I’ve been working on ink-only sketches in a separate sketchbook, but today I just needed color! So out came two Pocket Palettes and my current regular journal (Stillman & Birn Beta softcover). On the left side, I laid down colors wet-on-wet in the order they are placed in my current purse palette, below left, just to see them run together at the edges.
On the right, I’ve put together a palette loosely based on Marc Taro Holmes’ “desert island” absolute minimum colors for landscape and urban sketching. I bought small tubes of three of his color choices to try out, and picked close matches from others I already had. It seems very weird to not have a burnt sienna! I left two empty pans for additional mixing space but I might replace these with one larger empty pan.
Marc is hosting a 30 x 30 watercolor painting event for the month of June, and I’ve decided to try it. Maybe I will stick to this “desert island” palette or maybe I’ll switch back and forth? Instead of completed paintings, I plan to stick with simple sketches . . . but do them in watercolor only! No pencil guidelines, no ink. Scary, huh?
Meanwhile, my loft studio has abandoned the loft for now. With outside temperatures reaching the 90° range and higher, it’s just too hot up there. So a few essentials are kept on my grandmother’s old kitchen work table instead. Someday we hope to replace the cabin’s roof with a tin roof that will reflect the heat better. The “walls” of the loft are the underside of the currently dark shingle roof over log beams. No room to insulate without losing the look of those beams.
UPDATE: I’ve slightly tweaked the wee palette on the right, loosely based on Marc Taro Holmes’ absolute minimum selections and set up for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge coming in June.
He has quinacridone deep gold; I used what I had already (quin. gold) but realized that the deep version is closer to an earthy orange. So I’ll either use quin. burnt orange or get some quin. deep gold.
I also like the deeper, more reddish pigment of transparent pyrrol orange over the regular pyrrol orange, so I think I’ll switch to that.
Our loft room is always hot too! That is where I do my business paperwork. So I always have to have several fans going up there! Would you believe I have almost the same exact table on my front porch? It looks to be the same size and has the same kinds of leaves that drop down. The only thing different is the shape of the legs and the paint. Mine is green! Good luck with the 30 x 30 challenge!
ReplyDeleteLOL - Cathy Johnson had the same table as ours on her farm! Must have been a popular style. This one had several other layers of paint but when I got it, I had a friend refinish it to look like I remember it, worn spots, scratches and all.
DeleteHis Holbein Grey of Grey color is intriguing. I wonder if it is single pigment......
ReplyDeleteYes, it is PW6. Marc says in his latest book that he uses this instead of white gouache to reclaim whites in his watercolors. There is one painting that it’s especially effective in capturing misty fog / steam.
DeleteThank you. It looks so pretty.
DeleteOops! I just read the side of the tube under brighter light (old eyes, you know) — there are 2 pigments in grey on grey: mostly PW6 and a bit of PBk6.
DeleteI read that Marc mixes it with deeper colors for lighter tints instead of just adding water, to keep the consistency the same as the paints applied next to it.