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I just love your coffee shop paintings and sketches Sandi! ❤😊

I’m loving your “weird” art. I definitely wouldn’t call it weird. It’s gorgeous and gives me tingles. 🧡🩷

Excellent ❤

Hi. Could you find a spot on the centre of the wraping to swatch its colour on so its easier to identify. Do the water finger swatch. I loved this video thankyou.

thank you so much for taking the time to teach the basics. 💌

I didn't know these sticks existed and couldn't resist buying a few after watching your video. I love them!!! What a beuatiful marks ans textures you can make with them. And they invite you (or at least your way of using them) to work with your fingers. Tanks again for an inspiring video.

it absolutely kills me to see you finger paint because I'm always so worried about the archival nature of my materials for the pieces that I paid for clients. I think that maybe water soluble oil pastels would be a good option for you that is much much less expensive than Daniel Smith watercolor sticks.

Sandi, have you heard of the 'pigment pens' by we R makers? I got my set off of Amazon. When you lay down a layer of color and smoosh it around with your fingers, you get the same texture I think your loving from those crayons. You should give em a look! 💚 Courtney

This video is my ALL TIME FAVORITE of all your vids!!

Thanks for another great video! As for the one negative: you could just tape a tiny swatch to the wrapper of the dark colors so you can easily distinguish them? Would that solve it?

Love the paintings of churches ! Thank you for the inspiration !❤️

Thanks Sandi, I love Substack, I am using it to record all the great artists I find, courses/workshops I do or want to do and new materials. That way I don't have to remember to share the good stuff with my community. I love the tip about using kids supplies, when I came back to my art practice I bought big bottles of cheap poster paint and flattened all the cardboxes I could find and just WENT FOR IT, it is the best way I have found to make art with as little judgement as possible. Same actually with my sketchbook practice, you have influenced the way I see my sketchbook and I have finally finished one huge one that I think I have had over 25 years! There are pages of swatching and colour mixing, "good" works and scribbles with my paint sticks, thanks for that tip, I LOVE THEM. Thank you for your work.

Thank you so much for your amazing videos! I am learning so much and am absolutely loving my new found art practice. Most of this is down to you! You are always so lovely, friendly and encouraging, I feel totally inspired by you! Thank you! Thank you! Sending much ❤

Beautiful

You bring me joy

❤️ Love the shine the oiling adds! Thank you!

I love the 2 gardens painting. Is it Eve in Eden and Jesus in Gethsemane?

This doesn’t apply to you just a thought that’s been coming up: I find it interesting how many people in the art community are scared of using white because of Victorian rules that got introduced into watercolour societies (before that many of the old masters used white or body colour watercolour), yet they happily use and nearly everyone has buff titanium. Titanium is simply white, and buff titanium’s pigment code is white and it’s just a contaminated white pigment basically. I do think the warmer colour of it makes more natural looking mixes but a white is a white. I was scared of white myself and of convenience colours for years because of them watercolour laws but I’m having so much more fun now I’m not scared of white; convenience colours; opaque colours (that when diluted are transparent anyway) mixing mud (usually nonsense, some of the great artists have the dirtiest palettes you can see and shades of colours look far more natural most the time than too many pure hues around) and such. I wish we could all free the white paint. I also see so many people using garish white gel pens but still being afraid of white watercolour. Shines and highlights aren’t usually pure white just as shadows aren’t pure grey. A touch of watered down transparent white watercolour is going to look far more natural than a chunk of gel pen.

I needed to hear this: I hate mixing paints but I need to learn to and do it…I’m getting the three primaries and maybe a nice burnt orange or something that’s hard to mix

The green may have seemed grainy because it has a good bit of granulation going on.

If I were to recommend an art book, it would probably be "The Group of Seven and Tom Thompson," it has an image of a fall landscape with a bright blue sky on the cover. It covers this historic group of Canadian artists who worked primarily with landscape imagery. The range of how this group of seven artists all interpreted landscape is fascinating and I reach for this book often.

I wonder if you could offer some advice on your transition from realistic painting to your new loose style. What was the trigger? What was missing that you are getting now? I feel like I’m going through a similar issue but I can’t seem to get over the hump. Where did you start? What was your inspiration to change? Thanks in advance ☺️

Thanks for your tips about he sticks. 🙏💜

I Love your sketchbook tours ❤

Okay, you did just use the water to dip into and then explained why you prefer not to, lol😂

Why not just dip the end of the crayon into the water? You wouldn't have to keep it in very long, just get a wet...thanks for sharing ❤

Whenever I start to play with “new to me “ art supplies , I intentionally don’t look up how to work with it. Once I learn how to properly use something I tend to put myself in a box. I eventually get good enough to get out of that box again., but I find that it takes longer when I learn how I’m supposed to use things first. Great video!

i missed your content 🥰 so much joy

thanks sooo much, this is what i needed to hear!!!!

Is gouache. Waxing. It seems like it doesn't move loosely or saturate??

I have a question for the paints that you have on those little containers. Are they mixed with any medium? I am curious since they seem runnier than the paints straight of out of tubes. :) also i would appreciate if you recommend the brands of the paint. thank you!!

"You should have done that, Missy" had me laughing so hard. What I've started doing is if a painting is close to being finished, but it's also getting close to the end of the day, I just put my paintbrush down and come back to it the next day. I do this even if I think it will only take another half hour to finish it. I go home with how I want to tackle the final bit in my head, so I know exactly where I want to begin the next day. When I come back to it, I reevaluate my plan for the final run. Sometimes it changes, sometimes not. We all want to "get a painting finished and move onto the next one", but just taking a breath before the final run always helps my painting, and my, ultimately, my mental health (because fewer stuffed up paintings, y'all!).

Thank you so much for sharing, I love your channel!

❤

I didn't know these sticks! I must love them... Thanks for sharing! Wonderful video, as usual, Sandi! Love, bye

Nice! Thank you. I have a few of those and made certain one was the Quin Burnt Orange. You do you, and use whatever art tool in any way you want. There is no wrong! It's art. 😊

I CANNOT wait til the Friday when it’s Sandi’s video day! It’s something I always look forward to! I grab my coffee, my notebook, and settle down into my favorite chair to take notes! You and your channel provide so much inspiration! Thank you for everything that you provide to the artist community! My wish is that someday you’ll have an in person meet up or local retreat!!!

I love using these sticks in so many different ways, they're a lot of fun. Thank for the video 👍

Far too expensive for me. Over £12 a stick in the UK

My weekend is always made when a new video drops! You are a gift Sandi

I'm wondering if the watercolor sticks would be compatible with Neocolor 2s, like could you use both together?

I’ve looked at these sticks many times, thank you for showing us different ways of using them.

Can you stain the wrappers of the dark colors using a brush, atleast the white circular rims on the two sides should.

Thank you for such a fun and inspiring video Sandi, it’s just what I needed❤️ I received some of these sticks for Christmas but haven’t used them much/wasn’t really sure how to incorporate them. You have once again reminded me that it’s ok to play, experiment and just have fun with new materials. I spent the afternoon swatching and experimenting and I think these might just be one of my ‘new’ favourite things☺️

Great video! Loved all of the demonstrations and your process. LOVED THE SANTA FE LANDSCAPE COURSE! Thanks so much. Sondra Borrie

Thank you so much Sandy for missing colors for us!! It’s really helped me a lot!!!!! And just having fun and being loose in my work has made me to sell more work than ever before!!!

You tuber, Paint Coach, way good info. Just can't watch any more swatching vids.

When it comes to watercolour I think paper is everything. The paper's composition ie cellulose , cotton etc and manufactured process and amount and type of sizing makes the same watercolour paints do totally differing things. It would be interesting to see how a high quality hot press cotton rag paper would perform when using these Daniel Smith watercolour sticks with your technique. Also you wont have a high quality cotton paper doing "something weird" = pilling up. For a reasonable quality affordable cotton paper Baohong is not bad from aliexpress. They sell in rolls which is handy for making your own sketch books in larger sizes.

You taught me how to loosen up ❤

I love your videos! Your voice is so comforting and I love learning from you!! Thank you!!