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The Greek Islands Sketching Tour and other adventures

November 6, 2019, 11:37 pm
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It's been a busy year with some wonderful trips including Japan, London, Amsterdam for the Urban Sketchers Symposium and Lord How Island, where I hope to run a week-long workshop in a couple of years. If you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen a number of sketches and paintings from all these places. (Janeblundellart)

Fabulous colours to paint and enjoy :-)
I've recently returned from teaching a wonderful sketching tour of the Greek Islands. We had three weeks and travelled to six quite different islands, with optional day trips to Turkey and another lovely small island. Our task was to document them in our sketchbooks using pen, pencil, watercolour, ink, gouache, watercolour pencil and some other fun tools.

Sketching in Vathy, Kalymnos. Watercolour.





It was a wonderful group of people and a fabulous itinerary organised by Artemisarttours.com.

I'll have enough photos to paint from for years!

I set different challenges for the various subjects we were painting.

Sometimes we painted first then drew onto the wash, sometimes we left the white of the page, sometimes we just drew in ink. That's the joy of a sketchbook - you are free to do what you want :-)


Looking across from Kalymnos to Telendos Island. Watercolour pencil and watercolour.
Some of the group sketching the ancient olive trees.

Demonstrating a study of an olive sprig in an ancient olive grove. Ink and watercolour.

I will be teaching another three-week tour next September, going to a few different islands. Details are on my website here - I keep this updated with all upcoming workshops and demonstrations.

Coming up in Australia is a one day travel sketching workshop at Art Est on the 1 December; a 5-day workshop in Mittagong as part of the Sturt Summer School. Full information is here. And another 5-day workshop in Bathurst teaching Mastering Watercolour. Details here.




Happy Painting!





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Da Vinci Travel Brushes

November 12, 2019, 9:33 pm
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Da Vinci travel brushes - size 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10,
followed by the Caseneo in a size 8 and a size 10 dagger.
I've posted about the Da Vinci brushes previously here, but I wanted to focus this time just on their travel brushes. They have three main ranges - the Pure Kolinsky 1503 range, the Caseneo 1593 synthetic squirrel range, and the Cosmotop Spin synthetic 1573 range. All are made with the screw on caps so they are very secure while painting or when capped for travel.
(There is also a series 4156 travel range and a series 910 travel range with retractable brush tips, but I haven't tried any of these.)

I love the Kolinsky range, and have used the number 8 to sketch with for years, especially when I am teaching. It is a great size and shape for up to A4 sketch books. It holds a lot of water and comes to a lovely point.

In the same range, I've shown the size 3, 4, 5 and 6. There is a big jump in size from the 6 to the 8 as the barrel size goes up. There is another jump in barrel size for the 10. Click here to see the full Maestro range. I find I use the number 8 and 6 for just about all of my sketches. There is a set with the 4, 6 and 8 in a travel wallet that is just perfect for travel sketching.

Also pictured is the size 8 Caseneo pointed brush and the size 10 dagger - a new shape recently released and really useful as a general purpose brush. It can be used to lay on larger washes, for fine details or for more random leaf and foliage marks. Smaller sizes pointed brushes are available in this synthetic hair. There is a travel flat and a lovely mop in the Caseneo range too. The Caseneo are wonderful synthetic squirrel brushes that really perform well. Click here to see the full Caseneo range.

To see the full Cosmotop Spin synthetic range click here.

Da Vinci is a German company, and one of the largest brush manufacturers in the world. I've been very happy with all the brushes I've used. 

Happy painting!


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My Palettes and favourite Pigments - part one.

November 13, 2019, 5:53 pm
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I am often asked what other colours I use or like, and why. There are rather a lot. I have posted a paint-out of my main studio palette before, which I have recently updated. This would have some of my top 20 pigments, and allows me to paint almost anything I choose as it has a good range of yellows, reds, blues, greens and neutrals. These are
  • Yellows  - Hansa Yellow Medium DS, Quinacridone Gold DS, Goethite DS and Raw Umber DS or DV.
  • Reds/Oranges - Rose Red Deep (DV) , Transparent Pyrrol Orange DS, Indian Red DS is my earth red and Pyrrol Crimson (DS) my deep crimson. (In my little travel palette I sometimes use Carmine DS in place of the crimson and rose pigments)
  • Blues - Phthalo Blue RS DS, Ultramarine DS or DV, Cerulean DS, Indanthrone Blue DS
  • Greens - Phthalo Green PG7(DS or DV), Undersea Green mix DS (PB29+PO49), Sap Green (DS PO49 + PG7) and Perylene green that is so useful for foliage in shadow.
  • Neutrals - Buff titanium DS, Burnt Sienna DS or DV PBr7, Burnt Umber and finally my 'Jane's Grey' mixture of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine. This is the one I refill the most. 
My 20 colour brass studio palette from littlebrassbox.
So then what to do with the colours I want to use on occasions but not all the time? 

You may say 'get a bigger palette'. I had a wonderful large palette that worked very well in many ways. It held 34 colours and had good mixing areas but it took up a lot of space on my work desk and was not easily portable if wet so it was really only good in my studio. (Called the Bullet Proof Palette, by the way, though it is not actually made of glass but strong plastic.) It also had a number of colours that were more for special use than for all the time. My brass one is very compact when not in use, with great mixing space during use. What I wanted was a separate 'extras' set that I could keep in the drawer when not in use or take with me when teaching or demonstrating.

So what are these special extras?

My studio 'extras' palette.
Some are opaque versions of colours I have, some are more granulation, some are cool yellows for demonstrating or teaching purposes. It is not essential to have them all by any stretch of the imagination, but some of the colours I include are

Cadmium Yellow Light - an opaque yellow for when more coverage is required. or Hansa Yellow Light Daniel Smith or Da Vinci PY3 - a lovely transparent cool yellow.

New Gamboge  - the original PY153 versions from Daniel Smith. It is the most lovely transparent warm yellow I have tried. Mixable, but at times it's good to start with a single pigment colour. Hansa Yellow Deep is another excellent option.

Benzimida Orange Deep DaVinci - this is a gorgeous orange with a lovely yellow undertone. Once again it is mixable, but just lovely. Or Schmincke Transparent Orange.

Pyrrol Scarlet DS - a very lightfast warm red. I like the pyrroles and they intermix very well. A bright red can be perfect for certain flower studies.

Purple Magenta Schmincke - this is the lovely PR122 magenta that the most gorgeous purples. It's great if I want to work in a limited CYM palette too!

Imperial Purple DS - purely convenience if painting purple flowers. Some might prefer a PV23 Dioxazine violet.

Moonglow DS - this mix of Ultramarine, Anthraquinoid Red and Viridian is just lovely for many floral shaded areas.

Cobalt Blue - this lovely mid or primary blue doesn't get a lot of use, though it's wonderful in the Greek Islands and for skies.

Phthalo Blue GS DS - I don't use this colour much but have it for demonstration purposes for my on-line tutoring since it is a traditional choice for most people. My palette has Red Shade.

Cobalt Turquoise - this is an easy enough colour to make but the granulation is something special.

Jadeite DS - this granulating pine-like green is one of my favourite pigments. It behaves a bit like Phthalo green but is much deeper in mass-tone, more like peryleen green. Wonderful in foliage. Still in my little travel palette.

Green Apatite Genuine - I love this colour and use it often. Goes from a light green gold through a sap green to a deep undersea green all in one - still in my little travel palette.

Serpentine Genuine DS - wonderful fro grassy meadows, with lovely flecks of brown in the green wash.

Green Gold - PY129 - this is another useful convenience colour for botanicals.

Yellow Ochre PY43- an earth yellow that is a little opaque. Makes great olive greens, when I don't want the granulation of Goethite

Raw Sienna PBr7- for skin tones or if I want a warm glow in the sky without it turning green mixed with a blue - one of the characteristics of this pigment.

Transparent Red Oxide DS- this is an option for a burnt sienna but is wilder so I keep it for special purposes, especially rust. Fabulous granulation!

Piemontite DS - a granulating Primatek colour that has an amazing tonal and colour range. It washes down to a dusty pink. A very interesting alternative to Indian Red.

Grey Titanium - introduced in 2019, along with Jane's Grey, this is an interesting colour that can be just perfect for concrete, neutral passages in a wash and some stone effects. I tend to use this in my plein air extras palette.

Lunar Black DS - I don't generally use a black pigment but I love this one due to its extraordinary granulation.


I have many other watercolours that I don't use so often so my next problem was how to store and potentially carry these extra pigments when teaching colour workshops. I found the answer that solved all the rattling pans and I'll write about Malcolm Carver's flower palettes, and my 'special use' pigments in another post.







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Watercolour sketchbooks

December 10, 2019, 7:26 pm
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I've used and travelled with many sketchbooks since I first sat outside trying to sketch a duck pond when I was 11. In recent years, I've really concentrated on working in sketchbooks that will take watercolour washes. I'll include a number of them here. 

I created a template so I could easily draw the same arrangement of squares in each book, then painted the boxes in the same colours to give a comparison of the papers. I've then scanned them all on the same scanner. Most colours look pretty accurate but Cerulean Chromium looks more turquoise in all of the samples. I'll add my notes about now I felt painting them. Some papers required a faster touch than others.

While I have more information on these on my website here, I thought this may be the best way to allow easy comparison of the paper types. I have loaded them in no particular order. I haven't shown the liftability of each paper. (That's not a word, but I think it's useful ;-) so will do that another time.

The colours I've used are my suggested 12-colour urban sketching palette and are all Daniel Smith - buff titanium, hansa yellow medium, quinacridone gold, quinacridone rose, ultramarine, cerulean chromium, perylene green, goethite, burnt sienna, Indian red, raw umber and Jane's grey. You can read more about that on my website here or on my blog, set up in a palette, here.

Stillman & Birn - Alpha. 
This comes in a range of sizes and in spiral, hardcover or soft cover. It is 150gsm paper designed to take light washes. The paper is a bright white, takes fountain pen and pencil really well and has a very slight texture, described as a vellum surface. 

I enjoy this as a paper to use for notes and sketches, where I'll be doing more writing than sketching, or for quick sketches, demonstrations or colour studies. I've used many of them in many sizes, especially the landscape format hard-bound 9x6" hardbound books. There is some show-through, but remarkably little. There is also a little buckling but it has never worried me. The soft-bound are lighter for travel but I personally prefer the hard covers. 

Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook sample page

Global Handbook Watercolour sketchbook. 
This paper comes in a range of sizes and interesting shapes and is fairly strongly textured paper. The cover is a light grey fabric hard-cover. It is 200gsm, which I think is a good thickness for a sketchbook. The paper is natural white and the texture is similar, though not identical, on both sides. I feel that is has a right and wrong side for best results but it's a nice book. 
Global Handbook Watercolour Sketchbook sample page

Hahnemühle Watercolour Book
This paper is a natural white, acid free and has a fine grained texture on both sides. I think it is excellent. It comes in a range of shapes and sizes including zig-zag formats.
Hahnemühle Watercolour Book sample page

Moleskine Watercolour notebook (original)
The original Moleskine watercolour notebook had wonderful 200gsm natural white paper, with the same cold pressed texture on both sides. I loved this paper when I first started using it in 2009. It took pen and pencil well and watercolour behaved very predictably on it.
Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook (original) sample page

Moleskine Watercolour Notebook (2nd Generation)
This is 200gsm paper in the same natural white as the Hahnemühle and Global. It is 25% cotton, acid free. But is has quite a different texture on each side of the paper. I understand it has improved but I haven't tried the latest version. This sample is painted on the 'right' side.
Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook (2nd generation) sample page

Stillman & Birn - Zeta
This is a smooth surfaced 270 gsm paper in a bright white. It is gorgeous for pen and pencil but you need to use watercolour very quickly to keep in under control. Personally I always prefer to use watercolour on cold pressed rather than smooth or hot-pressed papers, but many like the smooth surface.
Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook sample page

Stillman & Birn - Beta
This is a brighter white paper like the Alpha, but in a heavier 270gsm weight. While it is cold pressed with a surface that takes pen or pencil beautifully, you have to work quickly with watercolours so it is more difficult to control.
Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook sample page

Koval Sketch Book - Pro
This is 300gsm cold pressed, acid free, 100% cotton natural white paper. It looks and feels very like Fabriano Artistico paper but is whiter. It is very easy to control the watercolour washes and it shows the granulation of the pigments beautifully.

Koval sketch Book Pro sample page


Winsor & Newton Watercolour Book
This is another 100% cotton, cold pressed 300gsm acid free sketchbook. It comes in a range of sizes and in hard or soft cover. Very easy to control, with a gentle grained texture so it takes pencil and pen well.
Winsor & Newton Watercolour Book sample page

Etchr Lab - The Etchr Sketchbook
Made from 230gsm cold pressed paper, this is the most textured of the papers included. 100% cotton, natural white, with a heavy fabric cover. It is available in A5 and A4 but also in a hot pressed (smooth) version. Hardcover with a cream fabric cover. The paper would skip more than some others with pencil or pen but watercolour behaved nicely in it.
Etchr sketchbook sample page

Etchr Lab - The Perfect sketchbook 
Artist grade, 100% cotton, 300gsm Cold Pressed paper. This is a joy to use. The watercolour behaves with a high degree of predictability and control. The paper has a soft texture on both sides. It is a creamy white. Available in A5 or A4 landscape only. Hardcover, with a grey cover.
Etchr Lab The Perfect sketchbook sample page

The Perfect Sketchbook B5 (Kickstarter 200gsm version)
This is the sketchbook I have been using since I received them in April 2016. It is Fabriano Artistico cold pressed 200gsm 100% cotton paper. It is a slightly cream white, which is my only criticism. It works beautifully for pen, ink and gives tremendous control with traditional watercolour techniques.
It is available in 300gsm from Etchr Lab as their Signature sketchbook.
The Perfect Sketchbook B5 sample page

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Marie's Masters Watercolours

March 24, 2020, 8:05 pm
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While I have known about Marie's Chinese Watercolours for many years (they have a hundred year history) I wasn't aware until recently that there was also a Masters range. Thanks to one of my kind readers and workshop students Garnet, here they are.

They are made in Shanghai, China.

The naming is not completely consistent. The Cadmium hues are labelled as such but the Cobalt, Vermilion, Viridian and many of the earth hues are not.

I painted these from dried dot samples from tube colours. Apparently they shrink quite a bit as they dry. Mostly they re-wet well though some were a little more difficult to get a strong wash. There are some excellent pigments and some great colours in the set, but also some less interesting mixes. There are 43 colours, excluding iridescent and interference colours.

The stars represent lightfast ratings where I am guessing 4 is the best. The letters A, B or C refer to the series where I am assumed A is the most expensive. I did not find a website to check. Tubes are 9ml and are very affordable - find them in Australia here for only AU$4.35 per tube regardless of series.

As usual, the oranges and crimsons are hard to scan accurately so I've taken photos of some swatches and will note colour differences below.


These yellows look fairly close to the originals. The Cadmium Orange (Hue) is actually just a little more yellow than it looks on my screen.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Light (Hue), Cadmium Yellow (Hue), Gamboge (Hue), Cadmium Orange (Hue)

I had to take a photograph to try to replicate these colours. Most are pretty close but the Crimson is just a bit more 'crimson-looking' than it appears here.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Transparent Red, Crimson, Prose Permanent Crimson, Permanent Rose.

This is another photograph and is also better than the scan but the colours are a little brighter than they look here. The pigment used in Cadmium Red (Hue) is my favourite for a lovely warm red.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Vermilion Red, Cadmium Red Pale (Hue), Cadmium Red Hue), Cadmium Red Deep (Hue).


The colours in this scan are fairly close - only the Alizarin Crimson (should be called a hue, as it is not made with PR83) looks a little less crimson in this image.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Alizarin Crimson, Purple Lake, Purple Red, Brilliant Purple, Ultramarine.

Cobalt blue should be called a hue since it doesn't contain PB28. Prussian Blue was difficult to activate.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Cobalt Blue, Sky Blue, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Prussian Blue.

Viridian should also be called a hue, or be called Phthalo Green Blue Shade, which is what it is.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Peacock Blue, Viridian, Phthalo Green, Emerald Green.

Yellow Ochre was quite lovely to paint out.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Sap Green, Hooker's Green Light, Hooker's Green Dark, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna.

Burnt Sienna, like many of the earth colours, should be called a hue - it doesn't contain PBr7 at all. Deep Umber and Light red were very nice to paint out.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Deep Umber, Light Red.

I love Indian Red, though it can be overpowering. This version was nice and rich, but easily controlled. While I am not a big pan of greys made with black pigments, the Payne's Grey was a nice version as it uses ultramarine rather than phthalo blue so is not as cold as Payne's Grey often can be.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Indian Red, Vandyke Brown, Payne's Gray, Indigo.

I couldn't get the Lamp Black any darker than this but perhaps it is stronger from the tube.
Marie's Masters Watercolours - Ivory Black, Lamp Black, White.

I wish everyone all the best of health in these challenging and difficult times. Like so many, I have cancelled my trips, classes and workshops for the foreseeable future and will be working from home. I plan to get a lot done on my online classes and set up video classes for my regular students. I am also thinking of setting up a Q&A sessions once a week via Facebook, Instagram, Zoom or other - suggestions welcome.

kind regards.
Jane
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March 25, 2020, 6:18 pm
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I created a blog post about a few of the Daler Rowney colours here in 2018, but now have swatches of most of the colours due to the generosity of another of my readers, Kamal. Just a few more to complete...

The English company Daler Rowney is not as well known as Winsor & Newton, but it is another high quality watercolour brand. The dried watercolour dots rewet with ease and most colours painted out beautifully. Once again, I've added a couple of photos (rather than scans) of the oranges and reds to better show the colours. Scans of the rest of the colours are fairly accurate.

Some pigments have changed so I'll note that in the comments and captions below.


Nickel Titanate Yellow is never a strong colour - it's a very weak pigment - but it is a granulating yellow. Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow and Bismuth Yellow are all lovely cool yellows, with PY3 being the most transparent option.

Daler Rowney Watercolour - Titanium White, Chinese White (now called Zinc White and made with PW4 and PW6), Nickel Titanate Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Pale.

Permanent Yellow is a lovely bright mid yellow option.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Bismuth Yellow, Permanent Yellow, Aureolin (not shown), Cadmium Yellow,
Cadmium Yellow (Hue) (not shown).

These scans look a little brighter in real life. I just love the PY153 pigment found in Gamboge Hue and Indian Yellow, however the new stock of Indian Yellow is now made with PY83.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Cadmium Yellow Deep, Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue, Gamboge Hue,
Indian Yellow (now made with PY83), Naples Yellow.

The photo of these swatches is better than the scan but they still look a little dull compared with the originals. Warm Orange looks more red on my screen than in reality. though it certainly leans towards red.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Orange Hue, Warm Orange, Permanent Red,
Cadmium Red Pale (not shown)

These swatches all look more red in my screen. They are all quite similar, with the Vermilion (Hue) being my favourite pigment for a warm red option. Cadmium Red (Hue) is now made with PR254 and PY74, as is Cadmium Red (Hue). Quinacridone Red is the classic coral colour of this pigment.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Cadmium Red Pale (Hue) (now made with PR254 and PY74), Vermilion (Hue),
Cadmium Red, Cadmium Red (Hue) (now made with PR254 and PY74), Quinacridone Red.

 Perylene Red is a really rich and less 'dull' version of this pigment than most.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Cadmium Red Deep (not shown), Cadmium Red Deep (Hue) (not shown)
(now made with PR264 and Pr255), Carmine, Alizarin Crimson, Perylene Red.

Permanent Rose looks a bit more magenta on my screen - it is the classic rose colour.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Alizarin Crimson (Hue), Permanent Rose, Quinacridone Magenta, Permanent Magenta,
Cobalt Magenta.

This is a really nice version of Ultramarine Violet, which can be quite weak. I am not a fan of Prussian Blue. This one wouldn't brush out nicely.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Ultramarine Violet, Permanent Mauve, Indanthrene Blue (not shown),
Prussian Blue, Indigo.

Daler Rowney Watercolour - Phthlao blue (Red Shade), Phthalo Blue (Green Shade), Cobalt Blue,
Cobalt Turquoise (Green Shade), Manganese Blue Hue.

Daler Rowney Watercolour - Cobalt Blue Deep, Ceoruleum, French Ultramarine, Permanent Blue,
Cobalt Turquoise (Red Shade).

Viridian is now viridian Hue and is made from PB36 and PG7, which means it will have different characteristics. PG18 is granulating and very liftable.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Transparent Turquoise, Cobalt Green Deep,  Phthalo Turquoise (not shown),
Viridian (now Viridian Hue made with PB36 and PG7), Phthalo Green.

Daler Rowney Watercolour - Hooker's Green Dark, Terre Verte Hue, Sap Green, Oxide of Chromium Green,
Hooker's Green Light.

Daler Rowney Watercolour - Vivid Green (not shown), Olive Green (not shown), Green Gold, Yellow Ochre,
Raw Sienna.

I like the various PR101 red-browns, but not the Burnt Sienna so much.
Daler Rowney Watercolour - Burnt Sienna, Light Red, Venetian Red, Indian Red, Transparent Red Brown.

Daler Rowney Watercolour - Perylene Maroon (not shown), Mars Violet, Burnt Umber, Vandyke Brown (Hue),
Raw Umber.

Daler Rowney Watercolour - Warm Sepia, Payne's Grey, Neutral Tint, Ivory Black (not shown), Lamp Black.

 Happy painting!

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Where will you put your hopes and dollars?

April 5, 2020, 5:40 pm
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I wish everyone well in this difficult time of Covid-19 and isolation at home. I hope you and your loved ones are able to stay home and stay safe.

For many of us, such as myself, working from home is not a new phenomena. I've been doing it for 27 years. For those getting used to being at home full time, I hope you are staying calm, enjoying a gentler pace to your days, a shorter commute (!) and perhaps getting a chance to try some great cook-at-home recipes?

One of the issues we are all facing, with limited businesses open and having to depend more and more on the internet to get hold of supplies, is who do we want to support?

I would like to see some positives come out of this very difficult situation. I'd like to see companies with morals thrive. I'd like to see the more environmentally friendly products become mainstream. So I thought I'd add a link to some I've found in Australia or who ship to Australia, and I'd invite you to add your own favourites in the comments, with the country you are from. I can update this post with information from all over the world if that would be helpful.

I haven't necessarily bought from all of these companies, but have noticed them and would like to see them thrive.

Seed & Sprout is a totally women owned Australian company, producing plastic free products that are built to last. I've ordered their solid shampoo and some kitchen food wraps so far, with more on the way. I really like the ethos of this company. https://seedsprout.com.au/



Who Gives a Crap sources sustainable bamboo paper towels and toilet rolls, and donates some of the proceeds to build toilets for people in need. They are currently completely sold out, but worth keeping in mind. Great sense of humour and humanity. https://au.whogivesacrap.org/ and in the US https://us.whogivesacrap.org/collections/all








No Issues is another company using sustainable bamboo for tissues, toilet rolls and paper towels. Wrapped in biodegradable plastic, they are new on the market. https://www.noissues.com.au/




Subpod is a company based in Byron Bay, Australia, who have produced an impressive composting system to save vegetable waste from going into landfill. https://subpod.com/













Ethique has been running for some years in New Zealand and shops internationally. They have prevented over 6 million plastic bottles from being made and disposed of through the sale of solid shampoos, conditioners, and other personal care products. https://ethique.com/

There are many companies delivering fresh fruit, vegetables or meat to your door. These may be too local to list, but they can use our support so the $ don't all go to the huge supermarket chains.

The Bread and Butter Project provides 100% of profits to help shape the lives of those seeking refuge and asylum with training and work. http://thebreadandbutterproject.com/ The bread is wonderful.

Citizen Wolf is a Sydney-based clothing store making made-to-measure clothing with zero waste. https://www.citizenwolf.com/

Manrags takes all your old or unnecessary clothing and either re-homes or recycles it, diverting some of the annual 501,000t of textiles from landfill. https://manrags.com.au/ You can donate unwanted clothes and shoes. Credits can be used to buy clothing from the store, made from the recycled fibres.

Eco and Basics stocks a range of eco-friendly products for food storage, personal care. https://ecoandbasics.com.au/



Activated Eco sells stainless steel clothes pegs (I love these) to reduce the need to replace plastic pegs over and over.
https://www.activatedeco.com/











Another company trying to eliminate plastic is In our Hands https://www.inourhands.com.au/ with a range of kitchenware, reusable bags, metal pegs and so on.

https://ecostainable.com.au/ is very similar.



Dirt. Buy an environmentally friendly laundry liquid and get refills for your empty laundry bottles in reusable refill bags, reducing the use of plastic. https://thedirtcompany.com.au/collections/shop 50% of profits go towards cleaning the oceans through The Oceans Cleanup. (I've ordered but haven't yet tried this product).








Another Australian company, ZeroCo, is attempting to stop single use plastics with a range of personal and cleaning products, in refillable recycled plastic bottles. It is currently a Kickstarter prelaunch.
https://prelaunch.zeroco.com.au/
If enough Aussies use this system, we'll make a huge difference to the amount of plastic that goes into landfill.






Onya make a great range of re-usable shopping bags https://www.onyalife.com/eco-friendly-products/ I've been using the large shopping bags and the produce bags for a couple of years. They pack down into a very small attached bag but hold a huge amount.







Consider also worm farms, bee hives, vegetable gardens and solar panels. There are many other companies doing this job and they need our support.

There are also companies like 4Oceans cleaning up the mess of plastic and rubbish in the oceans all over the world. The sale of bracelets helps provide the funds to clean the oceans. https://4ocean.com/

Now is a great time to support your local brick and mortar store, if they have made online ordering an option. Australian stores such as Art Scene in Sydney https://www.artscene.com.au/, Pigment Lab in Sydney, Larrypost https://www.larrypost.com.au/ for all things sketchbook related; the Sydney Art Store; Parkers in the Rocks https://www.parkersartsupplies.com/ and Seniors  http://www.seniorart.com.au/ in Melbourne.

If we put our thoughts, energy and money into the things we want to see rather than complain about what we do see, we may create a better world.

Please add your favourites in the comments below. Let's please really look for positives at this time.

Stay safe. Stay home.
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Mastering Watercolours online course

April 13, 2020, 9:38 pm
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I've been teaching a 12 lesson online course via email, using PDF files with step by step instructions, for many years. I've seen fabulous results from many students. However, I have always intended to create videos to make it so much clearer. It's taken a long time, but I launched the course last week, with the first proper lesson popping into mailboxes tomorrow and then another each week for a total of 12 weeks.


I've sent out invitations to join to those who have been on the waiting list but also wanted to share it here. I'll be very active during this first run-through, checking comments, answering questions and adding more information if needed. Once this is complete, I'll set up the option for people to enrol in the course as an on-demand version.

Image may contain: 1 person, textI've used the Ruzuku platform, as I think it has a great interface for students to clearly see where they are in the course and what they have completed. It also has lots of options to enable students to post their work into galleries or participate in chats.

Here is the information link  https://app.ruzuku.com/courses/18381/about
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Travel Sketching Online Course

September 2, 2020, 10:44 pm
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I hope you are well, and staying safe during this most unusual time.

I have been a little quiet on my blog as I have been working on the Mastering Watercolours online course I launched in April, and the Travel Sketching course I launched in August.

Both are now up and running and it is wonderful to be working with a responsive and enthusiastic international community.

These courses are based on the PDF courses I have been teaching for many years. I have expanded the original courses, added videos and many more challenges and loaded them onto the very user-friendly Ruzuku platform.

Travel Sketching is a course designed to take participants through a huge range of sketching tools and techniques to get them comfortable sketching from life in a sketchbook, using a portable kit that suits their needs. Each lesson has a mix of videos, step-by-step photos and written explanations, with a question section at the end. There are plenty of opportunities to share ideas, artworks and suggestions throughout the course.

The final lesson will be released on the 21st October so I am offering a discounted price up until that date. Jump in and join up! Just click on the link here for more information.

Happy sketching :-)

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Aquarius Watercolours by Roman Szmal 2020

October 2, 2020, 10:25 pm
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Roman Szmal launched Aquarius Watercolours in 2019 with 140 colours.

In 2020 this range has been extended to 165 full pan colours with an additional 25 colours. There is still a huge proportion of single pigment colours (all but 26) and some unique pigments for watercolours.

The full range is stocked at Jacksons (affiliate link) in the UK and many other places around the world.
For my previous post I photographed the swatches, this time they are scanned. Some colours are really difficult to show accurately using either method - the yellow oranges and orange yellows, along with oranges and reds generally! I'll try to explain the differences in my comments, and also please look at the previous blog for the yellows, oranges and reds.


Anyone familiar with my blog will know that I love Buff Titanium and use it a lot. This is less granulating than the Daniel Smith version but still a lovely colour.

Aquarius Watercolour - Chinese White, Titanium White, Buff titanium, Nickel titanate Yellow,
Cadmium Yellow, Bismuth Yellow. 

These yellows are very similar. One could argue that the Cadmium Lemon, Bismuth Yellow, Hansa Yellow Light and Lemon Yellow are slightly more lemon, then Aquarius Yellow and Isoindolinone Yellow Light are a touch less greenish and both painted out very nicely.

Aquarius Watercolour - Hansa Yellow Light, Lemon Yellow, Isoindolinone Yellow, Aquarius Yellow,
Aureoline (Hue), Cadmium Yellow Pale.

Aureoline Hue, Cadmium Yellow Pale and Benzymidazole Yellow are mid primary yellows, with Hansa Yellow Medium being the brightest and sunniest. The warm yellows Cadmium Yellow Deep through to Permanent Orange are really similar. Hansa Yellow Deep is the easy option as it is very familiar.

Aquarius Watercolour - Benzymidazole Yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium, Nickel Azo Yellow,
Cadmium Yellow Deep, Hansa Yellow Deep.

Golden Yellow and Indindolone Yellow are lovely orange-yellows. None of these swatches shows the accurate colour :-(

There is a huge range of gorgeous oranges. Golden Orange is just a yellow-orange, but Aquarius Orange is stunning. A transparent mid orange.

Aquarius Watercolour - Golden Yellow, Isoindolinone Yellow Deep, Permanent Orange, Permanent Yellow, Golden Orange, Aquarius Orange. 

Transparent Pyrrol Orange is also very lovely but not perhaps quite as rich. Neither of these lovely oranges really shows up here. I'll add a photo below. The next four oranges are attractive, but are overshadowed by the new additions, though I still like the Benzimidazole Orange. Pyrrol Orange is just on the red side of orange, so could be used as a warm red.

Aquarius Watercolour - Transparent Pyrrol Orange, Deep Orange, Brilliant Orange, Cadmium Orange,
Benzimidazole Orange, Pyrrol Orange.

Here is a photo to compare the oranges a little better, but they are clearer in my previous blog.

Aquarius Watercolour - Transparent Pyrrol Orange, Deep Orange, Brilliant Orange, Cadmium Orange,
Benzimidazole Orange, Pyrrol Orange.

Scarlet Lake is almost identical to W&N Scarlet Lake - not that it looks like that here. Most of these are quite similar warm reds though my favourite is Pyrrol Scarlet - you can't beat PR255 for a warm red. Naphthol Red is a mid red.

Aquarius Watercolour - Scarlet Lake, Anthraquinoid Scarlet, Pyrrole Scarlet, Cadmium Vermilion,
Scarlet Red, Naphthol Red.

These are all mid reds to slightly crimson reds. The colours are close to correct but not quite. Pyrrole Red is my favourite of the mid reds.

Aquarius Watercolour - Pyrrole Red, Azo Red, Permanent Red, Aquarius Red,
Cadmium Red, Cadmium Red Deep.

Pyrrole Rubine is my favourite of the crimson reds, though if you wanted a more primary crimson rose the PR176 is a good option. Cherry Quinacridone is a lovely coral that never looks correct on the screen. Quinacridone Red is my favourite rose and primary red colour. You can see these colours better in the photographs in my previous blog.

Aquarius Watercolour - Perylene Maroon, Anthraquinoid Red, Pyrrole Rubine, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, 
Cherry Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Red.

The colours are starting to be more accurate now for these purple reds.

Aquarius Watercolour - Magenta, Quinacridone Pink, Quinacridone Fuchsia, Quinacridone Violet, Perylene Violet,
Cobalt Violet Light.

This range has so many of the gentle granulating violet pigments - PV 14, PV15, PV16, PV49 as well as the unusual PV37 instead of the more common PV23.

Aquarius Watercolour - Ultramarine Pink, Manganese Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Cobalt Violet Deep,
Dioxazine Violet, Mineral Violet.

There are a number of convenience and atmospheric violets and purples here. French Ultramarine is my pick for this pigment.

Aquarius Watercolour - Misty Morning, Shadow Violet Light, Shadow Violet, Lavenda,
Ultramarine Light, French Ultramarine.

There are also many cobalt colours in the range. These are granulating and liftable and quite beautiful. I use PB36 along with Ultramarine in skies, though many use cobalt blue PB28.

Aquarius Watercolour - Ultramarine (Green Shade), Cobalt Blue Deep, Aquarius cobalt blue,
Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Coelin Blue.

Lazurite and Vivianite are new to the range.

Aquarius Watercolour - Royal Blue, Phthalo Blue (Red Shade), Indanthrone blue,
Lazurite (Lapis Lazuli), Vivianite (Blue Ochre), Indigo (Hue)

Phthalo Blue GS is one of my key mixing colours.
Aquarius Watercolour - Prussian blue, Sky Blue, PHthalo Blue (Green Shade), Ocean Blue,
Phthalo Turquoise, Cobalt Sea Blue.

Phthalo Green blue shade is another key mixing colour. Cobalt Turquoise is a lovely pigment.

Aquarius Watercolour - Cobalt Teal, Cobalt Turquoise, Viridian, Transparent Turquoise, Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), 
Phthalo Green (Yellow Shade).

Perylene Green Deep made with PBk32 is a unique addition to the range. I use PBk31 all the time for shadows in foliage.
Aquarius Watercolour - Cobalt Green Light, Chromium Green Oxide, Green Earth, Perylene Green,
Perylene Green Deep, Malachite.

These mixed greens are mostly very useful. I particularly like the Aquarius Green and the Sap Green Light for convenient realistic landscape greens.

Aquarius Watercolour - Aquarius Green, Hooker's Green, Sap Green, Sap Green Light,
Permanent Green Light, Olive Green Light.

Glauconite is an historical colour. Deep Green Gold is lovely for the glow of sunlight through leaves or as an alternative to a cool or lemon yellow.

Aquarius Watercolour - Glauconite, Olive Green Deep, Deep Green Gold, Green Gold, Naples Yellow Light,
Naples Yellow Reddish.

There is a confusion of yellow earths made with PY43. Gold Ochre is the brightest of them and would be my choice, though Yellow Ochre is Transparent. These need a bit of exploring.

Aquarius Watercolours - Transparent Gold Ochre, Venetian Yellow Earth, Natural Sienna Light,
Yellow Ochre, Veronese Yellow Earth.

This is a lovely version of Quinacridone Gold, which I love for mixing. Natural Sienna Mont Amiata is probably the best raw sienna option here. I do like PBr24 though I've never painted with it!

Aquarius Watercolour - Quinacridone Gold, Natural Sienna Mont Amiata, Italian Raw Sienna,
Transparent Yellow Oxide, Naples Yellow Deep.

The new Goethite granulates nicely, though not as much as the Daniel Smith version. I rather like these earth colours, especially French Ochre and Mummy Transparent Red.

Aquarius Watercolour - Ochre Havana, Goethite, French Ochre, Mummy Transparent Red,
Mont Amiata Burnt Sienna, Quinacridone Burnt Sienna.

These are all quite similar in hue, and any could be used as a burnt sienna colour. They differ in characteristics. Aquarius Brown is a super granulating pigment.

Aquarius Watercolours - Veronese Red Earth, Red Ochre, Transparent Oxide Red, Pompeii Red,
Italian Burnt Sienna, Aquarius Brown.

These Red Earth colours are quite lovely. The new Indian Red has the pink undertone I look for in an earth red.

Aquarius Watercolour - Transparent Brown, Mars Red, Indian Red, Porter's Pink, Caput Mortuum,
Hematite (Violet Shade).

Brown Ochre is my choice for a Burnt Umber colour. While it can be mixed as a hue using burnt sienna and ultramarine, having a warm dark brown is often useful.

Aquarius Watercolour - Hematite, Hematite Brown Shade,
Transparent Oxide Brown, Brown Ochre

There are many raw umber variations. German Raw Umber Greenish painted out the smoothest…

Aquarius Watercolour - Cyprus Burnt Umber, Cyprus Burnt Umber Light, Cyprus Raw Umber Brownish,
Cyprus Raw Umber, German Raw Umber Greenish, Cyprus burnt Umber Deep.

...however Cyprus Raw Umber Deep is my favourite of these cool dark browns. Aquarius Grey is a great addition - useful for concrete and urban sketching.

Aquarius Watercolour - Cyprus Raw Umber Deep, Sepia, Van Dyck Brown, Przybysz's Grey,
Payne's Grey, Aquarius Grey

I don't tend to use black pigments - with the exception of PBk31 (Perylene Green) and PBk11 - here seen in Aquarius Black - for its amazing granulation.

Aquarius Watercolour - Roman Black, Vine Black, Ivory Black, Neutral Tint, Mars Black, Aquarius Black.

It is daunting to come up with a set when faced with such a huge choice. Those closest to my Ultimate Mixing Set are Buff Titanium, Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Gold, Pyrrole Scarlet, Pyrrole Rubine, Quinacridone Red, French Ultramarine, Cobalt Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue GS, Phthalo Green BS, Goethite (though less granulating so also consider Gold Ochre), Mont Amiata Natural Sienna or Italian Burnt Sienna, Indian Red and Cyprus Raw Umber Deep.

If you want to go from 14 to 20, consider adding Aquarius Orange (if you want a convenience orange), either Mineral Violet or Dioxazine Violet (if you want a convenience purple), Sap Green Light, Aquarius Green, Perylene Green, Gold Ochre or Goethite.


Other useful colours are Brown Ochre as a Burnt Umber, a bright warm yellow such as Golden Yellow or Hansa Yellow Deep and perhaps another lovely earth colour that appeals to you.


Happy Painting.



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De Atramentis Artist Inks

October 11, 2020, 11:39 pm
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I've posted before about the lovely De Atramentis Document Inks, created in Germany in 2014. These were a game changer when they first came out and I still love sketching with them. Mostly I use the Brown, various variations of Grey, and the Black, but I have also made a lovely burnt sienna ink, a raw sienna ink and some fun oranges and greens to draw with over the years.

Here are my previous posts.

Mixing Document Inks November 2014, updated January 2015, which shows a number of two-colour and a few three-colour mixes, and their ratios. 

De Atramentis Inks - Mixing Document Greys  November 2014, updated January 2015. This was in answer to a question about how to mix greys using other colours. I tend to make them with Blue and Brown.

De Atramentis Inks mixed with Black  November 2014

De Atramentis Document Ink Mixes - Magenta, Blue and Yellow  December 2014, update January 2015. This explores many three-colour mixes using the Blue rather than Cyan as the primary blue.

De Atramentis Document Ink colours  January 2015

More Three-Colour Mixes with De Atramentis Inks January 2015. This explores a range of three-colour mixes.

Documented Inks Revisited October 2018 which shows the inks mixed with Black and with White.

They also appear in Fountain Pen Inks June 2018, Coloured Drawing Inks November 2014 and Packing inks and pens September 2015 and a few others, and whenever I talk about my sketching supplies. 

Over the years, the colour range has expanded and the bottles have changed size from 35ml to 50ml. The current bottles are larger rounded bottles but will shortly change to elegant square bottles with larger lids. I'll update with a photo once these are available.

The current range as shown on the De Atramentis website shows 17 colours. They are now called 'Artist Inks' but have the same properties as the original 'Document Inks'. They are nano-pigmented, waterproof and lightfast mixable inks designed for fountain pens. 

De Atramentis Artist Inks - White, Yellow, Orange, Red, Dark Red, Magenta.

De Atramentis Artist Inks - Violet, Blue, Dark Blue, Cyan, Turquoise, Dark Green.

De Atramentis Artist Inks - Green, Brown, Sepia, Grey, Black.


There is also a thinner available called Artist Ink Thinner so you can dilute the colours without changing the properties. 

The colours are the same as the original Document colours, apart from the Green, which is now brighter. The current Dark Green is similar to the original Document Green I used for my mixing experiments.

Treat the Blue as an ultramarine or warm blue for mixing purposes. Treat the Cyan as a phthalo or cool blue for mixing. The Red is the warm red and the Magenta is the cool red for mixing purposes. I still love the colours you can create exploring the triad of Blue, Magenta and Yellow.

There are many more pigmented inks available now than there were when these were first released, which is terrific for artists who want to sketch with colourful waterproof inks in our fountain pens. I've explored many of them in this post but have stuck with the De Atramentis inks in my own pens.

These inks are available directly from De Atramentis in Germany; from Goulet.com in the US, from LarryPost.com.au in Australia and many other places. 


Disclosure: I was kindly sent this range of inks by the manufacturer, but all opinions are my own. 

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Workshops and plans for 2021

January 20, 2021, 7:00 pm
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Welcome to 2021.

As we won't be allowed to travel from Australia for some time, I am expecting to be doing local workshops this year, and have set up a number so far.

I am doing a series of 5 watercolour workshops for Gallery 11:11, a lovely suburban gallery and art space with a wonderful 'stable' of artists and teachers. These workshops will all be held on a Thursday and Friday to enable travellers to have the weekend in Sydney if they wish. They are intended to be completed as a series or individually. Numbers are limited for these workshops as it is not a large teaching space, so you will get plenty of attention :-)

We start with Watercolour for Beginners  on the 11th and 12th February.

Colour Mixing in Watercolour is the 8th and 9th of April.

Sketching Florals and Botanicals in Watercolour is June 24th and 25th.

Travel Sketching with Watercolour is 26th and 27th August.

And finally Special Effects in Watercolour is the 28th and 29th October.


If you would like to do a residential workshop near Nowra, consider a Watercolour Landscape workshop for two days 1st and 2nd March. We were to have been teaching in Italy, but have relocated to the lovely Merribee Gardens, Number, NSW for this year. Learn the skills to paint the landscape from life.



In July the Art Scene Winter School of Arts is planned to go ahead in Bathurst. This is a week-long workshop at the university campus.

All these workshops are on my website, which is kept up to date with new workshops or changes.


For many of you, workshops in Australia are not a possibility but I am still teaching my online courses Mastering Watercolours  and Travel Sketching. These are both huge 12-lesson courses with loads of detailed lessons, extra challenges and wonderful interaction with an international community. You can join any time. 


While not teaching workshops or checking into my courses, I am working an a companion book to go with The Ultimate Mixing Palette: a World of Colours. It is called Working with Triads, and will contain dozens of primary triads with a huge range of the tertiary colours they can produce, along with some interesting non-primary triads. Working with triads is a great way to create harmonious paintings.


I'll also be adding three colour-focused courses to my website this year. These are intended for artists, especially watercolour artists, who know how to paint with watercolour but want to build their colour knowledge. At this stage I expect that 'Colour Mixing' will be 5 lessons, Working with Triads will be 6 lessons and 'Working with Opposites' will be 9 lessons. 

Later in the year I hope to add two extension courses to the website - a watercolour extension to follow Mastering Watercolours and a drawing course to extend from Travel Sketching. 

I'll continue to run an in-person weekly workshop form my home studio, and two Zoom classes that others can join. One is on Tuesday mornings  and the other Thursday afternoons. These are fun classes, where we focus on a different challenge each week, often with a limited palette or based around a theme.

So I have plenty to keep me busy as I mostly work from home. I hope you are able to stay safe and busy for 2021.

Happy painting!

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Wichitrong Watercolours

February 7, 2021, 2:37 pm
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I was sent a few sample dots of Wichitrong Watercolours - an artist quality range from Thailand. 

This is a modest range of 24 colours, many single pigments. The only listed ingredients I could find are pigment and gum Arabic, though they feel as though there may also be a honey-like ingredient as well.

Wichitrong watercolours, taken from the Sikpakorn product catalogue

The pigment information is difficult fo find, so I will list it here. The bold colours are those I have tried, shown below.

801 Titanium White: PW6 (Titanium Dioxide) Series1

803 Lemon Yellow: PY3 (Monoazo) Series 1

805 Azo Yellow: PY154 (Benzimidazolone) Series 1

808 Cadmium Yellow Medium: PY37 (Cadmium) Series 3

809 Gamboge: PY154 (Benzimidazolone) + PY42 (Iron Oxide) + PY83 (Diarylide) Series 2

811 Cadmium Orange: PO20 (Cadmium) Series 3

813 Permanent Red: PR254 (Diketo-Pyrrolo-Pyrrolo) Series 2

816 Crimson Lake: PR177 (Anthraquinone) Series 3

817 Rose Madder: PV19 (Quinacridone) Series 3

819 Deep Magenta: PR122 (Quinacridone) Series 3

820 Dioxazine Purple: PV23 (Dioxazine) + PV23 (Carbazole Dioxazine) Series 2

821 Mauve: PV24 (Dioxazine) = PR81 (Rhodiamine Red) Series 2

822 Ultramarine Blue: PB29: (Ultramarine Blue) + PB28 (CoAI2O4) Series 1

825 Phthalo Blue: PB15.3 (Cu Phthalo.Blue) Series 1

826 Cobalt Blue: PB28 (CoAI2O4) Series 3

827 Cerulean Blue: PG50 (Co2TiO4) + PB28 (Cobalt Aluminium Spinel) Series 3

829 Phthalo Green: PG7 (Cu Phthalo Green) Series 1

831 Sap Green: PY83 (Diarylide) + PY168 (Monoazo Yellow) + PG7 ( Cu Phthalo.Green) Series 2

832 Leaf Green: PY154 (Benzimidazolone) + PG7 (Cu Phthalo.Green) Series 2

834 Raw Sienna: PY42 (Synthetic Hydrated Iron Oxide) + PBr7 (Calcined Natural Iron Oxide) + PY1 (Monoazo) + PR101 (Iron Oxide) Series 1

837 Burnt Sienna: PBr7 (Calcined Natural Iron Oxide) Series 1

848 Burnt Umber: PR101 (Irone Oxide) + PY42 (Synthetic Hydrated Iron Oxide) + PB15.3 (Cu Phthalo.Blue) Series 1

840 Payne's Grey: PB15.3 (Cu Phthalo.Blue) + PBk7 (CArbone Black) + PV19 (Quinacridone) Series 1

Here are the samples I tried. They are finely ground pigments that painted out nice and richly. The Burnt Sienna has a very yellow undertone so will mix greens rather than greys with Ultramarine. 

Wichitrong Watercolours - Burnt Sienna, Azo Yellow, Permanent Red and Rose Madder.

Ultramarine has cobalt blue as an additional pigment which is unusual. Cerulean is made from Cobalt blue and cobalt green pigments so should still be liftable, even though it is not made from genuine cerulean blue PB36 or PB35. It is a lovely bright cerulean hue.
Wichitrong Watercolours - Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, PHthalo Green and Cerulean.

Happy painting.

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CARAN D'ACHE Museum Watercolour Pencils

February 14, 2021, 7:06 pm
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Caran D'Ache create a number of different ranges of pencils, pens, fountain pens, crayons and other art and office materials. While I own a few of their beautiful pens and pencils, I am most interested in their watercolour pencils. I've written about the Museum range before - the original clutch style set that is no longer available. 

Over a number of years, the Swiss has redesigned the range as traditional pencils. 

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - full range of 76

I was given a set of 12, as part of a generous Faculty 'goodie bag' when I taught at the last Urban Sketchers symposium in 2019, and have had a few in my sketching kit to explore. These are terrific watercolour pencils, and though the most expensive range as far as I am aware, they deserve a full post. The colours are often unique so many might be useful to add to other collections.

I bought the rest of the range as single pencils and have placed them all in a 96 slot Global pencil case (affiliate link) for easy storage and transporting. They are also available in many beautiful boxed sets. You can see them at Jacksonsart.com (affiliate links) or on the Caran d'Ache website. 

Caran d'Ache set of 12 Museum Pencils

The website gives pigment information on each colour, and each pencil has the lightfast rating stamped onto it. The range of 76 colours has a number of single pigment colours and some lovely subdued hues. While I prefer the pencils to be painted in a solid colour so it is really easy to find the colour you are looking for, the colours at the end of each grey pencil are accurate.

I've drawn these swatches up on 300gsm hot pressed paper, as many people use smooth paper for pencil. I've coloured each swatch from darker to lighter, and added water to the right-hand-side, then drawn back into the wet wash with the pencil to show the wet pencil strength.


The colours are always difficult to show accurately. Yellow is slightly brighter than it appears here and Golden Yellow is a classic clean deep yellow colour. The three yellows are lovely choices for a cool, mid and warm yellow.

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - White, Primrose, Naples Ochre, Lemon Yellow, Yellow, Golden Yellow


These are reasonably accurate, but the Vermilion is just on the orange side of a mid red and the Light Cadmium Red is between an orange red and a coral. Scarlet is a definite crimson colour, as it appears here.
 
Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Golden Cadmium Yellow (Hue), Orange, Cornelian, Vermilion, 
Light Cadmium Red (hue), Scarlet.


Anthraquinoid Pink is a little more coral than it appears here. The other colours look quite accurate. Violet Pink is very like Potter's Pink. Purplish Red is a lovely quinacridone magenta option.

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils- Anthraquinoid Pink, Crimson Aubergine, Carmine Lake, Violet Pink, 
Dark Plum, Purplish Red.


It is wonderful to see these beautiful single pigment violets. PV16 abd PV15 are quite gentle pigments and the pencil versions are lovely. Cobalt pigments appear in the blues :-) These swatches are accurate in colour. Purples and blues are usually easier to show.

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Manganese Violet, Periwinkle Blue, Violet, Ultramarine Violet, 
Light Cobalt Blue, Genuine Cobalt Blue.


The colours shown here are very accurate. While most of the colours are five stars for lightfastness, Dark Ultramarine is only 3 due to PB1. Night Blue is the indanthrone blue pigment and Phthalocyanine Blue is a really useful cool blue in any palette.

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Middle Cobalt Blue, Dark Ultramarine, Night Blue, Prussian Blue, 
Light Blue, Phthalocyanine Blue


There are more lovely single pigment colours here. Chromium Oxide Green is a very opaque colour in watercolours but a really useful colour as a pencil.

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Permanent Blue, Ice Blue, Turquoise Blue, Light Malachite Green, 
Cobalt Green, Chromium Oxide Green


This set of greens are lovely and earthy. It usually takes a few pigments to create earthy greens. 

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Moss Green, Dark Phthalocyanine Green, Olive, Light Olive, 
Green Ochre, Olive Yellow.


Personally I find these less useful colours, and not hugely different, though the Emerald Green is slightly bluer than it looks here. It is good to see a single pigment Phthalocyanine Green.

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Spring Green, Bright Green, Grass Green, Emerald Green, 
Beryl Green, Phthalcyanine Green.


There is a lovely range of earth colours. 

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Dark Sap Green, Brown Olive 50%, Olive Brown, Brown Ochre, 
Raw Sienna, Yellow Ochre.


Genuine Umber was the name of the original 548 colour, now just called Umber. It's a useful cool yellowish-brown. 

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Genuine Umber (discontinued), Umber (current version), Saffron, 
Light Flesh 10%, Apricot, Cinnamon.


Cinnamon, Burnt Ochre and Terracotta are all similar variations of a burnt Sienna. Brown is a little more like an Indian red and Chestnut a burnt umber. Russet is a lovely colour but not as crimson as it looks here - more of a burnt coral colour.

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Burnt Ochre, Brown, Terracotta, Russett, Burnt Sienna 50%, Chestnut.


Raw Umber is like a deep chocolate colour - quite warm, and Cassel earth is another option for a cool dar brown. 

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Raw Umber, Cassel Earth, Dark Flesh 50%, French Grey, Sepia 50%, Sepia 10%


I like the slight blue tint of Payne's Grey. Of the blacks, Ivory is warmer and Black cooler.

Caran d'Ache Museum pencils - Steel Grey, Payne's Grey, Slate Grey, Ivory Black, Black.


These pencils are a joy to use. They wet and activate with ease and can be used alone or with regular pencils, watercolour, inks or whatever you wish. 

Happy sketching!
  

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New Colours from Schmincke

February 15, 2021, 7:11 pm
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Granulation is one of the characteristics of some pigments that is best seen in watercolour. You may not notice it in oils or acrylics, and certainly not in pastels and pencils. However in watercolour, granulation is a fabulous characteristic to explore. It is also very important since watercolour is basically a 2-dimensional or flat medium, so granulation is a way of adding texture to the wash.

Granulating pigments show their true nature best on damp cold pressed or rough paper though they will tend to granulate to some degree on any paper. For those new to watercolour, it may look as though something is wrong!

Some of the most granulating pigments have been used to create the 15 new mixes from Schmincke. 

There are five colours in the Deep Sea set. Deep See Violet is made from French Ultramarine and PBr33, which is used in Mahogany Brown, and the Daniel Smith colour Lunar Earth. It is a fantastic pigment that creates gorgeous texture. Deep Sea Blue is made using Cobalt Green pigment, Manganese Violet and French Ultramarine. The greens and violet don't show up much in my little dot sample. Deep Sea Indigo is made from Viridian and PV62, which I haven't seen as a colour though it makes a lovely granulating violet-blue here. Deep Sea Green uses Viridian and French Ultramarine to create this granulating turquoise. Deep Sea Black uses the incredibly granulating PBk11 (used in Schmincke Mars Black and Daniel Smith Lunar Black amongst others) with cobalt Blue Deep and Cerulean pigments (used in Cobalt Azure), to create this deep blue-grey with spots of black.

Schmincke Watercolours - Deep Sea Violet, Deep Sea Blue, Deep Sea Indigo, Deep Sea Green, Deep Sea Black.

The set of Galaxy colours includes Galaxy Violet, made from Potter's Pink and French Ultramarine, creating a gorgeous granulating purple. Galaxy Pink is made with Manganese Violet and the mahogany brown pigment. Galaxy Blue is more subtle - like Deep Sea Blue without the violet. Galaxy brown has specks of violet in the granulating oxide brown. Galaxy Black is a mix of French Ultramarine and Mars Black.

Schmincke Watercolours - Galaxy Violet, Galaxy Pink, Galaxy Blue, Galaxy Brown, Galaxy Black.

The Glacier set does evoke the cool depths of frozen water. Glacier Blue is made with the same pigments as Galaxy Blue, but the other way around - more blue this time. It isn't obvious that the PG50 is doing anything as it is very like French Ultramarine. Glacier Turquoise has an intriguing mix of cobalt green and Manganese Violet. A green and a violet can make a blue - as you can see. Glacier Green has particles of Potter's Pink floating in a sea of Cobalt Green. Glacer Brown has particles of Cobalt Green Dark mixed into the granulating brown oxide. Glacer Black has cerulean (Cobalt Azure) mixed into the Mars Black this time for a cooler black.

Schmincke Watercolours - Glacier Blue, Glacier Turquoise, Glacier Green, Glacier Brown, Glacier Black.

Often, when making colours, manufacturers are producing 'hues' and blending the pigments into new compounds that effectively behave like a single pigment. Mixtures like these are intended to keep the different pigments in the mix separate, so they can each contribute to the liveliness of the colour. What is interesting is that the mixtures in tubes may behave differently from the mixtures of the same pigments then mixed in your palette in your own studio.




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Etchr 24 half pan watercolour set

February 22, 2021, 2:09 pm
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I have concentrated on artist quality watercolours, but occasionally there is a product in the student range that is worth exploring. I really like the Etchr watercolour sketchbooks and enjoy the innovation of this company. I have included their Mini Palette on my website. The Etchr watercolour set is described as a 'premium student' set. It was launched on Kickstarter and is now available through the Etchr Lab website.

Student sets often contain hues made up of mixes of cheaper pigments, so that each colour can be priced the same. They don't often contain a lot of single pigment colours and they often have a lesser pigment load so can be difficult to work with - weak or difficult to activate. This set has 20 single pigment colours, so when offered a set to try, I was very interested.

I was sent the boxed set with the palette, watercolour paper and felt-tip pens. The 24-colour half pan set comes with a printed colour chart you can fill out yourself. The half pans are wrapped with pigment information, lightfast ratings and a note about transparency. I found some of the pigments very surprising -  - some I haven't come across before, some are not usually found in a student range. The biggest surprise was the cadmium and cobalt pigments. These are usually only found in the series 3 or 4 professional ranges as they are expensive pigments. To see them in a student range is quite exceptional.

You can't buy individual colours or tubes, only the full set. But that can simplify the process of getting started with watercolours for some people. You can also very easily swap out a half pan with a different colour or a different brand, or refill an empty pan with tube colour later.

The set is well balanced around the colour wheel, with a warm and cool yellow, two oranges, three reds and a magenta, a purple, four blues, a turquoise (although it isn't a turquoise in my set, which I believe is a mistake), three greens and five earths. There is also a black and white - colours not necessarily used by professional watercolorists but very common in student sets. 

I found many of the transparency ratings odd, especially Simply Red, which is made with a cadmium red pigment so would normally be opaque, and Sky Blue, a phthalo blue which would normally be transparent. So I added a black line to the swatches before painting them and you can see how transparent or opaque each colour actually is by whether it covers this mark or not. Clearly, some of the ratings are incorrect - as you can see below. 

Transparency ratings aside, most colours painted out brightly and cleanly. I would consider renaming some of the earth colours to better represent what we see - Umber Brown is more of a Burnt Sienna hue and Burnt Sienna is more of a Burnt Umber Hue. I rearranged them in the palette and have painted them out in a more logical order.

This set is certainly worthy of the label Premium Student set. For more insight, watch my YouTube video painting out the full set to create this chart.

Happy Painting.

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Van Gogh watercolours.

February 23, 2021, 11:40 pm
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When I was in Amsterdam for the Urban Sketchers Symposium in 2019, the faculty was taken on a fabulous tour of the Royal Talens factory. Royal Talens has been creating art materials since 1899. 

We also had the chance to 'play' with many of the products created there or under the Royal Talens umbrella - Sakura, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Bruynzeel, Ecoline and others.

I have shown many of the 120 colour professional Rembrandt watercolour range here, but we were given a dot card sampler of the Van Gogh student range. While I don't usually write about student ranges, as they don't have all the characteristics that I so enjoy about professional watercolours, I decided this one may be helpful since so much work went into producing it. However changes have been made in the formulations since this was produced so the latest product information is best seen on the website.

Van Gogh sample dot card 2019


Student ranges are often less-highly pigmented than professional ranges, and many contain more binders or fillers. While it as more difficult to get a strong wash with many of these colours, others painted out very nicely. 

Van Gogh student watercolours 2019

Van Gogh student watercolours 2019

The information on these charts was based on the dot-card, but some was incorrect. Dusk Yellow is PBk11/PY128, and the PBk101 pigments listed for the gold and metallics should be PBk11.
Van Gogh student watercolours 2019


Happy painting!

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Subscriber changes

June 21, 2021, 12:02 am
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I have been reading lately that Feedburner was no longer going to be supported, and have finally made the switch to Follow.it. I hope it will be a smooth transition. 

Those who have verified that they wish to subscribe shouldn't notice much difference, however you will be able to adjust your settings to be able to decide exactly what you want to receive.

If you haven't subscribed before, perhaps you'd like to. 

I've also introduced moderating of this blog so it may take a little longer to see your questions or messages. I was getting too much spam and no one wants that in their email boxes. 

Feel free to contact me and add your comments and questions - I'll get to them as soon as I can :-)

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Warm or Cool?

June 21, 2021, 12:34 am
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One of the questions I get asked often is whether a colour is warm or cool. There is a lot about that on my website but I thought I'd try to explain it here.

The first point is that 'warm' and 'cool' are relative terms. It depends what you are comparing it with. So while in general blues are cool and yellows and reds are seen as warm, when you compare various blues, some will also be warmer or cooler than others.

Why is it important?

Warmer colours appear to come towards you, cooler colours appear to recede. So if you want to make an object appear further away you cool it down for example you might make it more blue or if it is blue, make it a cooler or a more neutralised blue.

The second point is that temperature is only part of the equation. The colour intensity is another. How much light does it reflect? Yellows reflect the most light, purples the least, but yellow is not the warmest colour, nor purple the coolest. Orange is actually the warmest colour - it is made from two warm colours (yellow and red). A cool blue - such as phthalo blue - is the coolest colour. This can cause confusion since phthalo blue is so intense and bright.

How does it work for painting?

A cool yellow (lemon - leans towards green) mixed with a cool blue (such as phthlao blue - leans towrads green) will mix super bright intense greens as there is no red in the mix to dull it down.

A warm blue (ultramarine - leans towards purple) mixed with a warm yellow (Indian yellow/hansa yellow deep etc - leans toward orange) will produce dull greens as both the yellow and blue have some red in them to dull the mix.

Here are some examples.

This is a cool yellow as it leans towards green rather than orange. It will easily mix bright greens, especially with a cool (greenish) blue.

There are many pigments used for cool yellows, including Hansa Yellow light PY3, cadmium yellow light and PY35 and lemon yellow PY175. 






This is a warm yellow, as it leans towards orange. Warm yellow pigments include Hansa Yellow Deep PY65, PY153 (not longer available)

Warm yellows will easily mix bright oranges, especially when mixed with a warm red as there would be no blue in the mix to dull the mix down.






A yellow that is between these two, a mid yellow, doesn't lean towards green or orange so will work as a primary yellow. My favourite is Hansa Yellow Medium PY97 but there are other excellent mid or primary yellow pigments.

This is a warm red. It leans towards orange. My favourite warm red pigment is PR255 - pyrrol scarlet. It will mix bright and clean oranges with a warm yellow.

As there is so much yellow in this red, it won't make purples.






This is a cooler red. It is a crimson red, a really useful mixing red as well as being a lovely colour alone. There is still some yellow in this, as well as some blue, so, while it leans towards purple, it won't make really clean and clear purples. It also won't make clean and clear oranges. This is PR264 - pyrrol crimson.




This is a cool red. It leans towards purple. It is also a primary red as it will mix clean purples and clean oranges. This is PV19 - Quinacridone Rose. 

Mixed with a warm blue such as ultramarine, you can create gorgeous bright purples, however this pigment is so good at mixing purples that you can mix it with almost any blue and create lovely purple and violet hues.




This is a warm blue - Ultramarine. Made with PB29, this blue leans towards purple. It will make duller greens when mixed with a yellow than you'd get with a cool or green-biased blue. 

Mixed with the PV19 above, it will create lovely purples.






Phthalo Blue GS is a cool or green-biased blue. Mix it with a cool yellow for bright greens. This is a very strong and rich version of this PB15:3 pigment. Watered down more, its intense brightness is amazing.
While I don't generally worry too much about whether secondaries are warm or cool, a general rule is that if a green leans towards yellow it is warm; if it leans towards blue it is cool. If a purple leans towards red it is warm; if it leans towards blue it is cool. If an orange leans towards either red or yellow it is still warm, however if it is neutralised by adding a little blue, it can be cooled down. So burnt orange, burnt sienna and burnt umber  - all neutralised oranges - are all warm but less so than a bright orange.

Earth pigments are all more neutralised as they don't have the high chroma of the bright reds, yellows and blues. They may be still considered warm or cool, but they are all 'cooler' than their primary counterparts. so yellow ochre is a neutralised warm yellow; raw umber is a neutralised cool yellow.

Happy painting.
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Special Effects in Watercolour - my newest course

August 9, 2021, 1:05 am
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In spite of this being our 7th week of lockdown in Sydney, I am keeping busy and actually having a lot of fun creating the extension course to my huge Mastering Watercolours course. This is a six lesson course with very complex and detailed projects along with some extra challenges to explore.

In Mastering Watercolours, we build a solid foundation in the understanding of colour mixing and watercolour techniques, creating a sketchbook filled with colour charts, wheels and notes along with a number of completed paintings. In Special Effects in Watercolour I introduce more techniques to take these ideas further. 

It's based on natural subjects - four of the lessons are on flowers but we also look carefully at mushrooms and some wonderful stones and pebbles. Each feature special effects that are demonstrated but then put to use. Each lesson contains lots of video content and step by step explanations.

Watercolour is a magical medium and it's great fun to be explaining it in even more depth.

Special Effects in Watercolour is available now. The course begins on the 18th of August, with a new lesson being released each fortnight. 

Mastering Watercolours is available as an open access course - work through at your own pace.

Travel Sketching, my other 12-lesson foundation course, is also available as an open access course.

Prices on these courses will go up at the beginning of October so if yo have been thinking about joining, now's a great time :-)

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