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Welcome to your Studio Insiders' newsletter
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Hi Insiders!
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Paul Rubens Review & Unboxing
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Our latest video on YouTube has all the information you need about Paul Rubens 5th Generation pan set of professional watercolors.
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It's available in pink or black versions. Both contain the same 24 colors, so there's no difference, it's just a matter of personal choice which color you prefer.
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Apparently YouLan means "orchid born in a valley" in Chinese, in case you were wondering!
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You really can't go wrong with Paul Rubens!
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If you're interested in these paints, Amazon has 10-15% off on them in most countries right now.
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So what's different about the 5th Generation set?
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Our contact at Paul Rubens tells us that these are the main highlights of their new generation of solid watercolors:
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- more sophisticated color range
- more soluble, resulting in more even and uniform color on the page
- ultra-fine pigments in extra-fine gum arabic binder
- better diffusion
- higher transparency
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Oh, and let's not forget their paper!
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They also sent me some of their paper, which I'm still testing but my initial opinion is that it's extremely good value for money for a cotton paper, and that it performs pretty well. The price per sheet is much lower than Meeden, at least partly because it comes in sheets rather than blocks (which are very expensive to produce). So it's a great value alternative if you don't mind taping or stretching your paper.
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(Links to Amazon are affliliate links, so you are helping us by using them because we will receive a small commission if you choose to purchase.)
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We're working harder than ever on our Daily Challenges!
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This month's challenge offers more for Members
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I'm really enjoying this month's challenge, which sees us painting rare or unusual and of course colorful birds from all around the world. I've been having fun choosing and painting the birds, and we've decided to go all in with this challenge!
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Photos & Shorts
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I am posting a PHOTO of each bird, along with a bit of information about them, the day before - so you can prepare in advance if you want to.
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Then in the morning I post a daily short on YouTube, which is available to everyone and gives a quick overview of how I painted my version of the bird.
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Here are the shorts for the first six days of the challenge. It's not too late to join in!
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Longs and Sketches!
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PLUS this month we are also creating FULL LENGTH, uncut and realtime videos showing the whole painting process. These are not narrated, but literally every brush stroke, pause, rinse, color mix and correction is shown as it happens. The only thing we cut out is the hair dryer!
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My hope is that you will not try to copy my version, but that you will find watching my process useful as you practise putting paint onto paper and gain confidence with these daily challenges.
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PLUS we will soon be adding traceable SKETCHES for each of the birds. These will be available on both YouTube and Patreon (not on our website).
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The full length videos and the sketches will only be available for members of YouTube or Patreon. But you'll get them no matter which tier you join, and memberships start at just $3/mo.
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So now's a great time to join our members community!
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As well as the extra challenge content from me, there is a small and very friendly group of lovely supportive ladies waiting to welcome you to our members Facebook Group, and to share your watercolor journey with you. Join our memberships at any level on YouTube or on Patreon and you'll receive a code which you enter when you apply to join the private group. We hope to see you there soon!
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Most Popular...
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Well, what can I say. This video is only seven weeks old and is approaching 100k views, which for us is pretty amazing. And it's still by far the most popular video on the channel right now.
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To Inspire You...
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This week Amazon wrote to everyone in their 'Influencer' program with the subject heading:
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This is NOT a drill: Clinique is now on Amazon
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It was a rather sweet email really, which is unusual from a company as vast as Amazon. They seemed genuinely excited, bless them! As a long-time user of Clinique products I must admit that I was pretty excited too, because living here in rural Brittany I makes using their products nigh on impossible.
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So I hope you'll forgive me for sharing what Amazon calls "Big news!" as this week's inspiration. It obviously doesn't have anything to do with watercolor painting - but sometimes I do wonder whether decades of doing makeup isn't one of the things that makes so many women choose to try their hands at painting when they're looking for a hobby. I can't be the only one that's noticed the similarity between makeup brushes and watercolor brushes!!
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Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoyed this edition of the Insiders' Newsletter.
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