Sketchbooks are such a great idea, and you’re right, they get rid of the “its not good enough” feelings. I always use hot press watercolour ones, so much more forgiving than decent cartridge. I try to encourage my students to do the same. And sketchbook studies are invaluable when it comes to working on more polished finished pieces. Couldnt agree more, a sketchbook is definitely the way forward!

Hi Marialena
I’ve got a pot and have already used it, and yes yes yes, for covering errors it’s wonderful! I cant thank you enough. I did use it direct from the jar (well, from the lid) but merely scraped a tiny bit out, and didn’t mix it with water. I will be sure to take some out if I use it diluted etc. Thanks for the tip. x

It is not expensive at all. Here is another tip that I forgot to mention on my previous comment. Don’t ever use it with your wet brush directly from its jar. Take the amount of ink that you need and mix it on a separate preferably porcelain palette or plate because this ink has an acrylic binder and if you wet it in the jar then it will dry rock hard. If you don’t wet it, and you keep the jar tightly closed away from heat it will last for months.

Hi Helen

Oh I know about the wanting to sprint and having to crawl. Nothing I draw or paint is ever as good as it is in my head; we’re all beset by these doubts. But drawings do get better with practice. There’s so much amazing flora in NZ, what a treat to have it on your doorstep. Maybe, to reduce the pressure of your own high expectation, start out with a sketchbook, and just do half finished pictures. Get one with hotpress watercolour paper so you can add colour if you choose to. But having it all in a sketchbook sometimes feels less threatening that a sheet of white paper.

I’m so glad you like my approach, and think I make it sound attainable – it is! Although I accept I’m in the luxurious position of being able to draw and paint 10 hrs a day; for a lot of people it’s carving out that time to draw that can be a stumbling block. And of course, the more time to devote to practising (or, in this case drawing) the better you get. But it’s tough to squeeze that into already busy lives. Still, sounds like you’ve got a real passion there, good luck with it, and keep it up! x

PS. Just sourced it on ebay, it’s not even that expensive! Hooray!

Hi Marialena
Wow, this sounds amazing, I love the fact that it doesn’t lift and is waterproof! I’m off to buy some right now and to give it a try. It does sound exactly like what I need, I’ve often struggled with getting masking fluid to be as detailed as I need, even when diluted. Thank you so much, this sounds like a wonderful alternative, and I’m excited to give it a try. What a great suggestion, and thanks for such detailed info on how to use it, I appreciate the time it took to do that.

I’ve stopped using gouache for corrections and highlights and I switched to the Kuretake Zig 30 White Ink. This is an extra opaque white acrylic paste that you can disolve it with water for use with brush or dip pen. It is great for corrections because it is more opaque than gouache, it is mat, it is waterproof after drying and you can glaze over it. That glazing property that it has, allows you to make super complicated and tiny details ( even with a dip pen) on top of your watercolours and then glaze them to match with the rest of the painting. This way you don’t have to use masking fluid or paint arround the whites you want to preserve.

As this ink is waterproof and prevents paper from sucking the paint you can also use it as an alternative to masking fluid under the condition that you remember where you applied your watercolours over the ink in order to remove them afterwards, without that much try as the watercolours sit on top of the acrylic masking ink. You can also highlight further with it the already preserved highlights and so boost the contrast of your illustration. This is something that I often do. I highlight the already preserved on extra white paper highlihts.

The only minor disadvantage of this ink is that it is extra white and so it is not suitable for beige or cream watercolour papers. If you use beige papers then you have to bring it to a colour close to that of you paper by mixing it with a bit of watercolour. But I like the extra white/ bright white papers ( Saunders Extra White, Moulin du Roi and similar) and so I don’t bother to darken it.

Give it a try. It is very useful and by far better than gouache.

Hi Trish

How exciting for you! Do keep at it, it’s like learning a foreign language. The more you immerse yourself and do it, the better you get. Let me know how you get on with Sennelier, Ive never tried them myself but have heard really good things about them. Enjoy your retirement, and your walks finding the wildflowers that you’ll be illustrating. What a lovely way to spend time. x