When a person is into color as much as Mimi Robinson, author of Local Color, I naturally find myself asking “What paints does she have in her palette?”
An Artist’s Guide to the Moon
In my Nature Notebook series, I take a look at natural phenomena and try to explore the science & nature facts behind them in order to improve the accuracy of my paintings. I am not a realistic painter by any means, but still, I feel like a grounding in natural reality is helpful even for … Read more
“Local Color” is a Natural Progression of Nature Spots!
A book I enjoyed recently is Local Color: Seeing Place Through Watercolor by Mimi Robinson. Wherever Mimi travels, she makes “palettes” of local color. I don’t mean palette-building the way I normally do it, where I choose paints to add to my travel palette for a particular season or trip; this is more of a … Read more
My 2021 Sketchbook
At the beginning of 2023, I posted my 2022 “sketchbook” (i.e. all my paintings of 2022, whether they were actually in a sketchbook or not). For completion’s sake, I decided to go back in time and do 2021. This is the year I started painting, so I can’t go back any further than that!
It’s a trip to look back through these two years later, because I have such specific memories associated with each one!
Why are people mad at Daniel Smith?
I’m about two years late to this controversy, but I recently decided to dig into this question after a few oblique comments here and there. Oto Kano mentioned on one of their videos that they’re moving away from Daniel Smith paints because they disagree with some of the actions of the company, but did not … Read more
Da Vinci Dot Cards Part 5: Earth Tones & Neutrals
We’ve reached the final stretch! I’ll finish up the DV dot cards today by exploring the earth tones (DV has some of my favorites!) and neutrals like black, white, and gray. I’ll also answer the question: which Da Vinci colors are not in this dot card set?
Monthly Retrospective: April 2023
The theme of this month was spring! I built my Spring Palette and painted some swatches and paintings – indoors and out – using spring colors and themes. Focusing more on my actual surroundings, I took a break from my National Park project until late in the month (then rapidly did four). It was an … Read more
Da Vinci Dot Cards Part 4: Greens
I’m working my way through the Da Vinci Dot Card set. This time: Greens!
Guest Post: Watercolor Brand Differences
This is a guest post by my watercolor buddy Hanna. Hanna is one of the most meticulous planners and evaluators of watercolor pigments and brands that I know! There are many professional watercolor brands out there. All have their fans, and all can be used to produce beautiful works of art. That said, they do … Read more
Da Vinci Dot Cards Part 3 – Blues
I’ve been going through the complete Da Vinci Dot Card set. This time: Blues!