Sunday, March 2, 2014

Welcome

     After several years of procrastination I was finally on it. Getting back to watercolor painting. The final inspiration came from a friend from work who is on the same interest, the availability of materials and tools and other ideas from Pinterest and WetCanvas.
     To meet the goal to paint everyday for fun, relaxation and to improve painting skills as well, the plan is to have a portable kit that world enable me to paint stealthily almost anywhere without getting noticed. I also wanted a sketchbook journal that is not too expensive, sustainable, and customized to my personal preference. So I made  my own. It took me a while to assemble the kit and gather the materials.

A 12" x 18" watercolor pad cut into 4.5"x 12" then folded into signatures and later stitched
together using Coptic binding
Cow leather for the exterior and pig's skin for the lining

Leather pieces for the exterior and sleeves

The finished watercolor kit. I bought the box for Php 75.00 from Muji, added .4mm polystyrene sheet used in plastic modeling. The watercolor tubes were about 15 yrs old used during my university days


After cutting the leather I realized that I lack the tools to properly do it. Not wanting to lose the enthusiasm since I'm very eager to start, I settled for a Midori style cover which I think is more practical at the moment.

Size comparison between the custom journal and a pocket-sized moleskine watercolour notebook.
That's it for now and hope to fill the pages everyday.