Ecoline Liquid Watercolour

Ecoline is made by Royal Talens of Netherlands. It is liquid watercolour and the colours are ready to use. The colour intensity is very high and can be thinned with water. It dries in a few minutes to an even finish without streaks.

It adheres very well to many types of ground such as drawing paper, watercolour paper, cardboard and many more. It is suitable for graphic and technical application.  The colours are reasonably lightfast but may fade if the finished product it regularly exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet light.

Many moons back before computers were widely used, these colours were used widely by planners, architects and illustrators for maps and architectural drawings especially for planning submission to the relevant authorities.

The usage for these colours are very diverse. It can be applied by brush, airbrush and technical drawing pen. Colours are waterbased therefore brush, airbrush nozzles and pen nibs can be easily cleaned with water. When using dark colours first, you should thoroughly clean your drawing tools with soap & water and lots of water before changing to lighter colours. Use the smallest nozzle spray when using airbrush.

Ecoline is available in 46 brilliant colours and 2 opaque colours (white and gold). The colour spectrum is unlimited because the colours mix well together.

I have been asked by a lot of customers for white ink to be used with technical drawing pen. I find it very difficult to get hold of white drawing ink but this Ecoline does have opaque white.   

Photo above shows white (left) and gold (right) on deep red smooth 125g paper applied using fine watercolour brush. The colours are opaque and quite thick although the white is thicker than gold. Bottle had to be shaken vigorously  before use to ensure colours are even and smooth. 

The writings (in above photo) in red ink on white paper is written using a Rotring Isograph 0.5mm Technical Drawing Pen on Cartridge Drawing Paper 150g (left) and Standard Printing Paper 100g  (right). Colour adheres to paper smoothly while writing.

(Sorry photo is not good as it is taken under a fluorescent table lamp which does not give the best light and gives the crazy horizontal lines which cannot be reduced no matter what angle you use!)

I enjoy using this medium and would recommend it for its flexibility and ease of use. I feel comfortable using it and it makes great washes. It is totally transparent when dry so the background remains visible. It can be used for drawing, paintings, graphic illustrations, cartoon drawings, anime, intermix artwork with other mediums like colour pencils, watercolours, etc. The colours are very intense and can be thinned with water. Because of its  high intensity a bottle of 30ml lasts relatively a long time.

Pastel Holder, Crayon Holder, and Pencil Extender

There are some wonderful drawing tools that we can use to extend the life of our favorite pencil, pastel, or crayon. I have always used a pencil extender when my pencil gets too short to hold. My spouse is puzzled by this. He does not even know the existence of pencil extender and its usage. I asked him what he does when his pencil gets too short to hold. He throws it away or let it sit in the pencil drawer or in the pencil jar! 

What if it's your lucky pencil or your favorite pencil? What if it's a hard to find color of a color pencil? Pencil extender is a great tool to extend the life of a too short pencil. This Kuelox 1888 Pencil Extender lengthens your pencil by 4-5 inches or 10-12cm. It lets you hold a pencil comfortably. 

It has a metal tube of 1" where you can insert your pencil into it. There is metal ring to tighten the pencil into the tube. This pencil extender can fit a standard 9/32" or 7mm hexagonal and round pencil. For a slightly larger diameter pencil, 8mm or artist pencil, this pencil extender can still be used. There is an opening on the metal tube which can be widened slightly to fit the larger pencils.

Another great tool is the pastel holder or crayon holder. I do get questions from buyers looking for a pastel holder that can hold a square pastel. I finally found one! I want to apologize to the people who has asked me for this item. I am unable to email to you personally as I am unable to retrieve your email address (I am now using a new PC). So, I am telling you here officially that I do have a pastel holder for square pastel.

Pastel used in photo is a Rowney square pastel which has a diameter of 7mm x 8mm.

This Kuelox 1889 Pastel Holder is made of plastic and comes in black. It holds round or square pastels, oil pastel or soft pastel. Item is 10 cm (approx 4") in length and has an outer diameter of 1.5cm (9/16"). It has an outer and an inner barrel. It uses a simple grip mechanism for the inner barrel similar to a leadholder or clutch pencil. It holds any pastel with a diameter of 8-9mm.

This is the first time I have seen a pastel holder. I like to hold my pastels with my fingers until the very last crumble. Whereas my spouse likes this tool. It helps him have a nice grip on the pastel without any mess.

These two tools have their own uses and are handy additions to your art box or your loved ones' art boxes.

Pencils

Pencils are used for writing, drawing, sketching and marking. I have always had questions from buyers on grades and hardness of pencils and their suitable uses . First and foremost, there is no lead (as in Pb or plumbum) in pencil. The lead in pencil is made of graphite also called black lead or plumbago.

When I was in school (aeons ago), the most used pencil was the Staedtler Noris 2B pencil -as shown in photo, especially to fill in the bubbles for the answer sheets when answering multiple choice questions. 2B pencils are recommended for computer OMR or Optical Marking Recognition as their markings are easily captured and read.

Pencils are graded in H and B; H for Hardness and B for Blackness. For H, the bigger number shows harder lead with lighter marking. For B, the bigger number shows softer lead and darker marking. For example, 5H is harder and gives lighter marking than 2H and 7B is softer and darker than 4B. Then what is F? F is for fine point and it comes in between H and B. There's also HB which is the standard grade of pencil.

There are many makers of pencils. Below are two popular brands:

• Staedtler

Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils come in 16 degrees - 8B, 7B, 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H. Previously (before the mid 2000s), this pencil comes in 19 degrees with the EE, EB and 9H.

• Faber-Castell

Castell 9000 pencils come in 16 degrees - 8B, 7B, 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H. Previously (in the 1980s), this pencil comes in 17 degrees with 8H.

Left- mid 1980's, R- current

Left- before mid 2000's, R- current


Grades and general uses

• 3B, 2B, B, HB, F - are commonly used for writing.

• 8B, 7B, 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H - for drawing, sketching and shading

• HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H - for drafting and technical drawing

Coming soon - more information on pencils, Derwent pencils and more...