Yay! Value Finders are Here!

For many years I've been telling my students about the benefits of using a Value Finder while painting. Unfortunately, these things are extremely hard to find! I finally found a great wholesale source, and now I'm offering them to my students and other artists.

4x6 Value Finders, $5 + S&H

4x6 Value Finder (red acrylic)
$5 plus $4 shipping and handling




You can save on the Shipping and Handling charges by buying direct from me at my demos and workshops, although I only bring a limited number of them with me to events so there is always the possibility that I may sell out early and there may not be enough to go around.

When you look at your painting through the Value Finder, the deep red color works as a filter to cancel out colors and show you the true values of your painting. It works equally well when you hold it up to look at your subject through it -- it will filter out the confusion of colors and allow you to easily see only the value transitions of what ever you are painting. These are ideal for plein air painters and studio painters alike, and work for every medium. 

New pens for plein air watercolor painting!

I just tried some new products for watercolor painting en plein -- opaque white gel pens. These pens are lightfast and archival, making them ideal for watercolor painters. The Uniball pen was a given to me by my dear friend, artist Deb Watson. The Sakura and Marvy pens I found in the crafts department of a fabric store chain. Both the Uniball and the Marvy are 1.0 mil wide, and the Sakura is .04 wide. The wider ones are better for watercolor. Because these are opaque, they cover very well and can be used to add whites to a watercolor painting at the end. This makes it perfect for painting en plein air, when it's inconvenient to use masking fluid. 

 In other news, my workshop in Spain next Spring is almost full! There are only a few seats left, and prices go up after November 2016 so you don't want to wait until the last minute to reserve your space!

As an added bonus, I'm giving away white gel pens, traditional sketching pens, and a special sketchbook to each artist in this workshop!