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Thank you for your support of Ukraine 🥰

Made these cheese/fig treats tonight and omgoodness, they are amazing! The Gorgonzola cheese was on sale at my grocery store and almost sold out with only two containers left. Thank you so much for sharing the link to the recipe!

Hi Ann, those paints AND the peacock are lovely. I am glad you found your video and made a new voiceover. I found the person who sells those paints on etsy.

Yep, I have that exact one plus the 8x5 version ... also the red WC Handbook Journal (200gsm). Good paper, thnx for the review 😊

I have both the cotton and cellulose versions of the Hahnemuhle sketchbook. The cotton definitely performs better. There isn’t quite as much texture on either as I’m used to with other cold press papers so I do find I struggle a teensy bit more with hard edges. I love them both though - the cellulose one is my travel sketchbook and the cotton one is for home use (bigger format).

Hi Ann 😃. You could wrap fabric or paper around the spine of spiral-bound sketchbooks. @missmustardseed has a video about it. I wrapped the spine of one of my spiral-bound sketchbooks and it looks amazing. The round spine lends sophistication to my bookcase 😂.

Which mineral spirit did you use usually and what kind of paste in this video?

I was simply enjoying the art-creation when all of a sudden my ears perked up at "affordable". 😄 Hahnemuhle has pretty much supplanted Arches as my favorite cotton watercolor paper. Now I'm gonna add this cellulose sketchbook to my wishlist. I think having non-cotton options is somewhat freeing - not as much pressure against 'wasting' the pricey stuff.

Thank you for sharing this! Fyi, other viewers, Hahnemühle also offers a 100% cotton paper watercolor book that is really decent and affordable. In the US, its best to shop around, depending on sales, it may be cheaper to get at Blick, Amazon or Jackson's. (Jackson's- if it's only got the UK flag symbol, u have to find the sweet spot on the weight/shipping cost ratio to make it affordable but you can absolutely get some great deals even with shipping from the UK). I also love their Nostalgie paper for ink works. The pads are most affordable at Jackson's.

Beautiful painting, as always! I really appreciate that you used the same paints for the comparison!

I have these books and enjoy both. Dana Fox now has the Forest book in a spiral version which makes it much easier to use. You are correct that Kristi’s book is great for colored pencils if the watercolor makes you crazy.

Bonjour, je découvre vos vidéos et m abonne. Y a t il une vidéo pour modèle bonhomme de neige et ces mini calendriers à peindre où les acheter ? Merci beaucoup 💜 🌌

Hello Ann…!! I adore watching watercolour paintings of the beautiful Kingfisher. The high chroma and iridescence of its feathers fill my wee watercolour heart with glee! Turquoise was meant to be used, and I try to include it in every palette I own - tricky, considering just how many I have, not because I paint a lot, oh no my friend, it’s simply that they are sooo pretty to look at! As you know, Seawhite shall be winging its way asap, but they are accompanied by many others collected over the past year. Every time I fill a box, I have to unpack it, find a bigger box and repack. And yet, I still need to use everybody’s names within your family. I wouldn’t mind, but whenever I make a much needed dent in my overflowing stash, I buy more. I despair… 🤦🏼‍♀️ Are you doing this as a full (and slow) tutorial for Pikes Peak? I would love to paint along. Any chance you can isolate and screenshot your lovely sketch. I want to paint now, and learn to draw even slower! Colours…. Sigh… 👩🏻‍🎨🖌️🎨💜💜

Hi Anne, your kingfisher is cute. So is the mouse in your Hahnemuhle sketchbook. I have a rectangular sketchbook by Hahnemuhle that I think I got in a sketchbox art subscription along time ago. I have yet to use it. I have been intimidated. I have a long way to go as an artist. I did buy a mixed media sketchbook that is hardbound by Ohuha. Becky Tregear Art has purchased it and is going to be trying a lot of things on it. I wanted to try it too, so I bought one, but a different size one. My New Year's resolution or some of them is to keep losing weight, to paint at least once a week. And I think I want to get brave and try more mediums on my new sketchbook.

Hi Ann, On February 14, 1969 I was in the hospital recovering from open-heart surgery. I was seven, my younger brother was six and we were both in the same class. I got held back in first grade. Hospitals were really strixt back then about visiting hours. I was at Kaiser Permanente in Fontana California. The visiting hours were only for adults, one hour in the day, one hour at night, no siblings allowed. I was really missing my siblings and my parents because two hours a day is just not enough time with one's parents. My doctor allowed my younger brother to bring the class valentines to me on Valentine's Day. He was only allowed to stay for about ten minutes and he wasn't allowed to get close. But it meant the world to me. It was the best Valentine's Day I have ever had. And reading the Valentine cards was fun. Both my parents brought my brother, and then my dad took my brother to the waiting room where they waited for my mom at the end of the hour. And yes, back then there were two holidays for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. I kind of wish it was still like that. But I understand wanting to honor all the presidents. I really like your cookie. And I bought that Grabie set that you used from a couple of years ago.

My recommendation would be get both, so when you want the stippling, crosshatching and marker stripes visible it will be less of a challenge.

Same silhouette memories of the presidents. Remember the Valentine's boxes we made? I can't remember if they were made out of Kleenex boxes or what. Everyone had to write one card to each classmate. In 1975-1977 we had a mid winter break in Minnesota. They said it was to save energy. I love my Valentine memories. We also made cards for our parents. Nice painting. Have a good February.❤❤❤😊

For watercolour books ive only used a seawhite book and that's not too bad x

Cellulose paper if direct usage ... Cotton paper if pallet usage. Thanks for the review 😊

Very cute and now I want a biscuit lol 😆 x

And the smell of cedar that wafts up when you open the box, lol.

Love the painting! The blue background really made the bird POP. I think it's good to have sketchbooks in multiple shapes and sizes. Sometimes simply having a different 'frame' can help to spark creativity.

Love leaves 🍁 my favorite leaf is the ginkgo leaf. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Ann, i like that cute sketchbook. I recently bought Ohuhu's mixed media book. It is hard cover. Becky Tregear bought a smaller one and I am going to try and follow along with her. I still have to use it though. Currently, i am trying to organize my small art room.

Have you tried DaVinci’s French ultramarine? That’s been my go-to for the past year.

For $12 could be worth it to get it and swap out the paint for good watercolor

What a beautiful painting Ann. We don’t have this colourful bird here, and I actually first came across it in TH-cam Art Land! The paper certainly did hold up to everything you threw at it. I always struggled with the price versus cotton or cellulose, but I imagine as it’s an American brand you can purchase it cheaper there than in Europe? Looking forward to this series very much. Later around the Cauldron I shall talk sketchbooks. Again, wonderful future series and beautiful painting - one of my favourites by you! Off to see Turner Exhibition now. Slow recovery after my journey down yesterday and a VERY lazy start this morning. I shall take you with me of course, right from hotel to gallery through historic Edinburgh 😁👍🏻🎨🖌️👩🏻‍🎨🫶🏻

I just ordered the book. Super excited to get it and play with my paints! Thanks for sharing .

Hi Ann, Happy New Year! I recently bought the Meeden Acrylic box you showed in December and I was so surprise how much stuff is in it! I am loving all the items I can play with so great for that price! I also found out Meeden HQ and Warehouse is super close to my house! Thank You so much! Maria

Take a look at the Paul Ruben sketchbooks. I have used them before, inexpensive and hard bond. I also prefer these over spiral bond.

Nice! I have the red ones (200gsm). The paper is very nice. I really like the paper & it's great for markers with brush to boot. Great orientation for urban sketching. [Haven't tried the more expensive blue (300gsm).]

For Christmas i received a Hahnemuhle Nostalgie sketchbook for mixed media. Used it for the first time today and really like it. Im not a great painter/artist but it held up for using gouache, acrylic paint pen and pencils

I like making my own sketchbooks - mostly hardbound or coptic bound (no spine board, similar issues with identifying on a bookshelf), but I've also done a few "semi-perfect" bound ones. I did find one of the craft spiral binders on clearance a few weeks ago, so I'll be trying that here in a bit as well. The fun of making your own is that you can choose just how you want it - size, paper, and so on. Hmmm... just had a thought. I wonder... if I made a fairly plain cover for a coptic sketchbook, then when it was full, give it a spine and nicer cover paper to convert it to a bound one. And for a spiral, a sort of book board sleeve that could slip over the coil... I've got to scramble to be ready for COSine in two weeks, but after that, I think it's time for some experimenting!

thank you for t he useful info on this. I have one but haven't used it much. Now I will glad gouache works well on it cause that's what I'm into right now. I use every type of sketch book there is! Just ordered a Hahnemuhle--spelling might be off. Not sure if it has a hard back.

It was a splurge, but I'm liking my etchr mixed media sketchbook so far. I bought a 6x6. It is cotton but not 140#.

I have to second what the others were saying about paper. It makes a HUGE difference with these! I used them on the simple Britannia Cold Press by Hahnemuehle and you cannot see my original markings at all. I heard others prefer the Harmony Hot Pressed from the same brand or the Canson cellulose ones. They will stain cotton immediately. Also important to not let them dry (and they dry fairly quickly) if you want to still lift/mix them. Once dried they are almost comparable to my acrylic ink in staying nicely put. Though that means, if you love working in very controlled layers, they are an excellent choice. I love to lay down a base of acrylic ink and then use these to add the next layers as they stay relatively vibrant thus working great with the inks.

Hi Ann, I just bought this set which is amazing for that price. The best part of having a bday in January is all the great sales! Meeden is very close to my home which I was surprise so I am getting my set on my day. Thank You so much for sharing! Maria

I have used both prismacolor and polychrome and learned I preferred the wax base of the prismacolor. I wanted more light fastness so felt stuck. Then I learned about the great light fastness of the luminance and that they were wax based. So I bought just one to try it out and it felt more oil based or at least less wax then prismacolor. So I am disappointed as prismas have a lot of faults but for my art the wax base excells. You mention the luminance are a mix of wax and oil. That matches my experience. Would love a competing company to make a quality wax base that would eliminate some of prismacolor faults. I had prismas from long ago and their quality once was better.

I just bought a set of 10 to play and experiment. This video is super helpful. Thanks, Pam Tuggle

sooo cute!!!

❤I love them

PBk7,6 is shorthand for a mixture of PBk7 and PBk6.