February Favourites + hsieyingsblog turns 1 !

Hellooo! How are you today? I'm alright. i think.

I'm sipping organic Rooibos tea while chillin on Odesza's rad album "In return" 

The month of February is going to leave soon. I can safely say I was pretty productive during February( just to get my head busy form all the bad things happened in January). So! I'm ready for March- new opportunities and personal projects coming ! 

The things that I like during February.

1. Watercolour 

Winsor Newton cotman in Intense Blue 

-I mentioned this colour again from this post last year. Still lovin it. In fact this colour is recommended for a vibrant blue hue. 

Holbein Watercolours in Mars Violet

-I like to use this colour as a shadow for flowers.  

Winsor and Newton professional watercolours in Winsor Green(blue shade)

-perfect shade for painting cheery vibrant leaves.

2. Brushes

Winsor and Newton Kolinsky brush no.1

-This brush didn't receive much love since I bought it out of curiosity. I gave in to try this brush again and well, it is one hell of a good brush. Perfect to make slick lines. Comic artists would love to use this brush to do linearts.  

Pro Arte synthetic brush no. 4/0 

-4/0 means 0000 which is four times smaller than a size 0. If you like detailing and painting cute small sized paintings. go for these kind of brushes. I used this brush mainly for highlights and detailing.  I often use Pro Arte brushes and been loving it ( and affordable too)

3. Half moon choker

-My sudden liking into chokers started when my bf gifted me a ribbon choker for my birthday but unfortunately i happen to lose it D: So i ordered a few chokers from this owner. I got this half moon choker as a free gift if you spend over $14 and few other cool stuff i bought from her. This half moon choker gives me the inner Sailor Moon vibes :D :D 

4. Begin Japanology documentaries

-I actually stumbled on these documentaries when I was searching for japanese stationeries on youtube. And that was how I procrastinate (kidding!). I love watching/listening to documentaries while painting. If you are interested in Japanese culture, here's the starting of your binge watching.

5.CNY cookies 

-No need for more explanation. I just cannot give up on cny cookies. Never.

Now i'm being a curious cat to know what are the things you like during the month of February! don't be shy to leave a comment or two below.

I hope you have a great Weekend! 

P.s//  Nothing fancy to shout about but...
How times have fled so fast and my blog is currently a year old! Still young but i'm looking forward to grow this blog as my journey as an artist!

P.ss// Subscribe to my mailing list at the right side of my blog to make sure you don't miss a single update on my blog! :D

much love,
Ashley

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Litte corner of my so-called studio

Hello !! How are you?

I'm currently sipping my second cup of coffee with some cny cookies. 

Today I felt like sharing some snippets of my process and the little corner of my room which i claimed it as my studio .

 I have this fancy thing towards succulents and peonies as they're very complex and elegantly beautiful to paint. It's just that I felt like I lack of understanding of their forms. I find it difficult to picture how peonies look like. 

 This peony that i painted was self referenced. It was alright i think. More to improve! 

 Using waterbrush to paint was a little bit challenging. I cant really do the same technique as how I did with a brush. The waterbrush I am using is the Kuretake waterbrush that comes with this small palette I got last year. It is a pretty decent brush to paint with while you're out. But I am spoiled with my Cotman and Pro Arte brushes. ;)

And here comes the photos of my little corner.

 top shelf- where I store art materials I seldom used and tea and some candles.

 Right next to my laptop-  Some stuff i use everyday - earbuds, colour pens, calendar.

 My favourite quotes and the cliche " I believe I can do it" quote that help me keeping in focus.

 Every morning I make a To do list just to keep my thoughts together.

My favourite- tigger

If you want to see more photos of my 'studio' or more process photos of how I paint, do comment below!

I hope you have a great weekend! 

From Ashley 

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Hsieying stuff : Currently stuff I use to paint

Hello! How are you?

I'm a little sleepy from a long day at work. Today's post is a rather personal one where you can sneak a peek over the stuffs I currently using for watercolour painting!

This month of February marks the 2 years of when I committed myself  on watercolour painting. Time really flies over and I am still learning to be the amazing watercolour artist.

When it comes to brushes, I always feel cozy inside I don't know ,I think I'm just excited to share this to everyone. These are one part of the collection I have for brushes. They range from a big size 8 to as tiny as size 4/0.  Bear in mind that you do not need expensive brushes to paint with. I'm just a curious person who loves to experiement with different brushes. Collecting new brushes is equivalent to getting new makeup brushes for your makeup kit 8D .The most frequent used brushes are surprisingly the Cotman and the Pro Arte brands. They're affordable yet suitable for my kind of painting style.

Brush sizes I always go for : size 1, 3 and 5 (round brushes) 

I take really good care of my brushes. those tubes are helpful to help the brush tip to stay in shape.You can already guess which brushes I have used often by the stains on the brush tips. :>

This is my new watercolour palette tin box that I ordered online.

I don't hold myself back when it comes to quality paints (now you can see where I spend the most from my salary '_' ) .As much as I love collecting brushes, I love to collect different watercolour paints. I started off with the Daler Rowney pocket box watercolour set back in 2014 and I slowly expand to different watercolour brands. Currently the paint that I have in this palette are a mix of mostly Holbein, Winsor and Newton and Old Holland.

Finding a good quality paper suitable to my style of painting is a very tedious thing to do. I have tried brands from Daler Rowney, Fabriano, Campap and a few more with no brands . So far I'm liking this Daler Rowney Graduate sketchbook 160gsm and the Cass art Hot pressed paper 300gsm.

I prefer hot press because of the smooth surface so it enables more details to be painted on. 

The three essentials for my painting milestone : a small dish for white ink (for highlights and corrections), glass bottle and a dirty rag ( don't worry I always try to wash it at least once a month)

Saving the best for the last will be my undying love for Coffee. I love mine with a teaspoon of honey and a splash of milk :) 

And there you have all the current stuffs I have been using recently. If you have any questions regarding my painting supplies, where to buy them, how to use them or maybe about my life just comment down below.

Much Love from

Ashley 

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Tropical - January 2016

Hello! How are you? 

Today is the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year. Nothing much happening in the house. So I thought of updating my blog to show you what have I done for the month of January.

Unfortunately, January wasn't that productive to me. With a lot of happenings in my family- both life and death. It really stirred my emotions that I cant create new ideas. I will try my best to keep hustling for the coming months.

 

I was inspired by the big green leaves and tropical plants from visiting the Ipoh town. I would love to have a bunch of monstera in my garden.

Just a random ink sketch of how I want it to be on my arm.  I always wanted to have a half sleeve tattoo on my arm for years and years now but i'm just afraid of needles. But! Most probably will get myself inked... I hope ? 

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January favourites 2016

January is a rather eye opening month for me. I think i should make a new post about this..

Moving on!

Here's the things I like during January 2016 ! 

1. Innisfree volcanic facial wash.

Previously I used the hada labo facial wash, Didn't like it so I switch to a acne-prone facial wash. I like it that it comes in a big tube, enough to last me till july I hope.

2. Pukka three fennel tea.

I like teas with calming benefits. This tea helps with digestion and it smells great! 

3. my new watercolour palette.

I ordered this compact watercolour palette online and this is way more travel friendly than the Winsor Newton one. It can totally fit more than 30 pans which is very nice.

4. Lemon water 

I don't know why i'm so addicted to lemon water. I think it is because it tastes better than filtered water.

5. Kitchen timer. 

I recently trying to make myself more productive without any distractions ( watching too much youtube you see). So this method that I read somewhere suggests that the Pomodoro technique can help people to be more productive. So far I've been liking to use a timer and to paint more efficient than before. Also, it's a bear! 

Again, I apologise for being a slowpoke in updating this blog. I'm trying my best :)   

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