Watercolor Dirtbag
I will also do an annual retrospective, but here’s my month of December! The month was dominated by my Advent Calendar challenge. Advent Calendar Most of the month’s paintings were done specifically to showcase one of my DIY $0 Advent Calendar “gifts”. Some days I did swatches or non-paintings, but for these I had the … Read more
This was a stressful year with lots of moves, losses, disappointments, regrets, and complications. Though I didn’t expect to, I’m glad to be ending the year in the same general geographical locale where I began it, and I’m hoping to have a simpler 2025.
Art was a lifeline for me this year, providing a calm meditative activity and a point of focus other than the stresses of life. The first thing I did when going to any new home was to set up an art area.
I used this trio during my advent calendar, when I drew Maimeri Blu’s Mars Brown (PR101) for the day’s pick. To show it off, I painted a song sparrow, with the Mars Brown used in the red slot of a triad – pairing it with suitably earthy Monte Amiata Natural Sienna and Cobalt Blue. Color … Read more
I kind of made fun of myself in the New England Palette post for attempting to prepare “palettes of place” for places that I don’t know using third-hand research and commercial palettes as guides, but guess what? I don’t know any other way to prepare for travel. I’m going visiting near Phoenix, AZ, for the first time for Christmas, so I’m trying to figure out what colors to bring!
Typically, an advent calendar is 24 days long, but I’ll be traveling in the coming days so I’ve decided to end it here, on day 20! I will conclude by showing you my experiments with my last two pulls, both watercolor paints: Cobalt Violet and Venetian Red. Day 19: Cobalt Violet This is the most … Read more
Today was a swatching day! For today’s Advent Calendar, I drew Quin Violet (PV19). I previously did a three-way comparison of Quin Fuchsia (PR202), Bordeaux (PV32), and Quin Violet (PV19 beta). I no longer have Bordeaux, but I want to do some more comparing of PR202 and PV19b. Color Mixes In the assortment below, I’ve … Read more
Today’s pull was a Zebra Zensations brush pen – the navy blue one, which I think is medium width. I use this brush pen a lot for lettering on my Color Spotlights. I actually find it fairly firm for drawing with, kind of like a regular felt tip pen more so than a brush pen.
Wouldn’t you know it! The day after I pulled DS Quinacridone Magenta (PR202), I pulled Holbein Quinacridone Magenta (PR122). It’s so pink I couldn’t think of anything but Dunkin Donuts. Welcome back to Massachusetts to me! I used Holbein colors Quinacridone Magenta (PR122), Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110), and Indigo, plus a little DV Cobalt Blue. … Read more
There are multiple colors named Quinacridone Magenta, but the one I’m using today is PR202 from Daniel Smith. It’s duller than PR122 or PV19 magentas, so I haven’t used it as much, but I’ve realized recently that it can achieve quite dark mixes. I used it as part of my autumn leaf mixes this fall, … Read more
I didn’t have time to post yesterday, but I did paint! My Advent Calendar item was Maimeri Blu’s Mars Brown (PR101), an opaque reddish-brown made from the Indian Red pigment. I painted a Song Sparrow using the triad of Mars Brown, MANS, and Cobalt Blue. (Well, plus Payne’s Gray which I used only for the … Read more