I did a little painting in my Leda Sketchbook using my newest Da Vinci “Garden” Trio. This trio makes some awesome oranges and greens so I was inspired to paint this hibiscus. You can read all about my newest Trio here.(Enter the GIVEAWAY here!)
I’m surprised every single time I use watercolor in this sketchbook. It truly IS a sketchbook, not made for watercolor. BUT. Yes, BUT, it does work with watercolor if you follow some simple rules.
1. Only one layer at a time, then LET IT DRY.
2. Don’t try to move paint around and mess with it before it dries!!!
3. If you see any pilling, STOP and let the layer dry!
See a theme here? Yes, let the paper dry with every single layer and don’t treat this like watercolor paper. It can’t be worked, scrubbed or fiddled with. It WILL take layers though. I glaze then let dry, then glaze again etc. Until it’s all pretty and I’m happy.
Why do I paint in a sketchbook? BECAUSE IT’S FUN!! This sketchbook comes with 160 pages. Holy cow, that’s a lot of real estate to use! I feel free to just have a play. So many of us artists feel hampered by our “good” paper. Even I feel that way sometimes when I just wanna throw some paint around. Use an expensive paper??? Eek! For Playing?? Double Eek!! But with the Leda, feel free to play, splash and even just tear a page out. (Been there, done that, lol). It’s a joy. Try it, you’ll love it. (There are four sizes of the Leda Sketchbook and Leda Art Supply now has a great pencil case at a spectacular price! The owner realized many pencil cases were just too short so they made a longer one. YAY, now my Blackwing pencil should finally FIT!)
The Leda takes pen beautifully. I did a lot of heavy lifting using a pen in the above painting then just splashed some Da Vinci watercolors around. (I reviewed the Leda before here.) It’s just a joy to draw with pencil or pen in this sketchbook. I love the slightly off white paper. It allows the artist to use just white and black pen but still have a mid color without even trying! It’s much like the color of parchment. Here’s an example of what happens when you use a black pen and a white pen with just the paper as the mid-tones.
I’ll be back with more Da Vinci Trio art soon. Maybe next I should use BOTH trios together, what’d ya think??
If you would like to buy my “Garden” or my “Juicy” Trio, click the buttons below. See all the Trios HERE.
(I receive a small compensation for every trio that is purchased through my links. Thank you for your support!)
I have also started a LANDING PAGE for Da Vinci Watercolors and the Trios. If you’d like to see all the blog posts associated with Da Vinci Paint, go HERE.
MAKE YOUR OWN #DAVINCIMOMENT
Kate
Love that hibiscus; home home home!
Rena
I have just discovered Da Vinci paint by following Denise Soden. Your colors are gorgeous. I am especially in love with the blueberry painting. Thank you for so much beauty!