Supplies

Da Vinci Complete Dot Cards Part 1: Yellows & Oranges

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When I originally swatched Da Vinci, the only dot card they offered was a tiny one with just 24 of their 100+ colors. They finally released a full dot card set of all their colors, so naturally I jumped on it, as Da Vinci is one of my favorite lines!

The 110 colors come in a set of five 24-well clamshell boxes.

Da Vinci dot card set

Just like the 24-color set, the dots are very generous – you could do a whole painting with one, and I did multiple swatches instead of the barely-one I could do with the DS and WN dot cards. 

Da Vinci yellow, orange, and red dot card

I ended up going a bit deeper in this dot card exploration than in previous dot card posts – because I have a pretty solid paint library already, I was able to compare several of the colors in the same light to colors I already have in order to make comparisons on-the-fly. So, I’ll be breaking this out into several posts to be able to give each one more attention.

First up: Yellows and oranges!

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What’s in my palette? (Spring 2023)

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I change my palette a lot, and I always fall in love with the current iteration before I dismantle it and switch it up. But I feel especially good about this one! Since my last palette reveal on my summer 2022 palette, I undid, then redid, some of the changes from Liz Steel’s class; incorporated … Read more

What’s the difference between Cobalt Blue and Ultramarine Blue?

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Cobalt Blue is a bright middle blue, while Ultramarine Blue is more violet-toned. But Ultramarine Blue also comes in a range of shades, from a Green Shade that is almost identical to Cobalt Blue, to a more violet-toned (and usually more granulating) deep or French shade.

Comparison of DV Cobalt Blue (PB28); WN Ultramarine Blue Green Shade (PB29); DV Ultramarine Blue (PB29); Holbein Ultramarine Deep (PB29); WN Smalt (PV15).

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The Maine Palette

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Heading out on a recent weekend trip to Ogunquit, Maine, I grabbed the first palette I had to hand, which was my “spring palette” (in progress). Unfortunately, when I got to the moody Maine seaside, I found that this palette didn’t quite contain all the colors I wanted. Fortunately, it helped me to identify what … Read more

Artist Palette Profiles: Barbara Luel’s Pink and Spring Palettes

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Cherry Blossom tree from Barbara Luel’s Spring Colors class, April 23, 2022.

Just as I took inspiration from Lisa Spangler’s winter palette in winter, I’m taking a look at Barbara Luel’s spring palette as I transition to spring! Belgian artist Barbara Luel is the queen of spring florals, and I really enjoyed taking a cherry blossoms class with her last April.

What I love about Barbara Luel’s spring palette is that it captures the pops of joyous, bold color but contrasts them against more muted colors which I think is the essence of spring: the earth is drab and gray and then there’s just these sparks of green, pink, and gold! Barbara uses a lot of granulating colors with have an earthy, yet sparkling look.

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What’s the difference between Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255), Scarlet Lake (PR188), and Quin Coral (PR209)?

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In choosing between these three scarlets, I decided to do a “what’s the difference” post! Hue: Pyrrol Scarlet and Scarlet Lake have almost the same hue. Quin Coral is a bit more blue-toned and looks pinker, less orangey. Opacity: Pyrrol Scarlet is semi-opaque, where Scarlet Lake is transparent. (This does not appear to be an … Read more

Watercolor Triads

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I recently took a Watercolor Triads workshop with Jane Blundell through Art Toolkit, which was an awesome experience because I’ve been following Jane Blundell’s blog and learning about colors from her writing since I started watercolor two years ago. It’s a fantastic resource! Jane has full brand paintouts of colors, mixing advice, color comparisons, just … Read more

Mixing Pinks in Watercolor

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Painting a cherry tree and mixing pinks in front of an ipad showing a workshop with Barbara Luel.

Last spring, I enjoyed a lovely pink floral workshop with the delightful Barbara Luel. I forgot to post about it at the time, but since the pink season is coming up again soon, I thought I’d post on it now!

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