Winnie the Pooh
” They’re funny things, accidents. You never have them till you’re having them.”
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I love happy “accidents” that lead to something unexpected and wonderful. When I was in Toronto teaching last week, I visited the local art supply store (of course) and discovered a dot colour chart of Daniel Smith watercolours – dots of paint you can actually use. Finding it was my happy accident.
Because I’ve been reading a lot of rave reviews for Daniel Smith watercolours, I grabbed a set. Though too busy to paint while teaching, I’d look at those pretty dots of colour in the evenings. I decided they would be the genesis of the daily sketching practice I’ve been talking about. So when I got home, I dug out the small journal from Global Art I’d bought for this purpose, my Escoda travel brush and got down to it.
I’ve decided to paint whatever catches my eye on a particular day. In other words, not to stress about the subject – which I often do and it usually stops me from doing anything. These orchids in my studio caught my eye so I pulled up a chair and started with a line sketch using a Sakura Pigma Micron 05 black marker. I like the fine line it makes and the ink is fade proof and water proof.
Then I got out those new Daniel Smith colours and had a ball trying them out. I tried to write down the colours as I used them but I admit to getting carried away by the process. I kept it fast and loose because I love the energy of a ‘sketchy’ piece and it loosens me up for ‘serious’ painting.
I used:
- Deep Sap Green for the leaves . Definitely a new favourite green. It’s gorgeous!
- English Red Ochre – perfect for the clay pot
- Van Dyke Brown for the smaller pot
- Pthalo Yellow Green for the underlying tint to the orchids
- Rose Madder Permanent for the overlying tint
- Bordeaux for the veining (Another bewitching colour I will be using more of)
- Antraquinoid Red for the the lip. I don’t have another good word to describe how beautiful this colour is.
I have to say I love the Daniel Smith colours so far. Rich with lots of pigment. You’ll be seeing more of them soon.