#DannyDoesArt | Astrophilia

When I see an image that I like, there's no stopping me in trying to recreating it. I decided to step it up a few notches by spoiling the astrophile in me and painting some starry, starry landscapes. I've always been fascinated with stars, planets, and galaxies. Heck, I have a star projector in my room to further prove it.

To achieve this artwork, I made a little trip to Sekaido—one of the biggest stationery and art supply shops in Tokyo, Japan. The flagship store is located in Shinjuku and it's massive! Six floors of reasonably-priced heavenly goods for art lovers. Twenty four hours isn't enough to explore this artist's paradise.

Here are the materials I used:

☑️ Holbein Artists' watercolors

☑️ Daiso paintbrushes (round, liner)

☑️ Hake brush (3cm)

☑️ Uni-ball Signo gel pen (white) 

☑️ Acrylic paint (white)

☑️ Toothbrush

☑️ Masking tape

☑️ Maruman Art spiral sketchbook & Canson XL Aquarelle

These particular paintings are a new experience for me as I had used masking tape for the first time to mask off the borders and I messed up every time I peel the tape away. I wouldn't recommend a regular masking tape as it may hurt the paper—blue painter's tape or brown artist's tape will work best. 

I made small and large versions of the galaxy landscape on two separate watercolour pads just to test the differences on paper weight and texture. Speaking of which, I'm obsessed with the cold pressed 300gsm acid-free watercolour paper, though they could be a bit pricey.

Also, I have applied a new splatter paint technique to create the tiny stars using an ordinary toothbrush. You can pull this off by dipping the toothbrush into the paint then, with your finger, start flicking the paint onto the paper. Careful though, this can be a bit messy!

For the bigger stars, I used the Uni-ball Signo white gel pen. I read a gajillion reviews on gel pens before deciding on getting this one and I'm a satisfied buyer.

What I love about painting more detailed or challenging images is that not only do I get to expand my knowledge but also it's a way to motivate myself to grab more art supplies. The only downside is that I'm a very meticulous shopper so it takes ages for me to decide which stuff to purchase. Thanks to Amazon online shopping, though, I don't have to stay in a store for a long, tedious time!