8.02.2011

Watercolor Palette

I'm currently on vacation in Wisconsin, but I've been feeling guilty about my lack of blog posts, and it happens to be raining a bit today, so here I am. So much has happened since the last time I posted, and I'd like to get back in the groove. I want to do a few posts to recap my last few weeks in Rome and also the USK Symposium in Lisbon, but I've had so many fantastic sketching-related experiences recently, it's hard to think of a place to start. 

So how about a quick post about my watercolor palette? This is proof that I was busy sketching. I went to Rome with a full palette, and didn't bother to bring my tubes of paint along. Toward the end of the study program, I was running very low on several colors, but especially the blues, and had to buy a small tube just to get through the rest of the summer. I always use M.Graham colors, which are the best I have ever tried, but this brand wasn't readily available in Rome, so I had to settle for a tube of Winsor & Newton French Ultramarine (that's what you can see in the third pan from the left). When I finally got home after the symposium, I cleaned up the palette and put some fresh blobs of color in the pans. I like a clean palette, in case you couldn't tell.

Left to Right, the colors are:
Pyrrol Red
Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine Blue
Cerulean Blue
Prussian Blue
Hooker's Green
Cadmium Yellow Light
Gamboge
Yellow Ochre
Raw Sienna
Burnt Sienna
Sepia

4 comments:

  1. Two questions if I may,
    What type of box do you use?
    What is your take on fugitive colors? I see you have Alizarin Crimson on your palette, do you only use that in your sketchbooks which will not have prolonged exposure to light? Or does this not concern you?
    I have been following your blog for quite some time now, always beautiful art!

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  2. I will go for Gambodge - have never seen it! I'm now trying the Pentel pens with china ink in differente colours good for some quick sketches.

    And am trying hard the light - unfortunatelly for the 2 last days we have had rain at Lisbon.

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  3. Hi Matthew

    Just to say hello. I'll follow your blog for sure.

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  4. @Moish - sorry I took so long to respond to your questions! The palette that I have is one I bought about 26 years ago, when I was a student. I don't remember what brand it was, and it doesn't have a brand name on it. But it's metal, with enamel paint, and it's very durable. Regarding fugitive colors, I don't worry about that, since I almost never hang my sketches on the wall - only once a year, when I put about 12 drawings in an annual art show - and I would never hang the originals where they would be exposed to sunlight for any length of time. Hope this helps!
    Matt

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