Sunday (Saturday?) Secrets #3

  This entry was originally posted on Sunday, February 5, 2012.

It is Sunday which means I get to answer another question that came into my email box this week.

The question this week is 

Do I ever mix brands of paint? 

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, I have all different brands of paint that I paint with.

My favorite brands are Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton.

I also have a couple of Graham and Holbein colors in my collection that I really like.

There is nothing wrong with mixing different brands of paint.

However, I try to stick to the brand that I start a painting with.

For instance, if I am using Daniel Smith's French Ultramarine Blue in one painting and I run out in the middle of it, I will try to continue to use the Daniel Smith brand until that painting is finished.

The reason for this is that there are differences in the brands of paint. Some are subtle but some are not.

If the difference is not subtle then my painting will look weird if half of it is painted with one brand and the other half with the other brand.

 

Limited Palette

 This entry was originally posted on Sunday, January 15, 2012.

Are you one of those people that has a BAZILLION colors and don't ever remember which of your colors you used to get that perfect color? That is usually because you have a bazillion colors.

I highly recommend starting with a limited palette and get to know those colors really, really well before you add anymore. You will also discover that you don't need to add too many more colors. You'll know how to mix just about anything from the colors that you have.

My basic palette consists of 8 colors.

A warm and cool of each primary and 2 earth colors.

All the secondaries can be mixed (imagine that!)

 You may choose your own but I find that having a warm and cool of each color works really well.

This is just my list of basic colors:

New Gamboge (warm yellow)

Winsor Yellow (cool yellow)

Cadmium Scarlet/Red (warm red)

Permanent Alizarin Crimson (cool red)

French Ultramarine Blue (warm blue)

Winsor Blue (green shade) (cool blue)

Raw Sienna (earth)

Burnt Sienna (earth)

Every now and again I do use other colors but I find that I keep coming back to these 8.

Quinacridone Rose

While writing Watercolor 365, I got the idea to paint some of my favorite supplies. The book starts out with photos of my supplies and then they slowly turn into paintings. 

Last summer I posted some of the supplies I had painted on my other blog, Leslie Redhead Fine Art.

A few of these paintings made it into the book, others did not. Now that the book is out, I thought I would post those that did not. 

Quinacridone Rose is one of the paintings that didn't make it in. However, I just love this color. It works well in mixes and even better alone.