Been wanting to try this watercolor box for a while, and a 50% off coupon at
Jo-Ann was all the incentive I needed to finally add it to my
collection after conducting some demos for my cartooning trend classes this weekend. Also spotted this carded set of 2 black pens in the
Target clearance aisle, and decided to test if they would play nicely with watercolors.
The
Flair pens' felt tip nibs laid down deep black line strokes of even thickness. Brand new, the nib felt quite firm and glided quite smoothly while speed sketching.
The ink dried quickly and resisted smearing while doodling, but it did not dry waterproof. The black outlines bled and smudged when colored with this
Akashiya Sai watercolor brush.
The
Paper Mate Flair felt nib pen might be an adequate sketching tool for doodling and drawing black and white cartoons, but I would not recommend them for illustrations that you plan to color with watercolors.
The
Sakura Koi Water Colors Pocket Field Sketch Box is a fairly compact set with 24 half pans about the size of a
Cotman Water Colour postcards pad. The box lid can easily hold the pad of watercolor postcards.
The included
waterbrush fits disassembled within the box. Found it a bit odd that the brush nib is secured on to the barrel by turning it counter-clockwise which is the opposite from my other
waterbrushes.
The mixing palette can be attached in 3 different positions according to personal preference.
There is a built-in finger ring on the bottom of the box for a secure grip while painting on the move.
Really like the selection of bright colors and how quickly the
waterbrush can wet the pans and release their pigment load. It required very little effort to squeeze water through the brush nib to moisten the pans and rinse the nib clean.
Color chart on
Daler-Rowney Cachet watercolor book.
Color chart on
Exacompta sketchbook.
The
Koi 24 pans Pocket Field Sketch box is a fun and convenient watercolor kit suitable for students and sketching while traveling without having to worry about the potential loss of a more expensive artist grade set.
Been wanting to try this watercolor box for a while, and a 50% off coupon at Jo-Ann was all the incentive I needed to finally add it to my collection after conducting some demos for my cartooning trend classes this weekend. Also spotted this carded set of 2 black pens in the Target clearance aisle, and decided to test if they would play nicely with watercolors.
The Flair pens' felt tip nibs laid down deep black line strokes of even thickness. Brand new, the nib felt quite firm and glided quite smoothly while speed sketching.
The ink dried quickly and resisted smearing while doodling, but it did not dry waterproof. The black outlines bled and smudged when colored with this Akashiya Sai watercolor brush.
The Paper Mate Flair felt nib pen might be an adequate sketching tool for doodling and drawing black and white cartoons, but I would not recommend them for illustrations that you plan to color with watercolors.
The Sakura Koi Water Colors Pocket Field Sketch Box is a fairly compact set with 24 half pans about the size of a Cotman Water Colour postcards pad. The box lid can easily hold the pad of watercolor postcards.
The included waterbrush fits disassembled within the box. Found it a bit odd that the brush nib is secured on to the barrel by turning it counter-clockwise which is the opposite from my other waterbrushes.
The mixing palette can be attached in 3 different positions according to personal preference. 
There is a built-in finger ring on the bottom of the box for a secure grip while painting on the move.
Really like the selection of bright colors and how quickly the waterbrush can wet the pans and release their pigment load. It required very little effort to squeeze water through the brush nib to moisten the pans and rinse the nib clean.
Color chart on Daler-Rowney Cachet watercolor book.
Color chart on Exacompta sketchbook.
The Koi 24 pans Pocket Field Sketch box is a fun and convenient watercolor kit suitable for students and sketching while traveling without having to worry about the potential loss of a more expensive artist grade set.
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10 comments:
hi there
I have a question about watercolor pencils,
"faber castell art grip colored pencils" or "Staedtler Karat Aquarelle Pencils" ?
which one do you recommand?
I want to buy online and I can't decide
thanks in advnced
Hello Lilia
I believe both are student grade watercolor pencil sets by German manufacturers. The Faber Castell Art Grip feature ergonomic triangular barrels, and the Karat aquarelle are standard-sized hexagonal barrels. They both seem to be available online as sets, but I have yet to find a source of open stock to get replacement pencils for them. It really boils down to your personal preference, for I suspect that they might be of comparable quality and I have not used either brand in years. If anything I would lean towards the Faber Castell choice, for I really like their artist grade Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils.
Two things:
1) I also get thrown off by the Koi waterbrushes threading counter-clockwise. After refilling one I find myself screwing it together the wrong way and having the two halves just fall apart.
2) What did you use to color the black square underneath the white paint swatch to show contrast? I've never thought of or seen anyone do that before and thought it was neat.
A Copic Wide Marker was used to draw the black square for the white swatch. My take on a tip from a watercolor book that suggested drawing a long brush stroke with black India ink, letting it dry, and then painting parallel bands across with your different watercolor palette colors to determine which ones were translucent and which ones were opaque. Yup the waterbrush threading does take a bit to get used to.
Ah I've been wanting that Koi box for a long time! I was THIS close to buying it, but I keep telling myself that my Cotman travel set is plenty of colors (12). Still... now that they have started carrying that Koi set where there are coupons, it is very tempting. Thanks for the great review! Those colors look lovely!
I find it odd that the waterbrush has to be disassembled to fit the box.
If you can't carry it with water in it - what's the point?
Actually the waterbrush comes with a small black plastic plug, so it can be carried full of water even when disassembled. So long as the plug doesn't get lost,it is a space saving solution to allow enough room for the cleaning sponges and holding brackets for the palette.
Ah! I didn't see that until you mentioned it.
Good idea.
Ah! Well I already lost that plug, from my last pen, so phooey.
Not too surprising, given that the plug is quite easy to lose given its size. Luckily the assembled waterbrush is not particularly cumbersome and can easily fit in a pocket or with the rest of your regular sketching kit.
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