Color – Page 3 – Jamie's Sketchbook

Foundations (4th Run)

Happy New Year!

I am so very excited about Foundations this year. As I was doing Buildings a lot of the basics really clicked for me in new ways, and thusly I’m quite excited to do Foundations, and focus on those basics, and allow my new depth of understanding to really be explored and practiced!

This is my fourth run through of Foundations! Hard to believe, isn’t it? I’ve never finished, (I say that a lot, don’t I?) but I always learn a lot. Obviously, I’m absolutely planning to complete everything! Naturally, I’m “behind” already. However, I love it no less!

For the first time, I’m using the same kit as Liz Steel for her class. I am particularly excited to stick with the six color palette and practice my color mixing! I’m pretty good with my color mixing, so this will be fun. I also got a set of Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils for Yule. Thusly, for the first time, I have the full set of colors Liz uses in her kit! Woot!

I’ve experimented with the watercolor brands I had previously, and so far the Albrecht Durer are my favorites for color intensity and ease of use. I’m looking forward to getting a feel for how they work and what I can do with them.

My six colors are all Daniel Smith.

Hansa Yellow Medium (HY)
Quincridone Rose (QR)
Ultramarine Blue (UB)
Cerulean Blue Chromium (CBC)
Transparent Red Oxide (TRO)
Monte Amiate Natural Sienna (MANS)

I did a few color bars, aiming for some shades and watercolor magic, as well as capturing which colors were used in the blend. Greens, browns, and grays are all colors that one benefits from knowing how to mix quickly! These are my Lesson 1 Indoor assignments. I always love sketching art materials, and doing color charts! I think we all do!

Yule

‘Tis the season, from holiday gnomes, to the annual quilt mystery! Capturing the bits and pieces during this cold, wintery season.

One of my gifts was 238 dot card set from Daniel Smith, so you know I had to make a color chart!

On the sketchbook design front, I noticed when I scanned these just how strongly I am still doing individual pages, and not really designing across the gutter. Only one of these four spreads utilizes both pages. I had not really noticed when I was making the pages, but I do when looking at the scans. This inspires me to think a bit more about my design, and layout in the future!

Happy Holidays everyone, and may your days be Merry and Bright! Happy New Year!

A Holiday Palette

I love the idea of seasonal palettes, and color stories. For this holiday season I am inspired by these tones and colors, and I suspect one could do quite a lot with this colored. My watercolors are all Daniel Smith. The gold gouache is Winsor Newton. After all, the holiday season needs some sparkle!

Then I had to figure out what, exactly, is “Interference Gold” by Daniel Smith, and how does it work? Am I supposed to mix it in to paint to make the paint sparkle? Nope. That gives a tiny bit of sheen, but is really not very effective. How does it work if I paint it on top? That was the sparkliest options. It is transparent enough fro the color to come through, but also clearly gold in the light. I tested how these palette colors “lift” alongside a swipe of Interference Gold, as well.

February Pages

New supplies, and mysteries, a lot of color testing Potter’s Pink, and seeking out those lavenders, February brought a mix of sketches.

This is the page that launched the lavender search. I was trying to color match the post card, and didn’t quite get the results I wanted.

I do love to sketch art supplies!

Color testing for lavenders and Potter’s Pink

Here is the great search for how to make that lavender I was going for earlier in the month. Then I had to dive into Potter’s Pink and really get a true feel for what it does!

Testing Products

Time for some product tests!

Comparing the colors of Polychromos, Albrecht Durer, and Derwent Inktense to see how they compare and to find matches.

I had a variety of pens and items I’d received via my Sketchbox subscription, so I tested those out.

I was gifted an old set of Arteza brush pens, so here was my color chart and testing of those.

Testing various shades of grey, grey brush pens and pencils. I do love the warm greys!

Leaves, Clothes, and a Palette

Continuing on with my older sketchbooks, where I was still experimenting a lot in my pages.

Since I sew and dye many of my own clothes, sketching my wardrobe is always a favorite for me! That green is not at all accurate for the clothes, so thus begins my eternal quest to match the perfect mixes for greens!

I was attempting to create a nice Autumn color palette and was testing some choices. Most of these colors were very new to me when I made this color test page!

Derwent Inktense Pencils

How do Derwent Inktense pencils perform? How do Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils compare? Which do I want to use? Nothing like a good color test to find out!

Here I am learning the difference between water soluble and not with a small set of Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils compared with Derwent Watercolor Pencils. I also wanted to see what happens with the watercolor pencils when activated with water.

Then I wanted to find out of Polychromos pencils actually are the same shade as their Albrecht Durer Watercolor brethren. Sure enough, they really are! How great is that?! While I was at it, I had some Derwent Studio pencils, so I decided to check those out.

Derwent Inktense Pencils – Blues & Greens

Since I had a big set of Inktense, next it was time to make a color chart. I sure do love to make color charts!

Daniel Smith Palettes

I ran across a number of six color palettes that Daniel Smith was building with various artists. I since I already had many of the colors, I set out to document the various collections in order to try them at some point, since I was having such fun with the Direct Watercolor Palette. (Sketchbook v2, Stillman & Birn Beta, 3.5 x 5.5 in.)

Sketchbook 1b Complete

This is the first sketchbook I finished, the second sketchbook I started. I had accidentally labeled it volume 1, then found the earlier sketchbook, so I changed it to volume 1b. This is a 5.5 x 8.5 inch Stillman & Birn Beta, softcover. I used it mostly for classwork, and color tests. Very much a working sketchbook.

So Many Colors!

I am obsessed with color! Now I was bitten with the color bug, and just had to try out all sorts of different pigments and find out what I had in stash, as well as the new ones I bought just for fun. I filled pages with these color tests in my Stillman & Birn Beta.

I learned a lot about these paints during this phase. Then I had to learn how to mix greys. I tried a few recipes I’d read from others, and tested them out myself.