The Spring Palette

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Spring is the final season I haven’t paletted! I put together my first seasonal palettes at the end of summer 2022, doing both Summer and Autumn around the same time. I followed it up with Winter in December. Inspirations Spring Nature Spots I kicked off April by doing a series of nature spots in my … Read more

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

Monthly Retrospective: March 2023

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This month, though I didn’t have any subscription services, I took a Domestika gouache class from Ruth Wilshaw, a one-day Grand Tetons class from Shelby Thayne, and a watercolor triad class from Jane Blundell through Art Toolkit (output not pictured below, since I did swatches instead of “full paintings”, but you can find the results in my post Watercolor Triads). I also made progress on my project to paint a scene from all 59 National Parks in the USA (from photo references). I opened it up from a gouache project to a gouache or watercolor project, and did ten total – six in watercolor and four in gouache.

Below, you’ll find all 20 paintings that I did in March.

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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

How (Not) to Learn Watercolor

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Are you tired of enjoying watercolor? With these quick tips, you’ll be slogging your way through an unpleasant learning experience in no time. Focus on the destination, not the journey. Remember, the goal is to become perfect, which is both normal and attainable. You’ll know when you’ve arrived! Hold off on everything good until that … 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