Watercolor Dirtbag
In my article on earth tones, I reviewed some common earth tones that you might have in your palette. But I also stressed that you don’t need all of them; you might just pick your favorites and mix the hues of the others.
So, how exactly do you mix up those various brown hues? If you have only one earth tone, what should it be? Which single earth tone gives you the greatest ability to mix a range of different browns?
I’ve decided to dedicate my new, vibrant green Travelers Paper Co x Art Toolkit Pocket Palette to a Neon Theme!
Just like colored newspaper hung in a window, some watercolor pigments fade when exposed to light. Sometimes, that fading is on such a long timescale that it’s virtually fadeproof from the point of view of anyone living now (a paint that can withstand direct sunlight for 100+ years would be considered “lightfast”). Other times, the fading may occur in a matter of months (a “fugitive” paint), especially if the painting is exposed to direct sunlight, like being hung in a sunny room. By contrast, even fugitive paint colors will retain their vibrancy if closed in a sketchbook.
So how do you know which paints are lightfast and which are fugitive, and which are somewhere in between?
The time has come! I’ve avoided making a “what’s in your palette?” post since I started this blog because it has changed so rapidly that it would always be out of date between when I wrote it up and when I posted it. But since doing Liz Steel’s course, I’ve settled on a pretty great set of colors that has had more sticking power than my previous sets, so I thought: it’s time!
After swapping out options for a dark magenta last week, I found that I had stuck too close to home and chosen colors too similar to my primary magenta. So, today, I’m comparing my favorite of those options – Bordeaux (PV32) – with two strikingly dark purple colors: Perylene Violet (PV29) and Carbazole Violet (PV23).
I have two great options for a primary magenta, Quin Magenta (PR122) or Quin Rose (PV19), both of which are extremely bright but don’t get that dark. I like to have a way of making a dark version of each of my colors, but none of my usual ways of darkening magenta quite work for me.
Could a new pigment help?
Jane Blundell’s Ultimate Mixing Palette includes the highly granulating ochre Goethite Brown Oxide (PY43), with Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr7) listed as an alternative. But what’s the difference between these two colors?
Written in the late 90s/early 00s, Bruce MacEvoy’s handprint.com is still an invaluable resource for information about watercolor pigments. In his watercolor guide, MacEvoy has listed every color available from major brands at the time – and since watercolor catalogues don’t change that frequently, they’re still pretty much accurate, with the occasional missing pigment, review … Read more
Phthalocyanine blue (PB15) is an incredibly intense, staining, transparent, non-granulating, lightfast pigment that comes in two versions:
(I’ll call them GS and RS in this post.)
What’s the difference, and which should you choose?
Sometimes two colors you like are so similar that it seems silly to have them both on your palette, but how do you choose which one to use? It’s like that for me with Quinacridone Rose (a pink made from the pigment PV19) and the color that I usually call Purple Magenta (PR122), which is also known as Quinacridone Lilac (in Daniel Smith) or Quinacridone Magenta (in Holbein and some other brands).