is a terrible thing sometimes.

[@jtpaar1732]

@@SandyAllnock1 Giant 'Sandy Allnock' watermark until bought and paid for will solve that lmao! Seriously though, I understand what you're saying and love your channel and fabulous artwork!

[@jmoss55ish]

How do you get your pencils so sharp?

[@SandyAllnock1]

These are mostly longpoints I think, though not really sharp - they don't need to be for watercolor pencil. But I use a longpoint sharpener amzn.to/3sneyfM and then take a turn or two in any small handheld if I need it laser sharp.

[@lechatbotte.]

She’s got a sharpener that does that. She shared it in one of her videos

[@cynthiadejongh5908]

I think its a afmat Pencil,sharpener

[@diannemiddaugh2478]

So I have never heard of her charts. Can you explain them for me.

[@SandyAllnock1]

The colors are arranged in visual order-so you can see, like, all the skintones next to each other, all the reds or blues. And it’s easier to find analogous colors for shading.

[@diannemiddaugh2478]

Interesting. Thank you.

[@hollyzessin2886]

Some inkjet printers are waterproof.

[@SandyAllnock1]

lol clearly not mine

[@laurawilliams5282]

Trying to purchase using Paypal, but I’m in an endless loop.

[@SandyAllnock1]

Paypal is the bane of my existence right now! Send me an email, I can manually invoice you and that works to get around their hiccups.