Do you have a Basic Palette?
A collection of colours that are your 'Go To' colours?
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| CHICKADEE: WINTER WHISPERS - 11 X 14, $600 Varnished Watercolour on Wood Cradle |
As an Outdoor Sketcher, you know you must pack light and work quickly. Light, weather and life keeps you on the go. So a small well set up Travel Palette is vital to your success.
Several years ago I moved to my present Travel Kit - see
My Really SMALLmendous Art Kit. It has proven to be
Amazing! My palette is small enough for light weight travel and big enough to meet any challenge. I have used it while balancing on a rocky ledge, floating in my kayak, and relaxing comfortably on an airplane. It has come through with flying colours.
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| My Trusty Paint Palette - notice the 1 empty pan |
The most important element of my travel kit is my paint palette. It's where the main action happens. It holds 12 paint pans. But as you can see, one is empty. I have left it that way for some time. Unsure of what I wanted to put there.
Yes, I use other colours besides these when painting in my studio but . . .
You know what it's like. You pull in a new colour for those one or two paintings. The colour works for them but then you don't seem to use it again for awhile. It seemed very important to me to find 'the right colour' to fill that spot.
Well I found it!!!
The winner is "Payne's Gray" (PG). I can't say it was a new colour to me. It has certainly been in the mix on my large studio palette. But I seemed to always shy away from it. I was concerned I would end up with 'mud' when mixing it with other colours. I would now like to apologize to that Gray. I was wrong.
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Note the Great Greens, Purples and Browns
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It really come to the forefront when I was looking for a quick dark. In Outdoor sketching you often do not have time to mix a lot of colours. The instant 'blacks' that I tried were just too black and didn't seem to mix well with my other colours. (I know we all have our own preference for how we depict shadows. Often I want them warm and I just found the blacks too cold) I found that Payne's Gray gave me a great dark and also one I could 'push' in any direction: warm or cold.
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| Loved the mixes with the blues and reds, both mixed and glazed over |
Payne's Gray mixes really well with my other colours in my palette. Most of the colours are transparent, non-staining colours. Adding PG to them muted the hues. I especially loved the new blues, browns and greens I could quickly mix
.
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| Rocky Shore on Gabriola Island - Note the great variety of greens in the tree. |
By itself, PG presents a lovely variety of blue to gray hues that can be both warm and cool. But when the paint is thick, it gives a really dark colour.
As a person that loves to use lots of glazing with my watercolours, PG responds really well. Check out the branch that my Chickadee rests on, in my painting at the top of this post. ↑↑↑ Look at the lovely gray it makes for the branch and note the rosy colouring in the shadows. So Neat.
I would love to know what some of your "Go To" colours are.
See Below my Online Drawing Classes for February 2024 and let me know if you are interested in my Outdoor Sketching Classes this summer or the all inclusive 4 Day Art Retreat, June 21-24
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| Enhance Your Drawing Skills |
Come Draw with Me
“I attended an online drawing class from Wendy. I loved it and learned so much. She is very thorough and provides terrific feedback on your works of art. I highly recommend it.”
Ready to Enhance your Drawing Skills and Explore new Mark-making Techniques in a relaxed, fun setting?
During your Lessons You will:
- Learn when it’s best to erase and when to wait
- Dive into the little Secrets that make drawing a success
- See how light can transform your subjects
- Make friends with your inner critic and make it work for you
- Nail down that perfect perspective and proportion
- Use lines, shapes, and shadows to guide your viewer’s eyes and keep them engaged in your work
Online Drawing Classes
Feb 15, 22, & 29, 2024, 5:30-7:30pm (PT)
Early Bird $75 Before Feb 12, $90 after
Contact Wendy toRegister
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