Fun
Who'd think filling a new palette could be so much fun? I bought a new porcelain palette (as opposed to an OLD porcelain palette?!). Because it is arranged like a color wheel, it only makes sense to fill it like a color wheel.
My friend, Cathy, bought one also, and we decided to fill them together. No, this is not the first palette I have ever owned, and hopefully not the last (it is certainly the heaviest - does that count for something?), but everything is more fun when you do it with a friend.
Somewhere, on someones blog, I read about painting small squares of watercolor paper and putting them in your palette to see how the sequence of colors works in your color wheel palette. I use a very limited range of colors, but Cathy had a lot of paint choices, which made the whole process entertaining - playing with all those colors!!! It was great.
Middle granddaughter then made a chart for me with the names of the paint colors on the little squares, and then she squeezed the paint into the wells on the palette. This one little project kept three of us entertained for a couple of hours. Who could ask for more?
Now I am off to teach Tuesday morning watercolor in friend Karen's garden. It is very overcast, but we're goin' for it. We don't want to miss this chance - it is a beautiful place to paint.
To paraphrase Ratty to Mole in WIND IN THE WILLOWS, There is absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as much as simply messing about with paints...Just lifts the heart and stirs the imagination. This is great fun for us, too, Catherine, though I'd like to see the whole circle of those little squares with all the names.
ReplyDeleteFrom your earlier lists,I imagine:
PY153 or Quin Gold and a lighter yellow; Thalo yellow-Green, Thalo Green and Hookers, your beloved Manganese, Ultra, Cobalt Blue and a darker or neutral; your beloved Cobalt Violet, Quin Magenta or some dark blue-red, Quin Red, Quin Rose and/or Permanent Rose, maybe Alizarin Crimson? And the ones around the Orange might be Burnt Sienna or Burnt Scarlet or Light Red?
annie
Annie - I love your "quote"!
ReplyDeleteAs for the palette colors, you are pretty close. Quin gold,new gamboge, hansa yellow med., thalo yellow green, undersea green (doesn't really fit in there, but I like it) thalo green yellow shade, manganese, Prussian blue, ultramarine, indigo, cobalt violet,quin rose,quin red,quin coral, burnt scarlet, quin burnt orange, pyrol orange (which I never use but it looks good there, doesn't it?).
I, too, have a Quiller porcelain palette but never used it because it is SO heavy... now that my "studio" is in my living room, it is a little too big. I do love his color theory and seeing it put into the real thing in your studio.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
PS If you know of some worthy artist that would like mine, I am happy to ship if off if they pay for the shipping cost.
Yes, Catherine, WIND IN THE WILLOWS is a splendid child's book. Of course, Ratty was talking about messing with boats but it seems to express the same deep joy that we have messing with paint.
ReplyDeleteI agree that your orange looks lovely placed there on your palette. I have no idea what to do with any orange so I just bought some pyrrole orange to play with because Bruce MacEvoy recommended it on his Handprint.com. I like the look of the way it flows on my paper.Maybe I'll try some orange poppies.
annie
Elizabeth - the palette certainly is too heavy to just carry around. How generous of you to be willing to give it away just for the cost of shipping. However, I haven't
ReplyDeletethought of a "worthy artist", but I will give it some more thought.
Annie - "deep joy" is a good way to put it.
I am going to try to remember to reach for that orange once in awhile - it is pretty.
Hi I know this is an older post but I just found your site. I was wondering why the porcelain palette, and not a plastic one for watercolors? They are so heavy.
ReplyDeleteSharon
Hi Sharon - Welcome to my blog! The palette is heavy, but I don't carry it around. It is strictly for the studio. I like the way the colors mix on it, and it cleans up, good as new, without staining, so I always have a very clean white mixing area.
ReplyDelete