FAQ

What supplies do I use?
What camera do I use?
How do I edit my photos?
Do I have tips for painting with kids?
What dye and dying process do we use for Phoebe’s hair?
Will I donate something to your auction or charity cause?
Will I collaborate with you?

What supplies do I use?

I vary my supplies from time to time, but these are some of my standbys…

INK:

Sakura pens
Higgins drawing ink (white and black)

PAINTS:

Artist Loft palate from Michael’s
Miscellaneous gouache and watercolor tubes, purchased one by one

PAPER:

Bee’s paper company 140 lb cold press watercolor paper
Arches hot press watercolor paper

OTHER:

I use a variety of oil pastels, glues, and glitters from time to time, and I have no preference. Experimentation is fun!

What camera do I use?

I use an iPhone exclusively. At the time of writing this, I have an iPhone 6. I don’t own a fancy DSLR. Yet.

How do I edit my photos?

I exclusively use the iPhone app Afterlight for photo editing.

Do I have tips for painting with kids?

Every kid is different and every relationship is different. Painting together is about figuring out how to communicate and listen more than it is about artistic skill.

My painting relationship with my kids is complicated. I’ve written about it a few times here:

I am also trying to address the nuances to this question in my Painting With Kids video series.

What dye and dying process do we use for Phoebe’s hair?

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I’ve had a lot of questions about Phoebe’s hair, so here’s a little “retrospective” of how it’s changed this last year!

Top left: her natural color. She’s a brunette who gets natural streaks and blond tips from playing in the sun. First, she tried pink (a dark shade, then we tried a light shade over everything, including a few bleached streaks…the lighter shade is featured here.) Next, she went with blue. Last, of course, is her most recent shade: “tinkerbell gold,” which was achieved by using hair foils.

I don’t do her hair. My friend Kayla is a professional who works out of her house & she does Phoebe’s hair. She is very careful about making sure Phoebe’s hair and scalp are safe and healthy. This is one reason I like using a professional instead of doing it myself.

The dyes are semipermanent. Joico & Kenra are Kayla’s favorite brands. When we went to lighten Phoebe’s hair, we tried an overall lightening, but it irritated Phoebe’s scalp too much, so we just washed it out and went with foils. The darker colors last much longer. The light pink washed out after maybe two weeks, but the blue hue was till visible months later, thanks to the underlying bleached streaks. A few well placed foils reeeeally make the color pop!

Will I donate something to your auction or charity cause?

Email me: hello@darlingillustrations.com.

Will I collaborate with you?

Are you interested in working together on a project or promotion? I’m always interested in new opportunities. Shoot me an email and tell me what you have in mind: hello@darlingillustrations.com.