Walking The Walk

Sumikondo (Japanesque) Watercolours

Recently, at an en plein air field trip to a ‘Back to Belgenny’ farm open day with some fellow members of Macarthur Art Group, I was introduced to Sumikondo (Japanesque) Watercolours by Michele Arentz.

Michele has been using them for a little while now and quite liked the colours. Below is an example of the 6 colours I recently purchased from Amazon to try out.

I must say that even with my early attempts, I am quite impressed and am thoroughly enjoying using them. Michele has a set of 20 colours and I feel it won’t be too long until I add more of these Watercolours to my set.

Below are a few of my Watercolour sketches with these paints so far. A couple are using only the Sumikondo Watercolours, and I have also included a couple where I have used these watercolours plus Daniel Smith watercolours.

My first attempt. Blue-Black and Purple-Black are used here.
Blue-Black, Purple-Black, Red-Black plus Daniel Smith Burnrt Sienna & Burnt Umber
Purple-Black, Blue-Black, Red-Black, Green-Black & Yellow-Black
Blue-Black, Purple-Black, Daniel Smith Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre

It’s only early days yet however, I believe Sumikondo Watercolours have a lot to offer, and I am having a lot of fun experimenting with them.

I’m currently working on a 15cm x 23cm Watercolour using both the Sumikondo & Daniel Smith Watercolours. The Watercolour paper I am using for this one is Baohong The Master’s Choice, rough, block paper, 300gsm. I am already loving the combination of the Watercolours and the paper and I will post the finished artwork on this blog.

Till next time!

Written by David Johnson

7 September 2024