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Molly Hashimoto’s Watercolor Travel Journal Demonstration at Seattle DANIEL SMITH

Deborah Burns — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:48:27 +0000

Molly Hashimoto's Watercolor Travel Journal Demo

Molly Hashimoto was at the Seattle DANIEL SMITH recently for one of our FREE “How To” weekend demos. She was demonstrating her very popular Watercolor Travel Journal tips and techniques to a packed room, and a VERY interested audience.

Molly began keeping Travel Journals in 1998, and told us that: “The time spent drawing in your Journal while looking at your subject is more meaningful than just taking photos – you slow down time this way”. At the second demo Molly told us that making the Journals helps her to enjoy and extend the experience of her trip because of taking the time to sketch on site and working on finishing later in the studio “…stops time just a little bit…the experience is not over.” I would like to add that Molly’s blog is also a fascinating Internet “Travel Sketchbook and Journal” of what she is working on, thoughts on painting, her classes and workshops and more, really worth taking some time to read, look at and enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Arches Watercolor Book in the 10 x 14 size is Molly’s favorite for her Travel Journals because she can sit with it open on her lap. She really enjoys seeing her watercolor journals lined up in a row, about 20 now, giving her a nice sense of accomplishment. Keeping a “Travel” Journal is not just about painting them when traveling to major travel or vacation destinations, they are wonderful to have for a hike, a visit to a park or garden, or whatever subject that you would like to keep in a Journal. Molly has written a couple of articles for past DANIEL SMITH catalogs: “Garden Journal Watercolor with Masking Fluid and Italic Calligraphy” and “The Art of Watercolor Journals” that you may want to read for inspiration.

Molly’s traveling paint kits:

The simplest is just a ziplock bag with her basic essentials:

Water soluble pen.
Waterbrush like the Niji Waterbrushes.
2 small bottles of water (one for clean and one for dirty) but if you carry several filled waterbrushes then you don’t need these
Small watercolor brush such as a small travel watercolor brush.
Winsor & Newton Watercolor Pocket Plus Travel set, although Molly finds it does not work for her with larger sketches, since she can’t do washes not enough surface area from the mini palette in the travel set.

Molly also has two other travel paint kits she uses. One is similar to the W&N in size but you can fill with your own preferred paint choices. Fill with your watercolors; Empty Half Pans or Empty Full Pans and super glue them into an Altoids tin, again very little area for mixing colors on the “palette”, just the lid of the Altoids tin.

For more paint choices Molly filled her DS Empty Watercolor Boxes with her watercolor paints. The watercolor boxes have a folding out area, plus the sectioned lid for more areas to mix paint in too and for washes.

Molly also sometimes likes to use Derwent Inktense Pencils, though you do need to have a fixative to keep it from rubbing off on the opposite page. These water-soluble pencils are very nice for detailed sketches of small things like flowers, but Molly doesn’t like to use them for landscapes too hard to cover larger areas with the color.

Walnut ink is also a favorite medium of Molly’s’ for doing travel sketches, and is particularly great if you like Old Masters drawings. Walnut ink is water-soluble so you can dissolve your line with a brush. You can use a Speedball pen & nibs to draw with, and make dilutions of Walnut ink. Tip, don’t use Crow Quill nib since it catches on the paper and spatters. Molly showed us a sketchbook from a trip to New York City in February and her sketches of Central Park (almost empty so it seemed like being in a wilderness) done with Walnut ink. Using Walnut ink also be used with a waterbrush, you can fill them with different watered down strengths of the ink. I think the Pigma Sepia Pen Set would be especially nice when working with Walnut ink, you could sketch out the subject, then go back in with some diluted Walnut ink in a waterbrush.

Molly usually starts her journals on location and takes photos to use as reference to complete what she has started. Not all traveling/hiking companions want to wait around very long while Molly sketches, depends on the group. Sometimes Molly will work on her journal later that evening in her hotel room and look at the camera screen of the photo she took. Sometimes Molly will work on a journal months later in the studio, a great way to re-experience the trip.

Some miscellaneous things Molly mentioned in her two demos:

“Niji waterbrush really helps to loosen up your work. To clean squeeze it and wipe with a paper towel.”
“I like to carry several waterbrushes.”
“Best way to start is to come up with a way to do these [sketches] very quickly.”
Sometimes uses Drafting tape to control her edges, it just depends on the effect Molly wants.
Molly really likes preserving the white spaces (around the sketch) and negative spaces.
“Not a studio painting [the sketches] it does not have to be representational.”
“So many different ways to paint – no right or wrong.”
Molly does rip out sketches that she does not like
Molly likes to let things dry when she paints outdoors, and then goes back in and works some more.
“Tip – use a really fine point pen so that the notes in the journal don’t over power the sketch.”
Molly likes really beautiful letter forms in her journals, although doesn’t do it so much any more because it is time consuming.
Watercolor by itself does not work with calligraphy [for the letter forms] - not enough “body”, so Molly mixes the WC with white gouache, the “paints” the mix onto her calligraphy nib.

For the demos, Molly worked on adding some sketches to her journal she had started from her Taos visit. She worked from photos of some adobe buildings.

For the demo, Molly used:

3/4 inch bight brush – Molly also has a “good selection of flat brushes, makes it easier to paint windows, doors etc.” and DANIEL SMITH Watercolors:

Yellow Ochre

Quinacridone Burnt Orange

Phthalo Blue (RS)

Carbazole Violet

Cobalt Teal Blue

Cobalt Turquoise

Molly began painting the adobe building and painted in the shadow areas on red adobe with a favorite mix; Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Phthalo Blue (RS) and Carbazole Violet. Molly noted while she painted that the “nice thing about working wet into wet is the loose, soft quality.” She then went back in, and removed the excess shadow paint. After the sketch of building had dried, Molly then wet in the sky area with a brush to drop in the blue Phthalo Blue (RS) for the sky working around the clouds. Molly then painted in the gray (Quin Burnt Orange, Carbozle Violet, Phhtalo Blue (RS) for the undersides of the cloud. She then tilted the sketchbook, then went back in and blotted with a paper towel to soften the clouds edges – Also nice for transitioning some areas. For the sky, Molly used Cobalt Teal Blue and Cobalt Turquoise.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Molly also said that while she has sketchbooks of her trip to Taos, Europe, Yellowstone, and Central Park in New York City etc. that you don’t have to go to faraway places to make wonderful travel sketchbooks. Most of Molly’s’ sketchbooks are of local destinations, and painting at your local park, botanical gardens etc are excellent ways to learn and practice so that someday when you do have the opportunity to take a sketchbook on a dream trip, you will have had lots of practice, and know well which art supplies to pack for sketching!

After the demos everyone crowded around to look at Molly’s sketchbooks (a few had been passed around during the course of the demo) to look through the pages, they were really fun and inspiring to look through! Thank you Molly!

Every Day, Express Yourself with ART….

~Deborah Burns

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FREE “How To” Art Demos at the Bellvue DANIEL SMITH Store: Watercolor with Molly Hashimoto and Watercolor with Deborah Stachowic

Deborah Burns — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:15:48 +0000

Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Store

This weekend at the Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Store for our FREE “How To” Art demos we have Molly Hashimoto showing how to keep a Watercolor Travel Journal. A few years ago Molly wrote an article for a DANIEL SMITH catalog on “The Art of Watercolor Journals” that you can read by following the link. On Sunday, Deborah Stachowic will be demonstrating Watercolor Painting and how she layers the watercolors to build up rich, deep colors. You can read about a previous demo Deborah did called “Painting Dramatic Reds“.

Saturday, December 5th at 11am & 1:45pm
WATERCOLOR: Travel Journal
Molly Hashimoto
Don’t miss Molly’s Workshop Jan 31st Seattle Store!

Sunday, December 6th at 12 & 2pm
WATERCOLOR: Red & Green
Deborah Stachowic

So come for some fun, learning and inspiration

Every Day, Express Yourself with ART….

~Deborah Burns

Follow DANIEL SMITH on Twitter
Become a DANIEL SMITH Fan on Facebook

Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store FREE Weekend Demos: WATERCOLOR: Watercolor Fragmented Flowers with Darlene Lucas and WATERCOLOR: Recycled Sketchbooks for Journaling with Maria Coryell-Martin

Deborah Burns — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:18:08 +0000

Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store

This coming weekend FREE demos at the Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store.

Learn how Darlene Lucas paints Fragmented Flowers in watercolor at the Saturday demo, and get some painting ideas and techniques that you can try with your own paintings.

Saturday, March 14th at 11 am & 1:45 pm
WATERCOLOR: Watercolor Fragmented Flowers
Darlene Lucas artscouncilofsnoco.org/artist_pages/lucas.htm

Maria Coryell-Martin, as an Expeditionary Artist, has wonderful sketches of her trips around the world and can show you many ideas and tips on making journals of your own expeditions and trips to document your travels and create memorable keepsakes. Learn how this coming Sunday.

Sunday, March 15th at 12 & 2 pm
WATERCOLOR: Recycled Sketchbooks for Journaling
Maria Coryell-Martin
expeditionaryart.com

Every Day, Express Yourself with ART….

~Deborah Burns

DANIEL SMITH Seattle Store FREE Weekend Demos: Painting European Watercolor Scenes with Deborah Stachowic, and Watercolor Journal Entries with Bruce Edwards.

Deborah Burns — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:26:23 +0000

It’s a watercolor weekend for our FREE weekend demos here at the DANIEL SMITH Store in Seattle ! If you are thinking about learning about watercolor painting, or would like to learn some new tips or even to just get inspired, then you are invited to come to our FREE watercolor demos.

Saturday, watercolor artist Deborah Stachowic will be sharing her tips on Painting European Scenes in watercolors. Deborah who travels extensively and takes her watercolor paints with her, is sure to have some ideas for you.

Sunday, artist Bruce Edwards demonstration will be on keeping a watercolor Journal. This is a wonderful way to document your summer vacation, and Bruce’s’ practical tips are sure to help and inspire you to make your own watercolor Journal while on your next trip.

Saturday, August 9th at 11am & 1
Watercolor: European Landscapes
Deborah Stachowic
paintscapeabroad.com

Sunday, August 10th at 12 & 2pm
WATERCOLOR: Journal Entries in Watercolor
Bruce Edwards
bruceedwardsartwork.com

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Originally published August 6, 2008

http://danielsmithart.blogspot.com/2008/08/seattle-daniel-smith-store-free-weekend.html

DANIEL SMITH Bellevue Store FREE Weekend Demos: Watercolor Journal Entries with Bruce Edwards and Drawing and Painting on Claybord with Jim Stoccardo

Deborah Burns — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:53:25 +0000

This weekends FREE demonstrations at the DANIEL SMITH Bellevue Store will have Bruce Edwards on Saturday showing how to create expressive journals in watercolor. On Sunday, Jim Stoccardo will be demonstrating Drawing and Painting on Claybord, if you have ever wanted to know more about working on Claybord, this is a great way to get some tips. Remember, both of these demos are FREE!

Saturday, July 19th at 11 am & 1:45 pm

WATERCOLOR: Journal Entries in Watercolor

Bruce Edwards

www.bruceedwardsartwork.com

Sunday, July 20th at 12 & 2 pm

Drawing & Painting on Claybord

Jim Stoccardo

www.jimstoccardo.com

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Originally published July 15th, 2008

http://danielsmithart.blogspot.com/2008/07/bellevue-daniel-smith-store-free.html

Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Weekend FREE Demos: Watercolor & Ink Travel Journals with Maria Coryell-Martin and Watercolor Painting tips on Aquabord with Che Lopez

Deborah Burns — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:55:14 +0000

This weekend’s FREE demos at the Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Store will give you tips on capturing your travels in ink and Watercolor with Expeditionary Artist Maria Coryell-Martin , and tips on Watercolor Painting on Ampersand Aquabord with Local Artist Che Lopez

Saturday, July 5th at 11 am & 1:45 pm

INK & WATERCOLOR: Expeditionary Field Sketching

Maria Coryell-Martin

expeditionaryart.com

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Sunday, July 6th at 12 & 2 pm

WATERCOLOR: Painting on Aquabord

Che Lopez

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Originally published July 4, 2008

http://danielsmithart.blogspot.com/2008/07/bellevue-daniel-smith-stores-free.html