Choosing colors for a watercolor palette is tricky. I’m a little OC so up ’til a few weeks ago, my palettes were sorted by brand — one for ShinHan, one for Holbein, etc. The downside is that I had to lug both palettes around when I paint outdoors. Very impractical, especially since I acquired tubes from other brands (Daniel Smith & Sennelier) which meant I’ll have to add more palettes for each additional brand. Eek. To avoid that bothersome scenario, I devoted an afternoon to testing all the colors and hand-picking ones I’ll have the most use out of and then I combined those into a single palette. Thought I’d share it here since a lot of folks have been asking me about the paints I use. 🙂

Since I paint mostly people with the occasional landscape or urban background, I decided on a rainbow spectrum of colors — their warm and cool iterations — plus a few neutrals. This way I’ll get to mix a large variety of the other hues I might need.

Top row, left to right: Cobalt Blue Light (Holbein), Marine Blue (Shin Han PWC), Viridian (Shin Han PWC), Hooker’s Green (Sennelier), Leaf Green (Holbein), Hansa Yellow Light (Daniel Smith), New Gamboge (Daniel Smith), Pyrrol Scarlet (Daniel Smith), Quinacridone Rose (Daniel Smith), Permanent Red (Shin Han PWC).
Bottom row, left to right: Vandyke Brown (ShinHan PWC), Helios Purple (Sennelier), Quinacridone Gold (Sennelier), Davy’s Grey (Holbein), Payne’s Grey (Holbein), Permanent Violet (Holbein), Mineral Violet (ShinHan PWC), French Ultramarine (Daniel Smith), and Pthalo Blue (Daniel Smith).  [info on where to shop these brands are below]

Below is an illustration I made using only the paints from this palette.

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Jun 13, 2016 at 6:30am PDT

(If you think the characters look familiar, that’s because they’re based on Augustus and Hazel from “The Fault in Our Stars.” I’m currently working on illustrations inspired by YA films, a wonderful idea suggested to me by talented artist & letterer Abbey Sy. So excited to make more. :D)

I’m very happy with this combination because it has everything I need — just look at the colors that can be mixed from this selection on the charts I placed beside the palette. If you’re looking into getting into watercolors and are panicking over what pricey set to buy, try determining the colors you need first and then purchase individual tubes & pans and make your own set 🙂

ShinHan PWC and Sennelier tubes are from ArtWhale (can be ordered online)
Daniel Smith tubes are from DE’s ArtRoom (they’re based in Cebu but you can also order online)
Holbein tubes are from Deovir Arts (SM North Edsa, Quezon City)

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Last Saturday I had a live portrait session for Hey Kessy’s Father’s Day Celebration. When Dinny (of Hey Kessy) asked a few weeks ago if I ‘d be willing to do it, I hesitated but, as expected, dear husband said that I’ll never know that I can if I don’t try. I practiced using Arnold, random faces on Pinterest, and my cat (:D) as the models, grit my teeth and finally messaged back in the affirmative.

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Jun 18, 2016 at 4:53am PDT

I sat in the store for 3 hours, from 10 am to 1 pm and was able to draw three friendly faces.  I’m thinking that if I had chosen an afternoon schedule, there’d probably be more walk-ins but I was thankful for the relaxed pace.

Each portrait took about 20-30 minutes to make. I was worried about not capturing resemblance exactly but I relaxed once I set my mind that given the setup, all I could do were caricatures at the most…

On hindsight, I’m glad I accepted the gig because painting from life with the models actually knowing that I’m painting them — as opposed to sneakily painting people in a coffee shop — is a great experience. We had to do it for art class in college but the subjects were either classmates or hired models. This time, my subjects really had the intention of having me draw them, which gave me a boost of confidence. Save for Danry who I already know from comic-related events, I got to know really nice people beyond just “hi’s and hello’s” and that was wonderful.

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Speaking of Hey Kessy, I have a Shrink Art Workshop there on July 2! I resurrected my Youtube Channel and made a How-to Make-Shrink-Art video so you’ll have a taste of what we’ll be doing there,

Please sign up via this form if you’d like to learn how to make shrink art out of your doodles too! Class fee is P1500, inclusive of materials and light snacks.
*More details here.

Aside from my online (home-based) store, my products — art prints, postcards, etc — are now also available at two lovely stores in the Katipunan, Quezon City area. The first one is Hey Kessy who has been carrying my products since last year actually. I’va also held a couple of workshops there before and am having another one on July 2 — please see my previous post for details. 🙂

Hey Kessy has recently moved to a cozy space at the U.P. Town Center’s new Urban Turf section on the 2nd floor which is pretty awesome because it can now be easily accessed by mall-goers. They have a new section called After Nine Keeper which is a pop-up of goods by local artists and crafters including my friends Arlene Sy, Megan Dino, Tweed & Twine, Rubber Ducky Stamp Co., and more!

There you will also find these handmade notebooks below featuring my watercolor cat and girl illustrations. The notebooks are bound by an elastic string with tiny shrink plastic charms and the notebooks are designed in a way that the paper inside can be replaced / refilled. 🙂

Also in Katipunan, right across Ateneo is this wondrous place called Common Room which is essentially a pop-up containing artworks & crafts by around 60 local designers. I’m proud to have my products along with the many beautiful things stocked there. 🙂

So many wonderful photo-opps there too. When I hand-delivered this “Ang Nawawala” print, I couldn’t help but take a photo along with the LOVE Scrabble pillows by PopJunkLove. <3 Below is another photo I took just today and I love how it also shows the variety of goods you’ll find in-store.

Apart from Hey Kessy and Common Room,some of my cards can also be found at Prism Gallery in Makati. 🙂 They were part of an exhibit before but Prism decided to retain them in their collection so please do visit the gallery if you’re in the area.

Hi guys! I’ll be having another SHRINK PLASTIC WORKSHOP on July 2 (that’s a Saturday) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the new Hey Kessy shop in U.P. Town Center in Katipunan Quezon City, 2nd floor of the Urban Turf section. In this workshop you will learn how to turn your doodles into wearable and usable shrink art pendants, magnets, etc. Above and below are pics of some of my own doodles that I turned into shrink art. 🙂

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Apr 7, 2016 at 2:56am PDT

Beginner crafters are absolutely welcome, by the way! Learners from age 12 and above (even way above ;)) are ideal because we will be using very hot equipment like a toaster oven and a heat gun. Please see the workshops page for more details or fill up this form to secure your slot!