Month: August 2021

Last Day to save 40% on a Class & Hibiscus Oil Painting!

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends! I just want to remind you that today is the last day to save 40% on the class of your choice in my Teachable School using the Coupon Code FUN40 so if there was a class you wanted to try but were waiting for a sale now is the time! Today I have a time lapse of a hibiscus flower and lots of tips for painting is oils.

You can find a real-time version of this lesson up in Critique Club along with over 60 other real time tutorials that are longer and more in depth than what I post on YouTube if you are interested in more in-depth lessons.

Supplies:

  • Oil paints by Paul Rubens in the following colors: Cobalt Blue, Tree Green, Aliz. Crimson, Lemon Yellow, Indian Yellow, Brown Earth and Titanium white. *Note, these are artist grade oil paints and the price reflects the quality, that said the price might be a bit steep for a beginner but a little goes a long way.
  • Oil pastels for sketching
  • Gamblin solvent-free gel (for the first layer if you need to thin the paint) *you can also use paint thinner so only buy this if you really want it.
  • Refined linseed oil (use if you are adding layers a few days after the first layer)
  • 8″x8″ stretched canvas
  • A variety of brushes, paper towels and brush cleaner (Gamsol is an odor free mineral spirit for using as a solvent or cleaning brushes that you might prefer over other paint thinners)

Alternatives I mentioned

  • If you are bothered by solvents (or have kids and pets or paint at home and wish to make cleanup easier) you may prefer water mixable oils. These are paints that have been altered to dissolve in water instead of paint thinner/turpentine. Other than that they work the same as traditional oils and also take just as long to dry, The main benefit is the clean up and you don’t have to wait for your brushes to dry after washing with soap and water to use them again. My favorite is the Lukas Berlin brand and I put a kit together with Jerry’s artarma with everything you need to get started including vegan brushes: Keep in mind the best supplies you can use is what you already have. Oil paint last well if sealed in a tube so if your old tubes of paint are still soft you can use them!
  • Another alternative is Golden Open acrylics. They stay workable for about an hour and a half and dry overnight. I recommend one of the small starter sets to see if you like them and then adding larger tubes as needed.

Don’t forget, the 40% off class sale ends tomorrow!

You can save 40% on any of my courses in my teachable school with the coupon code FUN40 *My real-time courses, regularly priced from $39-$79, are lifetime access so you can buy now on sale and paint later when you have the time! **Offer ends 9/1/2021. ***Click “Add coupon” on the checkout page and type in FUN40 to get the discount

Happy crafting!

The nest is a bit emptier this week…

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends! Our first born left the nest this week and it is surreal. I am so excited for this stage of his life but it is a bit of a shock to the system. I’ve been coping by eating junk food and cleaning and organizing LOL! In this weeks chat we’ll discus different seasons of life and travel the way back machine a bit. This video posted to YouTube yesterday and the comments were awesome, if you want to be part of that community check it out and chime in!

Just a reminder of the sale in my Teachable school, you can save 40% on any course with coupon code FUN40 through the end of the month. * Stand-alone courses priced $39-$79 include lifetime access so you can buy now and watch whenever. **Click add coupon at checkout and type in FUN40 in the coupon box to receive your discount. Offer good through 8/31/21

Happy crafting!

Fall Landscape in Watercolor Pencils (Replay of the Michael’s Online Class)

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends! This week I taught a live watercolor pencils class for Michael’s Stores & Derwent. This is the project:

Below you can find the replay. I hope you enjoy it!


Supply List:

Watercolor paper (I am using a 6 ½”x9” sheet of watercolor paper, choose a watercolor paper that is not too textured, hot press or a smoother cold-pressed paper is excellent)

Derwent watercolor pencils

  • Lemon Cadmium  2
  • Deep Cadmium 6
  • Deep Vermilion 14
  • Crimson Lake 20
  • Spectrum Blue 32
  • Mineral Green 45
  • Grass Green 47
  • Cedar Green 50
  • Olive Green 51
  • Raw Sienna 58
  • Copper Beech 61
  • Blue Gray 68
  • Chinese White 72

Brushes: Synthetic Golden Taklon or Nylon

  • 1” flat
  • #12 flat
  • #4 filbert
  • #1 round

Waterproof black pen (05 size)

White gel pen

Masking tape

Paper towels

Jar of water, heat tool or hairdryer (optional)

Transfer paper or a lightbox for transferring your pattern.

A board, such as a clipboard to tape your watercolor paper to. 

Here is the pattern, right click to save it and then you can print it out to transfer to your paper

I want to thank everyone who signed up for the class! I know we had about 1000 people watching live and several folks said they couldn’t log on so I am going to see if we maxed out the class capacity or what so hopefully that won’t be an issue next time. I hope you enjoy the replay and give it a try!

Have a great day and til next time happy crafting!

Nothing to draw? Look around!

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends! Sometimes I think the most challenging aspect of my job if figuring out what to paint. I was trying to decide what to draw the other day when I saw the supplies I am using for a free class I am teaching at Michaels today sitting in a pretty jar on my shelf.

So I decided that I would just draw that and you know what? I had a ball! So feel free to follow along with me and draw this or find something that inspires you and have a go and you can play the video for company if you want:)

Supplies (Affiliate links used)

SALE! Looking for stand-alone workshops on a specific topic? I have one on painting glass! Check out my other courses and save 40% with coupon code FUN40 through the end of the month. * Stand-alone courses priced $39-$79 include lifetime access so you can buy now and paint later. **Click add coupon at checkout and type in FUN40 in the coupon box to receive your discount. Offer good through 8/31/21

Happy crafting!

Markart/Nyoni Colored Pencil Review

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends! I bet you were worried that I didn’t have a budget art supply review for you this week (haha) but have no fear, today we are looking at the Nyoni colored pencils that are sold under the Markart trade name. These are a Chinese made pencil, but a fairly good one and the price is pretty nice here in America. Watch the video for the full review. PS I don’t take points off for spelling…I mean, you’ve read my blog, that would be the pot calling the kettle black!

These pencils don’t claim to be Holbein dupes but that’s what they remind me of! Today we are going to look at Nyoni pencils sold in America under the name MarkArt. They are available in sets of 48, 72 and 120. I bought the 72 set as it was the best value at the time. *Affiliate links used

One thing that was very striking was the page of pastels and the decent white in this set. They really felt like Holbein colored pencils but I will admit that Holbein colored pencils are more pigmented and the pastels are more rich and opaque on black and they ought to be for what they cost! See Holbein pencils here. They also remind me of the Arteza set I have from 2019, I think they have changed factories since then so I am hesitant to recommend them now because I’m not sure what you will get. also the Artezas have moved out of the budget realm in price. If you have the old Artezas tho this set of 72 mark art will expand the pastel range of the pencils and you won’t have many duplicates so that is nice. I honestly think they are the same pencil but different colors.

Pros:

  • Price (about 35 cents a pencil)
  • Strong, thick lead
  • Mostly water resistant
  • Very well pigmented for a budget set
  • The pastels are unusual in a budget set and very nice
  • Compatible with solvent like OMS

Cons:

  • No open stock
  • Sharp points can crumble under pressure
  • This is a firm pencil so it may not be suitable with artists with arthritis and other strength issues.

Bottom line: I think these Markart pencils are an excellent quality budget pencil and if you are considering Holbeins or Arteza and the price has put you off I totally recommend you try these. I think them much better than the Deli pencils and they are the same price for the 72 set. I prefer a softer pencil myself so these are not going to be a go to pencil for me but I’m glad I have them to go with my limited selection of Holbeins and Artezas. They might be just the thing for you.

Happy crafting!

It’s Been a While Since We Used Markers!

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Let’s draw this tea still life with alcohol markers.

I’ll be using Arrtx markers on this piece, they are running some fabulous deals this week in celebration of their companies anniversary. Arrtx markers are an affordable alternative to expensive art markers such as Copic. *Affiliate links used.

Special offers:

  • Save an additional 10% on all Arrtx marker with coupon code: lindsayart *This coupon code should also work on the USA, CA, EU, JP Amazon too!
  • Anyone who buys Arrtx products during the event can receive a gift (stickers, badge, tote bag…) To receive your gift send an email with your order info to cs@arrtx.com and they will arrange the gift shipping

Supplies:

  • Arrtx Oros markers on this project *They are brush/Chisel markers and I used colors from the 80and 90 sets which all have unique colors aside from a clear blender. The skin tone set has different colors from the 80 and 90 sets too except for the clear blenders. There are deals/coupons on these sets currently. They also come in color family packs and there are deals on those as well.
  • Sketchbook
  • Col-erase (erasable colored pencils)

Other Resources:

Have a great week and til next time happy crafting!

The Free Class is Thursday, not Friday! (Doh!) & Sat Chat Time!

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends! I apparently thought august 26 was next Friday, but no, it’s Thursday and that is the day of the free class I am teaching for Michael’s and Derwent. You can sign up here and anyone regardless of what country you live in can join in! I said the class was Friday in the video and I have been thinking the class was on a Friday for weeks so I may have said it in other videos so I just want to make sure people know. Actually I probably would have shown up Friday myself but I was asked to volunteer on Thursday the 26 at my daughters’ school and I thought “Wait a minute, have something going on the 26th…” LOL! Anyway here is the project we will be doing. You can download the drawing and have it transferred to your paper before class. Details are on the class sign up page. If you know of anyone who would enjoy this free class please pass the info along. Thanks! I hope to see you live this Thursday!

This is the painting we will do in the live Michaels class. Please sign up if you are interested. There will be a reply later if you can’t attend live.

Also, It’s Sat Chat Time!

I don’t always post my Sat chats to my blog but they land on YouTube every Saturday morning at 7am ET, you can find past episodes (Along with other videos I that may or may not get published on my blog) here.

A Recap:

I hope you have an awesome weekend and til next time happy crafting!

Trying to repaint a painting from my sketchbook (and struggling)

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends, I had a lot of requests to paint this bee eater bird after I shared a painting I did on one from World Watercolor Month.

So I got out a sheet of fancy watercolor paper and even fancier paint and thought, this will be a piece of cake. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t. I decided to post this video in it’s entirety because we all have struggles in our art and seeing how other’s deal with them can be helpful. I hope you enjoy it.

Supplies: (Affiliate links used)

  • The Art Whale Watercolors that I used on the original bird in the sketchbook are back in stock if you wanted to snag them
  • I used M Graham in the video because these were unavailable. M Graham is a higher quality paint but the granulation in the Art Whale really brought my original to like I think. (yellow ochre, English red, viridian, ultramarine, pthalo blue)
  • Gouache
  • Prismacolor Pencils
  • Reference photo


SALE! Looking for stand alone workshops on a specific topic? I have one on painting birds! Check out my other courses and save 40% with coupon code FUN40 through the end of the month. *Stand alone courses priced $39-$79 include lifetime access so you can buy now and watch whenever. **Click add coupon at checkout and type in FUN40 in the coupon box to receive your discount. Offer good through 8/31/21

Happy crafting!

Art Whale Watercolor Review

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends! Call it a watercolor obsession, or a momentary lapse of reason, or the fine line between a hobby and a mental disorder but I have purchased not one, but two more sets of budget watercolors to review. I couldn’t help myself when I spotted the Art Whale brand of watercolor pop up on amazon. I knew they were likely a company having their paint made by another company through private labeling but the tubes looked really nice, they were in 15ml metal tubes (student grade usually have 5, 7 or 12ml tubes made of plastic) and the tubes had pigment info on them. Curiosity (and a $5 off coupon) got the best of me and I ordered a set. Check out my full review in the video below.

I waited to post this review on my blog because the paint sold out a few hours after my video went live on YouTube. You can now order the 24 set of Art Whale Tubes again if you want them. BTW I’ll have a tutorial of that bird from the video on YouTube tomorrow:)

Here is a summary of my review of the 24 set of Art Whale Tubes :

Pros:

  • Price
  • Pigment info disclosed on tubes and swatch (Pigments all check out a having good to excellent lightfast reputations)
  • Large 15ml tubes
  • Saturated strong color
  • Dries down well in palette without cracking
  • Rewets well after dried in palette
  • Colors mix well
  • Glazing is possible.
  • Easy to handle, you will not have to compensate for any properties with this paint
  • Sturdy storage box

Cons:

  • Palette is not included
  • I think there may be an error in the pigment notations for madder lake and olive green
  • All browns except light red are a mix. they performed fine but they are all PR101 based with a black added.
  • The cerulean blue was very stiff and hard to squeese out of the tube but it painted out fine.

Bottom Line: These are a great buy if you can snag them for under $40. You can’t go wrong with this much paint of this quality. The pigments are tried and true and going by the pigments disclosed I think they actually downplay, or under-promise, their lightfastness. That ultramarine blue is the best I’ve seen in a student/budget range. I’ve never heard of this brand “art whale” before but I am excited to see what else they come out with!

And now on to the Art Whale half pan set of 48…

After trying the tubes I was really curious about the pans and they went on sale for $10 off so I snapped up a set and the findings on this set was intersting…


So here’s the deal, I think (I am 99.999999% sure but will say allegedly throughout this post so I don’t get in trouble) these paints are made by the paint company Superior which makes the better student grade Chinese paints on the market and many companies have them private label products for them. These are NOT Paul Rubens although the packaging is similar. Paul Rubens is artist quality, more pigmented, and uses more single pigments and a better variety in sets. I highly recommend Paul Rubens watercolors and they are a great price for the quality. They have also been running specials so if you want a great paint go for the Paul Rubens professional line. (I do not recommend the Raul Rubens student grade tubes tho)

Anyway, back to the Art Whale half pans. I think they are great for the price however the set contains some colors that aren’t as useful as smaller sets of the same paint under different brand names. they seem to have a smaller variety of pigments they use and then mix them for more colors. I prefer having pure colors and mix them myself.

Here are the paints I think are the exact same paint:

  • Best Value for Money and quality: Doodlehog 36 set (but not the 48 set, that paint is the same as masters touch, not as nice)
  • Artsy 24 set and Here is the review
  • Altenew 24 set *Here is the review
  • I suspect the Etchr and Dugat watercolor are also made by Superior but I do not have them so I can’t say for sure. Superior also makes all the novelty fan and folding watercolor sets like these. with the really thin paints so if you like that quality (which honestly, I do for the most part) you will also like the half pan sets.

Hopefully this will help you out. I just wanted to help you avoid buying duplicates but also let you know there are sets with more colors of the quality of paint you may enjoy as well. Most of these private labels paints do not disclose pigment info but I did see cadmium yellow on the art whale set and disclosed on the Artsy set on amazon so I would not recommend any of these sets for young children.

Phew, that was a lot to get through! I have got to get my watercolor palette obsession under control! Happy crafting!