How are you all? I have a story. Skip if you want to get right to work!
So my family has set up a Zoom meeting so we can be in touch. Aahhh heaven for a mom… One night though, more years ago than matter I was asleep in my futon in the Kyoshikan in Tokyo when I was startled awake at 3AM by a shake…. a shake that did not stop. Doors flew open, dishes tumbled to the floor a glass crashed. The dangerous kind of earthquake rattled me. The next day I went out to buy an emergency supply kit. Then again 3at AM the shaking began … and on it went. I grabbed my supplies and slipped beneath the kitchen table as we had been taught. The vacuum tumbled to the floor. More plates crashed. I curled my hand from beneath my table and snatched the rotary phone… I dialed America wanting to hear my family’s voices one last time. That phone call of 5 minutes cost $75. Our Zoom call = $0.00…
I received a note of frustration regarding color not ‘singing’ . Here are some tips.
- Have lots of pots of water around. Use one for blues and one for yellows. Colored water will drastically change the color you are painting with! Sometimes I have out as many as 10 pots. Its also a good use for all those pesky plastic dishes mushrooms come in!
- Have on your palette a separate yellow for mixing greens.
You would never want to use one of those pots of yellow to make orange! UGH!!!! - If your pots of paints become contaminated you do not need to throw that paint out! Let it dry a bit then take your brush and wash off the offending color. (For my palette I fully fill the wells letting the paint dry before using. If you squirt out and use paint you will have very thick paint more like acrylic than w/c).
- Know your pigments! If you use Rose Madder Genuine to make orange it will be gryed because RMG has blue in it.
The furthest left is RMG and AY. the middle Opera and AY and the right Winsor Yellow and Opera. WY does not have the bluish cast that AY has. All 3 are lovely colors, but if you wanted to render a back lit Icelandic poppy the left combination would not work.
Using pure colors, clean water and knowing the pigments will mean colors can sing! More on this in future posts but for now own this information by playing with the colors, water and brush! (I use the word own to mean we can read something but that does not result in it being in our muscle and mind.. doing it will make it part of you.)
Now a flower.I did a light out line identifying which petals would be lighter to ensure the flower would have dimension.
I then did a light wash over the entire flower by getting it wet ( damp enough to move pigment but no puddley) Then went back in with a greater ratio of pigment on the darker leaves before the first layer had dried letting the water move the pigment.
HINT – Your brush can act as a sponge. Use it to lift out if you get too much water.