Watercolor Travel Sets for Sale

Are you interested in painting with watercolors? Now that it’s summer and vacation season in the U.S., one of my unused travel sets might be just the thing to get you painting on the road.

• W&N Cotman Compact Set – 14 half-pan set filled with student grade paint. Cardboard sleeve is a little warn at corners. $20
• Rembrandt Luxury Pocket Box – 12 half-pan set in a plastic case with five mixing areas and a sable brush. $50
• W&N Artists’ Water Colour – The Bijou Box – 8 half-pan set of artist grade paints that can hold up to 12 half-pans. Additional pans can be found at a variety of online sources. This kit includes a sable pocket brush. Cardboard sleeve is worn but intact. The tin is smaller than a large Altoids box and definitely pocket-sized. The Bijou is the most sought after kit in this group. It is rarely available in the U. S.although I did see one for around $90 two weeks ago. $65
• Schmincke Horadam Finest Artists’ Watercolours – 12 half-pan set with DaVinci #5 travel brush. Daniel Smith now has an exclusive on this set at $125 but not sure it includes the brush. Retail for the paint and brush would be at least $111 though I don’t know if the half-pans are available in the U.S. Pegasus has the empty box for $29 but that’s UK shipping. Not as keen to sell this one but will consider offers.
• Japanese Brush Set in a cardboard box – 6 colors with a black pen and a water brush. This is not a travel set but it is small. The pans are large and not glued to a backing though some of the paint has cracked. They could be attached to a suitable metal box like an old watercolor tin if you like this sort of paint and want it for travel. On hold.

U.S. buyers only. Add $5 shipping via USPS Priority Mail. If you want two sets and they will fit in the same box, there will be no extra charge. If a larger box is needed, then shipping will be at cost. Additional insurance will be at cost as well. Buyer assumes all risk for uninsured items.

If interested send email to inkophile*at*gmail.com or post a comment. I moderate those and will reply privately so your info will not be made public.

Update: Schmincke half-pans are available in the US at Wet Paint Art, NY Central Art Supply, and The Fine Art Store.

Confessions of a Color Addict

Time to ‘fess up. Color is my weakness especially when it comes to the liquid applied to paper variety. Fountain pen ink and watercolor paint not only grab my interest but keep it glued to their gorgeous hues. If only I could make a living working with them or creating them or anything that would keep us close, I would be thrilled.

Last weekend was the perfect example of what happens when I let my addiction run amok. Despite a number of interruptions, I spent nearly an entire day working with swatches, catalogs, samples, tubes and bottles as well as color theory and new palette combinations. Not such a big deal on a weekend but it is easy despite pressing matters to get lost for a weekday evening the same way. Addictions are like that.

A Summer Palette of Inks
Swabs of Diamine Sepia, Diamine Maroon, Caran d’Ache Caribbean Sea, Diamine Royal Blue, and Sailor Gray

Admittedly ink attracts me in a different way than watercolor for ink needs no alteration. Straight from the bottle and plied with a pen, its best qualities come to light. Not that watercolor doesn’t look beautiful directly from a pan or tube, but it is made for mixing. A simple palette of three colors, red, blue, and yellow, can produce a rainbow of hues. Bump that up to a dozen colors and the sky’s the limit.

Five tube colors produced these results and that from a rank novice to be sure.

Watercolor Palette Derived From Five Colors
Cheap Joe’s American Journey Cadmium Yellow Light, Indian Red, Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, and Burnt Umber across the top with mixes below.

There is no help for this addiction but I should like to put it to better use. I’m open to suggestions…

Oh, have you an interest in watercolor? I have a few unused travel sets to sell now that I’ve moved on to creating my own kits with tube paints and old paint boxes. Contact me at inkophile*at*gmail.com for more info.

See also Glorious Color from Inkophile on Pinterest.

Moleskine, Noodler’s Ink, And Other Assorted Links

Like a box of fancy chocolates, this assortment may take some time to get through…

• How paint brushes for artists are made (h/t Annie Strack)
• Cardboard Digital Camera by IKEA
• Fountain Pen Geeks: Bamboo Dip Pen
• Putting the Rhodia dotGrid to use
• Ink Drop Soup: The Moleskine Tradition of Quality
• Noodler’s Ink Art Contest Winners plus remarks from Nathan Tardif here and here.
• How to delete yourself from the Internet
• Hundreds of thousands may lose Internet in July
• An online guide to the U.S. Constitution with Teacher’s Companion

Putting Pencils Into Play

A thread about pencils in the Chatter forum at Fountain Pen Network prompted me to look at the tools on my desk and refine my selection to two that would carry me through the day without feeling deprived or limited. For general use a black Autopoint #300-1 Jumbo All American MP with 0.9 mm HB lead will do. For drawing a Staedtler Mars Lumograph 6B is good for a satisfying range of lights to darks. Those two are really all I need to happily put graphite into play.

Even so, I am willing to try something new. Do you have any suggestions? What works for you?

Discounts and deals and giveaways! Oh, my!

Time-limited offers so don’t delay.

• Levenger Free Shipping…No Minimum – 3 days only! Enter Joy2011 at checkout tinyurl.com/7d7a6bq
• OfficeSupplyGeek: Our first Giveaway and Review for Giveaway Week – a dozen Stainless Steel Sharpie Pens! goo.gl/jtmf6
• Joon Pens: Receive free shipping on any order over $75 http://fb.me/1hLYqygTs
• Tiger Pens: If you didn’t win the FriXion pens today, no worries…we’re going to give away another set on Wednesday and one more on Friday.
• Maxton Men: From 12AM PST on 11/30 through 11:59 PM PST on 12/7 use the discount code INKOPHILE at Maxton Men to receive 15% off the entire site. That includes free shipping on all items with no minimum purchase.
• Dick Blick Art: Give a gift – Win a gift.

If you know of other offers that might interest a pen aficionado, please put the details in the comments.

Ten Tuesday Links

Can’t recall where all these links came from but thanks to those who lead me to them.

• four23.org: Handwriting Meme
• Recording Thoughts: Living with the Leuchtturm1917
• Second Story Window: November Writing
• Annie Strack: Oh my! Did I just stumble across the perfect watercolor palette?
• Scoop.it! – Easily Publish Gorgeous Magazines
• Amazing Everything: The Art of Scott C. (h/t mabeloos)
• Camera links here and here.
• Pensandpaper.co.uk: Notebook papers comparison
• The Repairer’s Bench: A guide to nibs – the basics and beyond (h/t LifeImitatesDoodles)
• Star Wars Meets Moleskine

Moleskine, A Mystery And A Few More Links

This may well be my most eclectic mix of links ever. I definitely want a spit box and have begun to scour eBay for the perfect one. Then thanks to Leigh, my Amazon wishlist grew significantly in the science fiction category. On second thought, if I go to the library for the books I can put more money into spit boxes. One will surely never be enough.

• How to Fake a Clean House (Not that you would ever need to know but…)
• Ja-Naé Duane: The Power of Letter Writing
• The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit) (h/t Leigh Reyes)
• Mysterious Paper Sculptures
• Decorated Derwent Pencil Wrap by Gentian
• Dmitriy Rebus Larin’s Portfolio (h/t Leigh Reyes)
• A hands-on writing course 
• Dr. Sketch Spit Boxes
• An Outlet for Afghan Women Online
• Pocket Blonde: Renaissance Art Leather Moleskine Cover

Gorgeous Pens, Watercolor Tips Plus A Few More Links

Rubies and diamonds and gold! Oh, my!

• Pilot launches new limited edition fountain pen – the Golden Rose
• Tempest in an Inkpot – the cursive debate continues
• Gentian tests the Faber Castell Pitt Brush Pen via a gorgeous line drawing
• Annie Strack makes a case for painting
• Watercolour Secrets, the free E-Book from Bob Davies
• Handwriting Apps
• Leigh makes pretty swirls and letters
• Montblanc’s ultra-exclusive Ruby Set

From Coffee Rings to Fountain Pens – August Links

Keeping my list of links diverse was easy this time. The solar breakthrough is brilliant though, just absolutely brilliant. Everything else pales in comparison.

• Fountain Pen Classifieds
• Scientists Crack The Physics Of Coffee Rings
• How to Remove a Stuck Light Bulb
• 13-Year-Old Makes A Solar Breakthrough With Fibonacci Sequence
• Add your name to my Google+ List – Tools for Artists and Writers
• San Diego Pawn Shop Acquires Rare Montblanc “White House” Pen
• Andhra Pradesh’s tradition of handmade, ebonite fountain pens
• 75% Favor Big Cuts in Mail Delivery
• No excuses now: Studies show 15 minutes of daily exercise can help

Fresh Hot Links For A Friday

While the demise of cursive still attracts attention from the media, other things are happening like a 16% Pelikan price increase and a Facebook-style sneaky trick at LinkedIn. Hey, it was a weird week even without the riots and financial meltdown. I’m ready for a quiet weekend. How about you?

• Penfountain’s Blog: Buy Pens Now!! (before prices increase)
• Diane Ellis: Borders May Be Dead But Books Aren’t
• Doctor Who fan? Feast Your Ears on Catherine Tate and David Tennant Serenading Each Other
• Daniel Smith Art Materials: Jumpstart Your Sketchbook
• The Canberra Times: Fountain of imagination and joy in the hand
• Quo Vadis: Snail Mail My Email
• Pocket Blonde: Noodler’s Black Swan In English Roses
• Calligraphers still going against type
• The Pen Addict: Kuretake Fudegokochi Brush Pen – Super Fine Review
• Steve Woodruff: A Box You Want to Uncheck on LinkedIn
• Nation of adults who will write like children?