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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Monthly Retrospective: February 2023

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Goal Updates

In January, I set a February goal and prompty forgot it! Evidently, I was supposed to not spend money, but I did. I bought a few paints. Oh well. On the plus side, I did cancel all my monthly fees/classes (Kolbie Blume’s Artist Co-op, Claire Giordano’s Adventure Art Academy, Skillshare). I’ve enjoyed all of these subscriptions, but I found myself falling further and further behind, and feeling like they were chores/sources of FOMO instead of fun. I also was feeling like I didn’t have time to do my own thing, and that some of my favorite random paintings come from just being bored, which I wasn’t letting myself do. So it was mostly time-related, but it didn’t help that it was all a continuous small drain on my bank account. So while I’m still doing the occasional one-off class, I’m going without subscriptions! I was kind of afraid to cut the cord, but I have to admit I feel more free than regretful, and I’m in no hurry to jump back into a commitment. I’m just going to see what happens for a bit.

Goal-setting is evidently not working super well, and it’s already well into March as I write this, so I’m not going to set one for this month. I think it’s more fun to identify a month theme in retrospect, anyway.

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What’s the difference between Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65) and Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110)?

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These two deep yellows are very similar in hue, so what’s the difference? I find Hansa Yellow Deep (this Daniel Smith one, at least) to be slightly more yellow, where as the Holbein Isoindolinone Yellow Deep that I tested is slightly more orangey. If I’m squinting, HYD looks more dull in masstone but brighter in … Read more

Loved & Learned from Kolbie Blume’s Intermediate Landscapes Module 2: Color

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I’m working my way through Kolbie Blume’s Intermediate Landscapes course; last time, I discussed module one, on light. In this post, I’ll share my paintings from the color theory section. The Paintings Complementary Snowy Mountain Loved Learned Split-Complementary River Sunset I consciously chose to differ from Kolbie’s color choices and make mine more like the … Read more

What’s the difference between Phthalo Green (Blue Shade) and Phthalo Green (Yellow Shade)?

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Top: Da Vinci – Phthalo Green Blue Shade (PG7).
Bottom: WN Winsor (Phthalo) Green Yellow Shade (PG36).

The two Phthalo Greens, Blue Shade and Yellow Shade, are made from different pigments (PG7 and PG36, respectively), but they share many properties. They are both very strong and staining, transparent, bold greens. They are similar enough that you probably don’t need both on the same palette, so which should you choose?

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