Summer Treats Palette - GPP Crusade No. 53

Virtual color palette extracted from scanned paint reference journal.

 A little scanning, Photoshop Elements, and imagination came together to come up with my Summer Treats Palette.  This month's challenge from the Green Pepper Street Team was the motivation to take a new look at my paint reference journal.  I use spiral bound watercolor paper tablets to develop palettes for many of my paintings.  I like to use a limited number of paints from the tube and develop a range of shades and tints so my paints will have unity.  This is one example of how I may proceed.

Scanned paint reference journal page.

These are smears of acrylic paint - Liquitex and Golden brands - that were applied to the page with palette knives.  Some colors are pure from the tube and others are blends.  I also added titanium white to some of the blends.  I write notes around the smears to help me recreate the colors.

I developed this palette last year while planning a painting for Unforgettable Art.  I used much of this palette for paintings of purple coneflowers.  Sadly, one of the paints is no longer available, so I'll need to do another version of this palette to come up with a good compromise.  Sounds like fun to me!

Be sure to visit the GPP Street Team blog to see how Michelle Ward prompted us for the challenge.  Maybe you'll be inspired to join in.  Even if you don't blog yourself, try this.  It was lots of fun.

GPP Crusade No. 39: Pulling Prints

Today I decided to prepare a spread in my GPP journal in anticipation of creating monoprints for this crusade. I ended up making my first print for the challenge. Go to the link to read more about pulling prints.
This post features a variation on the technique that Michelle Ward describes.
I decided to create a journal featuring GPP crusades this year. I used Fabriano cold pressed watercolor paper which is very textured and will make a sturdy journal when I bind it.

But back to the monoprint. Instead of putting paint on a hard surface, I used a palette knife to smear the paint around one half of my journal spread. Then I folded the spread in half so the "clean" side would press against the wet paint. I used a cloth to rub on the paper and press the pages together.

The next step was to lay three plastic canvas circles on the painted half after giving the page a light misting of water. I folded the pages together again and rubbed the paper firmly. I was very pleased with the results. My original intention was to use this as a background that I would adhere pulled prints on. I don't want to cover up all this delicious color and texture. Plan B will be executed when I have a bit of time... Enjoy these lovely close-ups from my spread.

Only Liquitex acrylic paint colors were used: Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red Light, Acra Gold Deep & maybe a bit of Titanium White.
Paint applied thinly on the textured surface creates wonderful abstract designs.
You can see the mark the plastic canvas circle formed when I pressed the wet layers of paint and paper together.
More yumminess!

Art Journal Day 12 - Blue

This week Misty Mawn has prompted us to focus on color in our art journals. Today is blue. If I had to select ONE color as a favorite, I think I would choose blue. There are so many beautiful versions of blue. I chose to use Daniel Smith's Lapis Lazuli Genuine watercolor as my primary blue for this spread. It reminds me of my favorite shade of denim.

I started by prepping the pages with what I thought was thinned gesso I had stored in a yogurt container. I added a bit more gesso into the container and then started spreading it on the page. It just seemed too smooth. Well, I kept on working away prepping a few more pages. When I grabbed the container's lid, I saw where I'd written gloss varnish over the label. OOPS! Since I'd mixed some gesso into it, I thought "What the heck" and see what happens. The surface didn't have as much tooth as I usually desire. But I like the way the watercolor paint looked on the surface. It lifts very easily, so I had to be careful.

Embellishments and journaling finished off the pages. I like working monochromatically. It simplifies decision making. I'm looking forward to the rest of this week's prompts.

Illustration Friday - Pet Peeves

After considering many peeves (and seeing excellent illo's by other IF participants who covered those ideas), I settled on this piece I started last week.
I grabbed a piece of watercolor paper, taped it to my board, and proceeded to wet the paper. Then the hills began to appear. OOOOOO - a pet peeve was there before my eyes. Rippling paper.
NOW - as an experienced painter, I should have paid attention to which paper I selected. This is 90# paper that I usually use for crafty projects. But I wanted to work more traditionally. This paper just isn't cut out for it. Even if I had taken the time to stretch it, it fails in other ways. It doesn't lift well. After a little abuse, the surface starts to deteriorate (I've cropped that out of the image.)
In my last post I told some of the virtues of working with a limited palette. I used a triad of colors suggested by Dory Kanter in her book Art Escapes.
These are Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose, Winsor Lemon & Winsor Blue (Red Shade).
Thanks for stopping by.

Limited Palette Watercolor Landscape Study

A fun challenge with watercolor is to do a painting using only THREE paint colors. Tonight I did a quick study with a triad of earth colors: Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna & Indigo. They make an earthy version of the classic yellow, red, blue triad.

I only used a 3/4 inch flat brush to paint this 6 x 9 inch landscape. It was done quickly & intuitively. The final touch was to scratch lines into the foreground with the pointed end of the brush handle while the paper was still quite damp.

I have been inspired to play with triads by Dory Kanter and Nita Leland. I love their books.

I am teaching another watercolor class at the Swinging Bridge Studio . Check out the link for information on signing up. We will meet on April 15th & 22nd with the option of further sessions. Working with a limited color palette will be included in the class.

Thanks for stopping by.