Rearranged my Roman Szmal watercolour pans into the 3 little palettes I have. I went for 2 yellows, 2 reds, 2 blues, a green and some darks for 2 of them, and mostly darks for the third one. Now I feel I can work with them. And I have a record of the colours in one place instead of several sketchbooks.
We're in a period of our lives when we do quite a bit of travel. And it always takes me a while to settle back into my painting afterwards, as I struggle to deal with changing from one activity to another, one mood to another. But I'm getting there. Often, it starts with a few words, and colour swatches. Even if most of the colours I try out won't make it into the next piece.
I had fun with darks in ink on a small scale, but now I want to create colourful darks in watercolour to paint something that reminds me of the feeling of community and fun and friendship, but slightly larger. I made one attempt with ink on watercolour and I am not sharing that with anyone. I know, I know, I normally share everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. But not that one. So I am now exploring darks in watercolour. I am mixing the same colours I have been playing with, Quin Magenta, Quin Gold, Phthalo Blue. Also Haze Indigo (granulating). And a good dollop of Neutral Tint (Holbein watercolours) to push the dark. Some of these darks are a bit too purple or too blue. ButI really like the mixes that contain all the colours, particularly with the hint of Quin Gold and some extra water. It reminds me of the colour of the rocks on the Copper Mines Trail that goes up from Allihies. Particularly when the rocks are wet with rain.
