July & August 2016 Roundup

Oops. I actually forgot to publish the roundup post for last month before I left for the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Manchester, England. Anyway, I did not feature many books these two months because of the symposium and after I came back, I was really tired and had to rest a lot. And next month, I will be away on a trip again, a non-sketching trip this time, so the number of books I feature in September is going to be fewer as well. I'll prepare some reviews to publish while I'm away.

Books

1. Cafe & Croissant (CTN 2015)
2. Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag: Blackbeard: The Lost Journal
3. Warcraft: Behind the Dark Portal
4. The Art of Seven Knights
5. The Art of Finding Dory
6. Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencil
7. Artist's Sketchbook: Exercises and Techniques for Sketching on the Spot
8. Understanding Perspective: Easy Techniques for Mastering Perspective Drawing on Location
9. The Art of Tomorrow Kings by Ashley Wood
10. Drawing and Sketching in Pencil
11. Your Idea Starts Here: 77 Mind-Expanding Ways to Unleash Your Creativity
12. Paris Je T'aime by Lapin
13. The Art of Ice Age
14. The Blacklist: Elizabeth Keen's Dossier
15. Erin Hanson: Open Impressionism, Volume II
16. Robot Envy: Zenith

And these are the following artbooks that I will be reviewing in the coming weeks. And be sure to check out the Upcoming List for other potential books that I might review.

1. Suicide Squad: Behind the Scenes with the Worst Heroes Ever
2. Urban Sketching Old San Juan - Puerto Rico
3. The Art of Painted Comics
4. Walking TOKYO Sketches of Popular and Memorable Sites
5. The Art of Broken Age
6. Pulling Your Paintings Together
7. Painting by Design: Getting to the Essence of Good Picture-Making
8. The Urban Sketchbook: Get Out, Walk, Observe, Draw, Lose Yourself, Create

Art product and gadget reviews

1. Dell S2817Q 4K monitor
2. Strathmore Watercolor Postcards
3. Artist First Impression: Dell XPS vs Precision Workstation Laptop
4. Huion H610 Pro Graphics Tablet
5. Faber-Castell Clic & Go Water Cup
6. Best Colored Pencils for Beginners: A Guide
7. Logitech K811 Bluetooth Keyboard for Mac and iOS devices
8. Dell XPS 15 laptop 9550 (Late 2015)
9. Microsoft Universal Foldable Keyboard
10. Accordion Watercolour Sketchbook by Chapter & Star
11. Copic Multiliner & SP Pen
12. New Huion 1060PLUS Graphics Tablet with Built-in 8GB Memory
13. Kum Automatic Long Point Pencil Sharpener

Youtube

1. Announcement July 2016
2. Artist Review: Adonit Pixel Pressure Sensitive Stylus for iPad and iPhone
3. Book Review: Urban Watercolor Sketching by Felix Scheinberger
4. Prinsep St Sketch Timelapse (30 Jun 2016)
5. Sketches Pro (iPad App Review)
6. Selegie Road Pen & Ink Timelapse (3 Jul 2016)
7. Selegie Road Watercolour Sketch Timelapse (3 Jul 2016)
8. How I Wash My Watercolor Brushes
9. Mateusz Urbanowicz Youtube Channel Feature
10. Colour Contamination in Watercolor Pan Boxes
11. Review: Kremer Pigments Watercolor Set 1
12. Chong Wen Ge Cafe Sketching (4K) (6 Jul 2016)
13. Review: Huion H610 Pro Graphics Tablet for Artists
14. Review: Dell S2817Q 4K Monitor
15. 2 Tips for Confident Sketching
16. Review: Faber Castell Ondoro with Oak Wood Body
17. Review: Strathmore Watercolor Postcards
18. Sketching with Watercolour Splashes
19. Book Review: Urban Sketching Handbooks series
20. XPS 15 (Late 2015) Artist Impression & Precision Comparison
21. Book Review: Ballpoint Art Pack by Matt Rota
22. Book Review: Liege Carnet De Croquis by Gerard Michel
23. Artist Review: Dell XPS 15 laptop 9550 (Late 2015)
24. Review: Accordion Watercolor Sketchbook by Chapter & Star
25. Review: Copic Multiliner & SP Pens
26. Tilt Vertical Lines for More Dynamic Urban Sketches (tutorial)
27. Asian Civilisation Museum Pen & Ink Sketch Timelapse (Part 1/2)
28. Asian Civilisation Museum Watercolour Sketch Timelapse (Part 2/2)
29. Book Review: Paris Je T'aime by Lapin
30. Artist Review: Noodlers Ahab Fountain Pen (Flexible Nib?)

I made a lot of videos these two months. Being successful on Youtube is all about consistently putting out good content and that's what I aim to do. While in England, I tried to put out a daily video about the symposium and sketching trip.

In case you're wondering what my workflow was like in England, every night I would edit the video, send the video to export, take a 30 minute nap and wake up to find the video exported, then upload it, and then go for the real sleep. One night, I was so sleepy but I had to force myself to finish the edit before I take my nap.

I feel it's all worth it when I read comments of people after watching the videos saying they feel like they were at the symposium, or they enjoyed "traveling" with me on the road trip. In London, I also met up with Reggie, who's a supporter on my Patreon page, babymomo and Maurice Perry, who are both viewers on my Youtube channel. It's great to be able to put faces to the names of people who post comments.

Below's the list of all the videos relating to the symposium and my road trip afterwards.

1. The Stuff I Bring To Manchester Urban Sketchers Symposium
2. Day Before USK Symposium in Manchester (26 Jul 2016)
3. USK Manchester Day 1 (27 Jul 2016)
4. USK Manchester Day 2 (28 Jul 2016)
5. USK Manchester Day 3 (29 July 2016)
6. USK Manchester Day 4 (30 July 2016)
7. I'm in York! (Day 1)
8. Walking and sketching around York (Day 2)
9. Last day sketching in York (Day 3)
10. From York to Peak District to Cheltenham
11. Visiting and Sketching Places in Cheltenham
12. Sketching in Bath (5 & 6 Aug 2016)
13. Sketching in London (Day 1)
14. Sketching in London (Day 2) 8 Aug 2016
15. Sketching in London (Day 3) 9 Aug 2016
16. Sketching in London (Day 4) 10 Aug 2016
17. Sketching in London (Day 5) 11 Aug 2016
18. Sketches from my England trip (Part 1/2)
19. Sketches from my England trip (Part 2/2)

Deals

I spotted two deals this month.

The Art of Finding Dory had a huge price drop and was selling under USD $7. It's currently now at around $13 so it's still a good deal.

The other incredible deal is Mission Gold Pure Pigment set that's going at USD $88. At that price, you get 24 15-ml tubes and two 7-ml tubes. Don't miss out the offer if you use watercolour. At this price, it's worth trying a new brand.

My drawing courses

I've released a video course called Beginner's Guide to Drawing from Observation in July. The motivation for putting out that course comes from the many comments asking me if I have any course that can teach them how to draw. Well, now I do.

In addition, I've also bundled four urban sketching videos into a set for sale. They were previously only available to my Patreon supporters. Some have commented that they don't like the idea of Patreon but still want to watch those sketching tutorials. In the future, I will sell those tutorials after I have made enough to put them in a bundle of four.

Patreon

I would like to thank all my patrons for your support. Because of the money I've saved on Patreon, it has made my trip in England less stressful.

I will continue to need your help, so support me on Patreon. Any amount is appreciated. If all my regular readers donate $1 each, that would be an enormous boost and I can do more things.

The money is used to fund the web hosting cost, hire guest artists for reviews, get art products to review, and to settle miscellaneous expenses.

Check out my Patreon page for the type of rewards you can get at https://www.patreon.com/parkablogs