My parents sent me a gift certificate to the Dick Blick art supply store, so today I went shopping. I went there with the intention of buying a set of good colored pencils and few black permanent markers in varying thicknesses (including a brush tip, which I’ve never used before).

As I perused the aisles lusting after much of what I saw, I came across a Niji waterbrush. I’ve read several blogs that espouse the wonderfulness of these things, so I grabbed one. I wasn’t sure how well I would like it, but I figured for six bucks, how wrong could I go?

Promptly after I finished my shopping, someone in my stomach decided to stage a minor uprising — no doubt in protest over being fed a spicy burrito instead of a salad. I was certain that I wouldn’t have a chance to play with my new toys. But no matter how badly I feel, I couldn’t resist spending even just a few minutes playing.

This is my entry for Everyday Matters Challenge #39 — Draw your toothbrush. I’m beginning to notice a preponderance of mouth-related subjects recently; I wonder if I should speak to someone about that.

Since I’m not feeling 100%, I didn’t spend much time at all on this. The perspective is way off, the line is sketchy and weak, the colors are wildly inaccurate; but that wasn’t the point tonight. Tonight was all about playing with my brush-tipped marker and my waterbrush.

I’m not sure how I feel about the brush-tipped marker yet. Since I wasn’t fully engaged in the drawing process, I probably shouldn’t rush to judgment on the merits of this new tool.

However, I am absolutely in love with the waterbrush. I know my work has not been particularly colorful up to this point. That’s in large part due to me just not being able to work quickly with my watercolor set. This little wonder is a plastic miracle. There will still be a lot of black & white work coming from me (the foundation of a good painting is a good drawing, and I still need to develop the basics), but I guarantee you will be seeing a lot more color work in the near future.

The colored pencils are still in their tin. They require sharpening before I can use them, and that seems like entirely too much work at the moment. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll feel a little more energetic and will be able to do something with them.