I’ve been going through the complete, 110-color range of Da Vinci from their dot cards.
Last time I looked at yellow and orange; this time, I’ll look at reds, including warm scarlet reds and cool magentas.
Paint
Da Vinci Complete Dot Cards Part 1: Yellows & Oranges
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.
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.
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!
What’s in my palette? (Spring 2023)
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?
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.
The Maine Palette
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
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.
What’s the difference between Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255), Scarlet Lake (PR188), and Quin Coral (PR209)?
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
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
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!
What’s the difference between watercolor and gouache?
I recently started experimenting with gouache in addition to watercolor. As with my watercolor practice, I way overprepared with too many supplies to begin with, unsure what to expect from this different type of paint. I’m here to report back in case you, dear reader, are in the same position: into watercolor, gouache-curious.