Watercolor Q & A Periscope today

Let's get ready for World Watercolor Month! Tune in at 2:00pm today and ask your questions about watercolor. periscope.tv/michelecoopart

Did anyone ask your question? Here's a screenshot from today's broadcast. What are those mint tins, how do you paint wet in wet, and what's with the candy necklace? Watch the replay and find out!

Is there a DIY watercolor Palette even smaller than Altoids Mini?

Yes! You can make a four color teensy watercolor travel palette with these wee tins!

They're made the same way as my Altoids mini, but you only have four color slots. The colors you choose are crucial if you want to achieve the widest range of mixing possibilities. Follow the demonstration and discussion on my Periscope today.

Screenshot of my demonstration on Periscope today. 

Would you like me to make you one? Please contact me by email or on Instagram for details.

Selection varies per availability

What you get:

One handmade Tiny Travel Watercolor Palette, pre filled with four artists' quality watercolors comparable with those shown on Periscope. (Link above) Size: Approx 1.75"X1.75"x.5"

One hand painted and labeled watercolor chart depicting the colors in the tin.

One exercise sheet on how to mix your colors. 

Suggested materials list for a small, portable watercolor travel kit. (Brushes, paper, etc)

How to order a Tiny Handmade Watercolor Travel Palette:

Choose a tin. In case your first choice isn't available tell me your second choice.

Note: All tins are not always available. First come, first served.

Contact me and I will send you an invoice with a PayPal link for $25.00 post paid in US. (Additional postage required internationally) You do not need a PayPal Account but may use your credit card instead.

Summer break: Sorry, orders made after June 14th will be delayed while we are on break. They will be sent out as soon as possible after June 20th.

July is Officially World Watercolor Month

Learn more about using watercolor to create colorful, vibrant sketches! On July 9 and 10 I'm teaching a weekend workshop for beginners in urban sketching at Skagit Valley College. More Info here.

Charlie O’Shields, the creator of Doodlewash®, is the founder of World Watercolor Month. His own love of the medium led to the creation of a blog and social artist movement dedicated to promoting and connecting the vast community of watercolor artists all over the world. The blog has featured hundreds of artists sketching and painting with watercolor on all seven continents. According to Charlie, “There’s something magical about watercolor, and it’s my passion to bring all types of watercolor artists together to celebrate each other’s work and the medium we all love!”

Find out more at www.worldwatercolor.com.

Blue Skies and Sunshine at Fishermen's Terminal on USK 7thAnniversary

Sunday was a day of abundance for USK Seattle at the Ballard Fishermen's Terminal! We had sunshine, blue skies, subject material at every turn and scads of sketchers from all points north, south, east and west! At one point there were approximately 38 sketchers who shared their sketchbooks, celebrating the 7th anniversary of urban sketchers. Scroll down to see some of the bewildering choices of  sketching subjects. 

There's a cement deer on top of those blue sheds! My sketch of the yellow Beach Gang shed under the bridge..

With such an exciting profusion of subject material available, it's almost like trying to read a 30 page menu-what should I paint? and where do I even start?

It helps to have been there before. This will be the third time that I have visited Fishermen's Terminal in Ballard with the Seattle Urban Sketchers. My first decision today was to eliminate repeating any subjects I've sketched before, such as the Fishermen's Monument and the Qingdao Eagle. See previous sketches here and here. 

There was plenty of new sketching material for me here, including a bright yellow Corvette, seaplanes flying overhead, ladders everywhere and a cement deer. Although I asked one of the men standing under the Ballard bridge nearby, I couldn't get the story on it. Even though it was apparent that the fellow was also seeing it for the first time, he acted like a cement deer on top of a shed wasn't that much out of the ordinary. I only discovered it myself as I was sketching the "Beach Gang" shed nearby. This time it truly was "seeing my world one drawing at a time."

The Evolution of Cutlery

From the shell to the spork-have we really come that far?

Another random sketch. The prompt was cutlery. Still catching up on my Every Day in May.

Forks were once considered immoral. Here's a quote from an article by Chad Ward:

Imagine the astonishment then when in 1004 Maria Argyropoulina, Greek niece of Byzantine Emperor Basil II, showed up in Venice for her marriage to Giovanni, son of the Pietro Orseolo II, the Doge of Venice, with a case of golden forks—and then proceeded to use them at the wedding feast. They weren’t exactly a hit. She was roundly condemned by the local clergy for her decadence, with one going so far as to say, “God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks—his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to him to substitute artificial metal forks for them when eating.”

When Argyropoulina died of the plague two years later, Saint Peter Damian, with ill-concealed satisfaction, suggested that it was God’s punishment for her lavish ways. “Nor did she deign to touch her food with her fingers, but would command her eunuchs to cut it up into small pieces, which she would impale on a certain golden instrument with two prongs and thus carry to her mouth. . . . this woman’s vanity was hateful to Almighty God; and so, unmistakably, did He take his revenge. For He raised over her the sword of His divine justice, so that her whole body did putrefy and all her limbs began to wither.”

Doomed by God for using a fork. Life was harsh in the 11th century.

Read more at http://leitesculinaria.com/1157/writings-the-uncommon-origins-of-the-common-fork.html#LTxdpXQ6yilFIDAP.99

How to Remove Rust from Altoids Travel Palette, A quick, easy and nontoxic solution

I have a new YouTube tutorial for travel sketchers! Here are my top tips on keeping your Altoids Mini travel palette virtually rust free. No worries about using toxic chemicals. The ingredients are right from your kitchen pantry! Follow this link to watch the tutorial on YouTube now!

In the spirit of sketching versus formal painting, don't be too obsessive about every tiny dot of rust. Conscientious daily maintenance prevents most rust problems and this easy method lets you save your energy for sketching on location.

A Nature walk may include lightning!

It started out under the freeway by the sewage treatment plant and right across the river from the railroad yard. A dream come true, you say? But wait! There's more! Meanwhile, here are my results from our nature walk this afternoon. Catching up with Day 28 in my EDIM Sketchbook.

We went on a nature walk to Spencer Island today. The clouds grew darker, the wind came up. We stopped at Langus park nearby, where I laid out my collection on the picnic table to sketch. The wind blew them off the table twice. As we retreated to the car, we saw lightning strike in the sky behind the bridge. Sketches finished on the counter at home!

Finally did a new Periscope today!

My goal this week is to fill in all the blank sketchbook pages that I missed in the Every Day in May challenge. Yes, I do realize that we are halfway through June already.  The time/space continuum cracked and I fell through......but I'm back!

My finished sketch from the live demo today. 

So in a huge multitasking effort I
1. did a new Periscope broadcast (see replay if you missed it)
2. while showing a DIY pen hack
3. while drawing an EDM sketch that I missed on 5-18-16
4. while chatting a bit and catching up with art friends.

All during lunch hour today!

So if I stay in this dimension/universe, I will be doing more live art scopes, more often but shorter ones, while catching up with my sketchbook.

Thank you so much everyone who watched live! I missed you, too! Thank you for watching the replay if you missed it live.

Let me know here or on Instagram what time works for you and I will try to plug in some of those extra Periscopes just for you.

Catching up on my EDIM Sketches-Day 11

A bucket-Day 11 of EDM-I finally have time to catch up on some of the "daily" sketches for the month of May.
My #periscope Broadcasts have been few and far between, which I mean to remedy, starting tomorrow, Thursday.

Here are a few progressive shots. 

This bucket came from an antique shop. A similar one is in the shed. It was used by my husband's grandmother to milk the cows on her farm in Arkansas.  

Urban Sketching Workshop Announcement

I will be teaching two new Intro to Urban Sketching workshops through Skagit Valley College this summer. Locations for sketching will be different on each day of each workshop. All levels of ability and experience are welcome.

Call 360-416-7638     More info online here. Click Summer.

Blog readers' bonus! In addition to four fun days of learning to develop your urban sketching skills, here's a Special gift for those who sign up for both workshops! See details below!

Imagine how amazing your sketching pens, pencils and brushes will look in this faux leather pouch! Sign up for both summer workshops and it's yours!

More Details on my two new Urban Sketching Workshops

Intro to URBAN SKETCHING Skagit Valley College (Mount Vernon Campus)

I am very excited to announce two NEW workshops on urban sketching where I can introduce you to some of my favorite sketching tips, locations and experiences. Every level of experience is welcome, but each workshop is particularly designed as an introduction for those who want to know what it's all about but haven't really tried urban sketching on their own. Or maybe you just need a little guidance on what to sketch and how to use your equipment.

Urban sketching might seem intimidating at first, but there’s a whole world of subject matter out there just waiting to inspire you. In each workshop, we’ll explore a number of different ways to approach sketching both in the city and in the countryside. You’ll learn how to create a simple, compact and inexpensive sketch kit, easy methods of sketching people, street scenes, marinas, gardens, markets, farms and more. Learn to do what other urban sketchers do when the weather turns against you by setting yourself up in a cafe window, a park shelter, a mass transit seat or in a museum. Instruction, hands on practice, outdoor sketching.

We'll start in the classroom for demonstrations, hands on practice and orientation. Then we go out on location to try out your new skills. Each day of each workshop will offer different locations in and around the Mount Vernon and La Conner area. Part of one day of each workshop features riding and sketching on the bus! (bus fare included with the workshop!)

Lunchtime will be one hour plus time to commute to the next location. Lunch Day One on your own, Day Two Cafe sketching in class (bring lunch money).
Location maps, materials list and complete schedule sent by email upon registration

6033   CART 072   AG   9:00AM-4:30PM   SaSu 7/9 to 7/10   H208   Cooper M   $179.00  Seats Avail: 7 of 10

6034   CART 072   BG   9:00AM-4:30PM   Su 8/21 to 8/28   H208   Cooper M   $179.00  Seats Avail: 8 of 10