Green

My next project is a watercolour of green leaves from our laburnum early in the season - a gorgeous, vibrant, green.

Before I start putting any colour on the page, I'm trying out different techniques - masking with low-tack masking paper, wet-on-wet washes for the background, and glazings of different transparent washes to build the colours.

My first stumbling block is green. You'd think "just get some green paint and get on with it!". Not so easy. I find that getting a nice, natural, vibrant green is nearly impossible. Try and paint a simple stretch of grass - it often looks too dark and dull. So, I've gone back to colour theory (I did attend 1 class 2 years ago) and I'm going through various books I have for recommendations on which colours to pick, and I'm going to try various samples with different combinations.

The first combination I'm trying is Vanadium Yellow (I got a free sample of Schmincke paints in Kennedys) and Phthalo Blue (I got the student-grade quality - Cotman from Winsor & Newton). The 2 colours on their own are very vibrant. The yellow, in particular, is really intense.

My first attempts were too dark, and very dull - very disappointing. The Phthalo Blue was not diluted enough and was stealing the light from the Vanadium Yellow. But I've made a second attempt, with a very diluted Phthalo Blue, and the result is a nice, clean, bright lime green. I'll try a few other combinations, but I think I'm going to go with this.