Hairs!

"A great calligrapher doesn't blame the brush!"

- Fuji (Prince of Tennis)

Yep! Totally agree! But no offense to Fuji (I love Prince of Tennis BTW), watercolor brushes requires the bristles to absorb and hold water... so a good brush set definitely helps! :D

Here are my personally loved manes...

I feel that brushes are like magical artifacts... similar to wands. They have their own consciousness wherein they decide who should wield them... like the levitation cloak... :D

Ok, enough Doctor Strange! Haha!

My mostly used brush that I feel gets the job done for most of my works is the #8 Escoda! I really love how it holds the water and the bounce when released/applied on paper. I mostly draw portraits, so no fancy brushes here yet as rounds fit the bill for me. The widest brush on the right is what I use to spread the water on paper when doing washes. Also it helps distribute the pigments well and quickly. 

I really love the big round mops as it is versatile enough to hold water for big washes at the same time produces lovely details with its pointed tip. You just need to have a good control though.

Regardless what brand, style or kind your brushes are, just make sure you know enough what works for your style. Good brushes are expected to handle any punishment you put into it. After all, the brush is the artists channel from the imaginary to the tangible. Just make sure you take good care of it. Always clean it up after use and hang it with the bristles pointing to the ground. This would help avoid the water from seeping through the wood in the handle. Happy painting!

BFFs

Needless to say, almost all filipino cooks unequivocally use garlic and onions as opening salvo to that all too familiar ginisa. Such combo is so powerful that it defined a dish that has later on captured the palettes of millions of filipinos. As both an artist and cook myself, I found inspiration from these simple yet humble ingredients that will always be present in our kitchen.

Here's my reference photo. I arranged it in such a way the it gives focus to the main subjects using the rule of thirds.

 

First, I stretched out a block of Strathmore watercolor paper 300 gsm. Some of you may not need to stretch a paper as heavy as this, but for my piece,  I prefer to stretch it coz I will be doing some heavy washes. For the unfamiliar, stretching is a process wherein you would wet your paper first and then mount it on a piece of flat surface using paper tape/butchers tape. This would prevent the paper from buckling later on. 

Then I draw the subjects using 2B pencil. I prefer a soft yet dark underdrawing for this since I need the outlines to show through after heavy washes.

I then prepared my palette. I use Daniel Smith essentials for this and did some color mixing for me to produce more colors. 

I applied some masking fluid on the highlights to preserve the white of the paper.

I then painted the basic washes for the foreground and background as well as the subjects. Note the cool colors in the background and warm on the foreground makes the subject pop out. After it has dried, I then removed the masking fluid to reveal the preserved paper (white highlights).

More details are then added on the subjects.

And then the foreground wood texture is added and signed! 

Hope you enjoyed and learned something. 

Happy painting! :)