Note: Congratulations to Kimberly Santini, who won the Gold Sumi-e Watercolor in the cute ceramic dish! Can’t wait to see what she does with it!
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One of the items Niji gave me to play with when I became a designer for them is their dish of pale gold sumi-e watercolor paint. Rich with gold and possibility, I’ve found several ways to make the most of it.
Ceramic dish of pale gold sumi-e watercolor paint by Yasutomo.
I can’t help it, I love the 2-3/4-inch ceramic dish it comes in. And I’m giving a dish of it away. (Details below.)
My new favorite way to apply it is with a brayer–the roller you use to apply ink to printing plates.
Using black paper and gold paint, I made a fantasy card. For the background, choose a sturdy paper like Strathmore ArtAgain or Arches cover. Using a fat, fairly stiff brush (I use a glue brush), mix some water into the dish. Load the brush and then snap the brush to drip gold sumi-e paint on the paper.
Immediately, roll the brayer up over the paint. You can use a painted stripe if you want to include a horizon line.
I added a painted circle out of the acrylic paper for a moon and let it extend beyond the edge, trimming off the extra. You can read the entire instructions on the Niji blog page, here.
If fantasy cards aren’t your thing, you can use the gold sumi-e paint to color shipping tags, too. I had already painted several of them with acrylics (for my Tiny Journal class this weekend at Arizona Art Supply) I splashed some gold ink on them and rolled the brayer across to add bold patterns.
Last week, at the Craft and Hobby Association convention in Anaheim, California, I discovered that Yasutomo was introducing a new paper. It’s made of . . . minerals. Called Mineral White in the origami paper and All Media paper for artists, it is amazing to work with. Yes, it is made from very finely ground calcium carbonate in a soft binder. It feels like paper, but it has a huge benefit for watercolor artists–the paper doesn’t curl when wet. It stays flat no matter what you do with it. No buckling at all.
Here is a sheet of Mineral White with gold sumi-e watercolor brayered across it. It looks like a landscape of mountains. It’s great for art journaling or origami. You can also use it for origami or collage.
This is the Mineral White with a blue and green Splash Ink wash and a spritz of water to create the look of rain.
Then I brayered gold watercolor across it for another whole dimension of color and glitz.
Just because it’s watercolor doesn’t mean you have to use a brush to paint it on!
To win a 2-3/4-inch ceramic dish of Yasutomo pale gold sumi-e paint, you have to do two things:
- Leave a comment on this blog.
- Like the Yasutomo Facebook page.
The winner will be announced on January 27, on this blog post and on the Yasutomo Facebook page.
There’s another giveaway going on today: Photographer Bo Mackison (I altered a photograph she took in the Inner Hero book) is giving away a copy of my new book on her blog.
—Quinn McDonald is the author of the newly-released Inner Hero Creative Art Journal. She is on the Niji Design Team and is an art journaler, writer, and certified creativity coach.
Yasutomo provided the materials to all design team members and will provide the paint to the winner.
QuinnCreative 