Cretacolor Aqua Briques are block shaped watercolor crayons that retail in sets of 10 and 20 blocks. Their broad shape makes them suitable for large scale drawings and convenient oversize watercolor pans. Yet I tend not to use them often since I find some of their quirks rather annoying.
The
Aqua Briques liquify readily with water yielding fairly bright opaque washes though their colors seem duller than the ones made with the
Faber Castell Albrecht Durer aquarelle sticks.
Full range color chart painted on
Cotman watercolor paper.
So long as one starts with a dry block, the plastic clip provided does a reasonably good enough job keeping fingers clean while drawing with an
Aqua Brique.
The brique's corners and side edge were used to quickly doodle this face which was then brushed with water using a 3/4"
Utrecht Sablette Flat wash brush. When dry and new, their raised profile makes the blocks easy to pick up for drawing. A task not so easy once the blocks are wetted to be used a watercolor pans, for the briques then stick strongly to the holding plastic tray as the water evaporates. The only practical way to use them for drawing and watercoloring would be to have two separate dedicated sets: one for dry use and another for wet use. Though their performance hardly justify such expense.
After repeated wetting and drying, the blocks tend to crumble and fall apart soiling adjacent color blocks. Thus even used as watercolor pans, they are a rather messy media.
When I first saw the
Aqua Brique tin boxes, I thought their compact slim design would make them a good portable choice. Unfortunately, it is more of a liability since the top of the watercolor blocks tends to stick to the the lid if the box is shut while they are still wet. The slim box provides little protection for its contents, and the shallow tray wells do not effectively separate the blocks' fluid washes from splashing and polluting neighboring colors.
The
Cretacolor Aqua Briques set of 20 functions as an adequate studio set of pan watercolors if one is willing to deal with its shortcomings and box design flaws. I would not recommend them at their suggested retail price, but they might be worth a trying at discount prices.
Painted a few birds doodles with a
Trekell Kolinsky #3 round brush. For further discussion on the qualities and functional limitations of
Aqua Briques, check out this very thorough and in-depth review at
Roz Wound Up blog.
Cretacolor Aqua Briques are block shaped watercolor crayons that retail in sets of 10 and 20 blocks. Their broad shape makes them suitable for large scale drawings and convenient oversize watercolor pans. Yet I tend not to use them often since I find some of their quirks rather annoying.
The Aqua Briques liquify readily with water yielding fairly bright opaque washes though their colors seem duller than the ones made with the Faber Castell Albrecht Durer aquarelle sticks.
Full range color chart painted on Cotman watercolor paper.
So long as one starts with a dry block, the plastic clip provided does a reasonably good enough job keeping fingers clean while drawing with an Aqua Brique.
The brique's corners and side edge were used to quickly doodle this face which was then brushed with water using a 3/4" Utrecht Sablette Flat wash brush. When dry and new, their raised profile makes the blocks easy to pick up for drawing. A task not so easy once the blocks are wetted to be used a watercolor pans, for the briques then stick strongly to the holding plastic tray as the water evaporates. The only practical way to use them for drawing and watercoloring would be to have two separate dedicated sets: one for dry use and another for wet use. Though their performance hardly justify such expense.
After repeated wetting and drying, the blocks tend to crumble and fall apart soiling adjacent color blocks. Thus even used as watercolor pans, they are a rather messy media.
When I first saw the Aqua Brique tin boxes, I thought their compact slim design would make them a good portable choice. Unfortunately, it is more of a liability since the top of the watercolor blocks tends to stick to the the lid if the box is shut while they are still wet. The slim box provides little protection for its contents, and the shallow tray wells do not effectively separate the blocks' fluid washes from splashing and polluting neighboring colors.
The Cretacolor Aqua Briques set of 20 functions as an adequate studio set of pan watercolors if one is willing to deal with its shortcomings and box design flaws. I would not recommend them at their suggested retail price, but they might be worth a trying at discount prices.
Painted a few birds doodles with a Trekell Kolinsky #3 round brush. For further discussion on the qualities and functional limitations of Aqua Briques, check out this very thorough and in-depth review at Roz Wound Up blog.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment