Waterpens (the ruler is for lefties. 0 is on the right.)
Above is a picture of two different Japanese waterbrushes leaning on their caps. As the name implies they are filled with water usually enough to do a compete painting. They solve two problems at once. First they hold all the water you will need expect if you want to put down a big wash on large paper. They also, obvious, replace brushes. They are not Kolinsky brushes, but they don’t have to be because they hold their own water in a reservoir. they work pretty well in the field. They will fit in the Green and Stone pochade box that I wrote about recently.
There is an interesting story behind these brushes. The Japanese had been marketing a set of such brushes each one preloaded with a different watercolor paint, but Chihiro Tanaka, a Japanese watercolor artist took apart one and replaced the pigment with water. He showed pictures of it in a book he wrote on watercolor, and the commercial companies that produced the pigment-filled brushes found out about it and marketed empty ones to great success. Here is a website in which he explains the brush.
These brushes are now an integral part of something that could be called a pochade box because on the bottom, which I do not show, there is a fold out thumb holder to make it easy to hold in your hand. The picture below has my own color chart pasted in the top.
On both sides are sponges that are good for whipping off the brush replacing a paper towel or cloth. I show it without the mixing pan that covers what you see above. When in use it has little feet that fit into the holes you see at all four corners like this.
When you want to close the box the mixing pan is placed over the pigment and the lid shut. It is a very convenient package. Also the pigments seem to dissolve quicker than dry pans or pigment your squirt yourself into empty pans and let dry completely. I would say that it has all the variety of pigments you need. But, if you want, you can pop the pigment out of its niche with a pen knife and a little care and replace it with your own. Compared to the Green and Stone pochade box I discussed in a previous post, this is much less expensive and very utilitarian but not as beautiful. One company that makes them is called Koi. There is their website.
