Review: DERWENT Graphic Pencils

As you can tell I love drawing people with pencils, so far just one mechanical pencil since I am too lazy to change around. However I also love trying new stuff…..hence…..this

DERWENT is known for many art supplies but most to all are mainly pencils/blocks/pastels but barely anything painting. Even so, their stuff are great and very popular for good reasons……not for the price of course. This set is an older version as they have a newer version with different picture on tin box and pencils might be upgraded also, not 100% sure.

This 24 sets has 20 different shades from 9B-9H, 4 have two pencils since those are the ones that people use the most. You can see which ones have two of from my swatch. Yes, I have to make a swatch so I can see which pencil I am going for……..going from just 1 to 20 is a challenge.

The B range are the darker ones but very soft while the H are lighter and the lead is hard. B goes on smooth and H is like scratching on paper. 4B, 3B, HB, 2H each have two. You honestly do not need all of them. Actually most people don’t even use all of them. I gave it a try to see what you can do with them.

The picture I started out on Canson XL Watercolor paper, so it has a very rough surface which is great for my 0.5 mechanical pencil but not so much for these. The swatch was done on smooth 90lb drawing paper so it’s much easier to do. I would recommend that or smooth Bristol if you want smooth result and easy layering/blending. With the swatch, just pick and get that pencil out and start, then go darker. Try to fit the swatch sheet inside the box to make it easier. With this, start with the lighter one first, then layer on. This gives you so much range and shades to choose from. As always, I always start with the bottom of the face…so of course the mouth. I do like this set alot and fun to use. It does take a bit longer because you have to move from on pencil to the next but the result is quite nice.

If you like to get one, look out for deals online as if you buy it outright, it will be costly. A set like this will last you a very long time. I barely touch these to be honest. I know art supplies cost quite a bit but they do last pretty long if you take good care of them. Never buy straight out unless you can afford them…..if you are poor like me and still like nice supplies, watch out for deals online/Ebay/Amazon and more.

Tutorials and Free Patterns?

As you can see I like to share patterns for BJD and among others things I make. However it’s harder to do than I thought. I was thinking about just posting with pictures and instructions but soon realized that my limited English is not enough. So I thought just making tutorial videos would be better….don’t worry, you do not have to hear my voice. I do have an 8 years old dslr so I think I am good…then I found out I need a good tripod. So I ordered one and it is on it’s way…..slowly. I think it should be here before Christmas 2020.

So I will be drafting and putting them in an image so you can print them out and cut them yourself. If you are too lazy or unable to find materials, you can grab a pre-cut kit on Etsy when it’s up there. However these patterns will be mostly for DC MSD (k-01 body) and Imda 3.0 so they will be very small. You can just grab things around your home.

Things will be very slow and might be horrible as I never edit video before…so learning new things for the old me.

Some Artwork I done for sale.

I am new or say I just started again recently, so not much.

Start with People drawing/painting. I only have a few people I draw. 1st image is from my scanner, the rest were taken with a DSLR.

–Newest ones are at the top…

Wang Yibo/0.5 Mechanical pencil/Canson XL watercolor paper/size: 7.5×11 inches
Price: SOLD!!
Wang Yibo/0.5 Mechanical pencil/Canson XL watercolor paper/size: 7.5×11 inches
Price: $35
Wang Yibo/ 0.5 mechanical pencil/ Linen cover paper/ size: 14x 22 cm
Price: SOLD!
Wang Yibo/0.5 Mechanical pencil/color lead/Canson XL watercolor paper/size: 14 x 22 cm
Price: $30
Jang Kuen Suk/ 2.0 m Lead holder/ Canson XL Watercolor paper/ size: 14 x 22cm
Price: $35
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Wang Yibo/0.5 Mechanical pencil/Canson XL watercolor paper/size: 14 x 22 cm
Price: $30
Wang Yibo/0.5 Mechanical pencil/Canson XL watercolor paper/size: 14 x 22 cm
Price: $30

Review: Daniel Smith Watercolors

I came across this little set because it was cheap and so small. I didn’t think the tube can be this small..but how good or bad?

Each tube holds only 5ml (0.17fl. oz.) I normally do not like mixing paints and hate tubes over pans. However this is a big change. First, this mini essential set comes with two reds, two yellows, and two blues…somewhat. Not their true primary set but close. To me, it’s one warm one cool of each for you to mix. To me it’s one bright and cheery, one dull and depress.

So my palette has only these 6 colors, but you can mix any color you can think off. I had fun with them and hey are actually much easier than you think or with other brand. This is actually considered professional grade rather than student grade. If you use cheap paper, do the mixing first, if you use good paper, you can blend directly on the paper.

Now, how much paint can you get from these tiny baby tubes? Well, I squeezed out about 20% from the tubes into my tray. However due to the rich pigment, you need very little. Unless you are doing large washes on large paintings, you do not need to worry about running out just yet. If you do, get the real Primary set, with the 15ml tubes instead. Much cheaper and surely will last you. For about $25 for that, it’s worth every penny for such nice paints….or just get a mini set like I did for about $15-20 at most.

Now, I just started watercolor, so I am very new to this. So I do not buy very expensive supplies…So no hate comments or mails please.

Review: Rotring Profil A3

I am always looking out for drafting tools and this is one thing I have been looking out for. However Rotring brand is quite expensive and I do not want to buy a new board as I do not use it as much. So of course I got this second hand and a bit larger than I thought for my use.

It is great for carry around but will not replace a good table and T-square for sure. It is easy to hold the paper, moving the horizontal around but you have to press the buttons to release and hold on. I love the use of a T-square where you can just move it up and down at will. I use this while watching TV to draw. It is very durable as I have dropped it a few times by accident. It holds paper on the left side and bottom right. I use the t-square also as a holder, and measurement sometimes. You get also get attachments to use with this. Or just use your triangular rulers.

Overall it’s a great little drawing board. Measurements are in cm, and you can use it vertical or horizontal. If you just want to try it out, look for cheaper brand or a second hand one, unless you can afford it new.

Benefit of upcycling old clothing

When you want to sew something, most would try the fabric stores. How about making clothing for your dolls? The Goodwill is great because you get alot out of a piece of clothing than you think, for alot less, money and work.

The above dress was $1, size XS. Really nice materials and lined, plus extra trims. So what did I used it to make?

I made the above dress, plus another one and still have the lining materials left for at least a few more things.

The above blue dress, also size XS, $1. I bought to wear but it has a hole and some damages ,so I used it to make four sets of these….

It is much easier to work with these clothing for dolls than buying new materials. Sometimes, you get extra buttons, trims, finished seams and more. I started this line in 2017 when my niece donated her clothing to me. I did not want to waste them, or use them as cleaning cloth, so this was born.

Check for “some” differences/improvement?

I started drawing back in Oct. 2019, and it has been 2-3 months now. I originally wanted to do watercolor but the papers are so expensive that I am still looking. Recently I have been using my Rotring 600 and trying it out with my extra cover linen paper. These are not art or drawing paper. It’s what printing place or business use to print business cards, cover of a brochure, and such. It has a very distinct rough texture that is very hard to make lines one. Even so, it’s fun to try (and cheap too).

It’s also a good chance for me to check how my drawing changes in the last 2 months…is it the style, details, or pencil I am using.

So I have redrawn the same pic I did back in 11/2019, below.

For those who like the normal roughness, the Canson watercolor is very nice. It has a smoother and rougher sides you can choose from. The Neenah actually has some texture and colors to it….Back is a dark blue (actually it can be any color you like or what they offer). However it gives a unique feel to it. You can see the texture quite well in the scanned image. To be honest, I really enjoy drawing on the linen paper….however I would say hatching can be a challenge with it, blending a bit hard, but just mechanical pencil is a blast.

Now I think I spent a bit more time on the recent one but not sure, both were done at night in one sitting. Maybe I just changed a bit in my detailing and shading….I am just running on out pics I want to draw of him 🙂

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