The Best Reason for the Best Black

   This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 

It can be difficult to commit to painting a black. 

You might wonder, What if it is wrong?

What if I put it in the wrong place?

What if I can't undo it?!!!

 

But with French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna (US), you can undo it!!

These two colors, since they are opaque and sit on the surface of the paper (another reason to know the properties of your paint) you can easily lift your black!

Just use your soft scrub and some water and the paint will lift right off. 

Knowing this, I use this technique in several of my paintings.

For The Attic Room, I painted the background with the US combo and then lifted out the ceiling beams with a soft scrub brush.

Keeping It Fresh

 This entry was originally posted on Friday, January 20, 2012.

So you have already squirted all your paint into your palette and it is hard and crusty by now. Every time you try to get rich color you have to scrub and scrub at it with your brush, possibly ruining that gorgeous sable and you still can't seem to get a nice rich dark color. What to do?

Instead of chiseling it out and deciding to start over, just spray your palette really well, put a wet sponge inside of it and keep it covered. Leave it for a day or two and viola! your paint is nice and juicy again.

Fresh Paint

 This entry was originally posted on Thursday, January 19, 2012.

I know that there are those artists out there that like to squeeze out the whole tube into their palette. Then the paint is dried in your palette and ready for your next painting adventure.

But I am not one of those. I love fresh paint!! The colors seem so much richer when the paint is fresh and you can get your darks and your blacks quicker and easier. No more wishy washy watercolors!

Just keep your tubes handy and squirt out a little bit at a time. More if you plan to paint more. Is it really that much harder to carry around a few extra tubes of paint?