05. Royal Talens: 120 Years of Creating Colour
January 31, 2021 “Royal Talens: 120 Years of Creating Colour”
Jeff Olson, Merel Jansen, Wennie Huang, Justin Vining, Charlene Mosley and Swasky
Merel Jansen from Amsterdam and Jeff Olson from Seattle, WA (US) joined us from Royal Talens for an in-depth look at the company’s 120 years. We were also joined by Victor Swasky from Barcelona, who gave a demonstration of Ecoline liquid watercolor and Bruynzeel colored pencils, both very popular sketching materials from Royal Talens. Swasky showed us his technique of applying liquid watercolor to capture shapes, and drawing lines over it with colored pencil.
Merel and Jeff walked us through the history of Royal Talens and its popular brands such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Sakura, Bruynzeel, and Ecoline. They also discussed company highlights including receiving their royal designation from Queen Wilhelmina in 1949 and opening the Royal Talens Experience Center in Amsterdam, described as being “like a candy store for artists.” We learned about their work on the movie Loving Vincent, made up of 65,000 oil paintings made with Van Gogh oil paints.
There was much discussion of how and why Royal Talens works with artists, and how important those relationships are to their success. Their Ambassador Program is one way they work with artists, partnering Royal Talens North America with artists who share their experiences with materials. We were joined by three Ambassadors. Wennie Huang joined us from Brooklyn and told us about using Ecoline markers, Van Gogh watercolors and Sakura Micron pens to sketch at a nearby cemetery. Charlene Mosley from San Diego used Rembrandt artist quality toned paper for a sketch near her home that captured the light at sunset. And Justin Vining joined us from Indianapolis to talk about plein air painting with Royal Talens gouache and watercolor brands and brushes.
All of the guests joined Rob to respond to the many questions viewers had about Royal Talens materials. We learned about their brushes, a little more about how paint is made and where pigments come from, and the difference between Rembrandt and Van Gogh watercolors. Each guest also had recommendations for materials for new sketchers.
Challenge: Self Portrait in 3 colors
Draw yourself using only three colors. When you share your USk Talks Challenge sketches on Instagram using the hashtags #usktalks and #usktalkschallenge, name the colors, tools and brands you used – everyone wants to know!
Go to Instagram to follow the #usktalks and #usktalkschallenge hashtags, and all of our guests:
Royal Talens @royaltalens
Wennie Huang @wenniehuangart
Merel Jansen @m.e.r.e.l.j.a.n.s.e.n
Charlene Mosley @cm_art
Jeff Olson @jeffolsonart
Victor Swasky @swasky
Justin Vining @justinvining
