It’s the battle of the crimsons! If you want a deep red on your palette, which should you choose? Which should I choose?
What’s the difference between Pyrrol Crimson and Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone?
Lessons from Shelby Thayne’s Layered Mountains
One of the first watercolor classes I ever took was Shelby Thayne’s “Night Skies” class, back in April 2021. Recently I took her “Layered Mountains” class, and it feels like I’ve come full circle. It’s a funny story how I found Shelby. It was early 2021, at that point in the pandemic when everyone was … Read more
Travel Sketches: Nova Scotia
I recently took my first vacation / plane trip since pre-pandemic, visiting Halifax, Nova Scotia and the surrounding area in late October, at the tail end of peak foliage. This was also one of the first times I’ve watercolored as a travel activity, beyond a few outdoor sketches in my local Massachusetts and nearby Maine! … Read more
Artist Palette Profiles: Shari Blaukopf
I’m really enjoying the Urban Sketching Handbook series: short, image-packed books that focus on watercolor on location. As a color enthusiast, one of my favorites so far has been Working with Color by Shari Blaukopf.
In the book, Blaukopf does list the colors in her current 23-color palette, though she cautions, “Don’t lock yourself into a final selection. In fact, I’m constantly swapping colors because I love to experiment.” Same!!
Still, let’s look at the palette listed in the book.
Qor High Chroma Set: Review & Brand Impressions
You know I’m a fan of high chroma colors, so I got the Qor High Chroma set, a set of six extremely intense colors. I have never tried the Qor brand before, so this is also my introduction to the brand.
What’s the difference between Transparent Red Oxide (PR101) and Quinacridone Burnt Orange (PO48)?
Transparent Red Oxide and Quinacridone Burnt Orange are both transparent, highly granulating earth oranges — alternatives to Burnt Sienna. Both can be mixed with Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) to create a Quinacridone Gold hue. So what’s the difference between them, and why might you choose one over the other?
Bottom: Daniel Smith Transparent Red Oxide (PR101).
It’s the battle of the granulating earth oranges!
Lessons from “Making Color Sing”: Greens, Greens, and More Greens
In previous posts on Jeanne Dobie’s Making Color Sing, I experimented with “mouse colors” and color-mixing. In chapter 3, Dobie focuses on a single color family: green! Green is such an important color for landscapes and has so many different mixable personalities that it’s often the subject of special attention; Shari Blaukopf also has a great spread on greens in Urban Sketching Handbook: Working with Color.
Which drawing pens are the most waterproof?
I sometimes like to sketch with a drawing pen before I paint over it in watercolor. Essentially, I’m making myself a coloring page using liners, brush pens, or both. However, I find myself often using pens which smear when I begin to paint over them. This is a great way to ruin a line drawing and muddy up a painting before I even start.
But which pens are actually waterproof enough to use with watercolor? I tried all the pens from the JetPens Waterproof Pen Sampler and the JetPens Waterproof Brush Pen Sampler to find out.
The Summer Palette!
Bottom row: Letter Sparrow Titan Buff; DS MANS (PBr7); DV Burnt Sienna Deep (PR101); Holbein Ultramarine Deep (PB29); DV Prussian Blue (PB27); DV Phthalo Turquoise (PB16); DS Rich Green Gold (PY129)
The Autumn Palette was so much fun to put together that I decided to go back in time and do one for summer. Even though the weather’s getting colder where I am, the Summer Palette captures the warmth and fun of summer!
To be honest, summer is my least favorite season in reality because I hate being hot, but I love the aesthetic of summer: the beach, the boardwalk, bright colors, sunny skies, nostalgic/steamy tan-toned blue skies.
In this palette, the top row represents a rainbow of brights, while the bottom row is the colors of nature.
What’s the difference between MANS and Yellow Ochre?
It’s no secret that my favorite earth yellow is Daniel Smith’s Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr7). But I also like a yellow ochre; for example, Holbein’s Yellow Ochre (PY42). They’re so similar that I wouldn’t want to have both in my palette at the same time, so which should I choose? Which is better in which situation?
