Two kinds of basil

It may not seem like it from this painting but I was so busy today I didn’t get around to doing my daily sketch until it was almost dark outside. The light was fading quickly as I was working and I wasn’t really sure how the colours would look until I came inside. But I think having a time restraint can be a good thing. It means you don’t have time to overwork things, you put the right values down from the start and that means your watercolour has a chance of remaining fresh.

I am trying out a few new supplies before I go to Santo Domingo. It’s true that I have been a little bit obsessed with my Moleskines of late but I bought three new types of watercolour pads and this was the first one I am testing. The paper is Strathmore Windpower Watercolor and as far as I could tell in the almost dark, it took the paint really well. I also bought a few new synthetic brushes that I noticed Marc Holmes working with the other day. My small sable brushes have lost their points and this inexpensive Omer de Serres brush did a great job of both holding the paint and creating fine lines like those on the big clay pot. It’s a bit stiffer than the sables I’m used to but that makes it almost like a brush pen. Tomorrow I’ll probably try out the Fabriano pad I bought and then Sunday I’ll give the Arches paper a try.