The leftovers
Posted: April 13, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized 23 CommentsDo you always clean your palette at the end of a sketching day? I’d like to say I do, but that wouldn’t be honest. I clean my brushes but I don’t always get around to scrubbing out the wells of the palette, so sometimes I start the next day with some interesting mud that I can use. Those dried leftovers on the palette can sometimes lead to new mixes that are a little more subtle or muted than what you might mix on a clean palette. This doesn’t work for every subject, of course. For example, if you need a specific colour — like some bright pink or a fresh yellow — you wouldn’t want that dirty palette. But if you are sketching a spring day in Montreal when everything looks quite soft, a little leftover colour is just what you might need to get started. Sketched in a Handbook Watercolour Journal, 8″ x 8″.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
Might be a muddy palette, but the clarity of light in this picture is so stunning.
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Well, with the mud it is still possible to keep the colours separate and try to make even more mud.
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Your colors are beautiful. So mud must be the way to go!
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Shari, these leftovers are better than the ones the day after Thanksgiving. The blues are especially beautiful
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Thanks Lori. Of course I do add colour to the mud so the blue has some extra Cobalt in it.
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Brushes, yes. Palette, no.
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good man!
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Love it!!! I have recently switched from Acrylics to watercolour and loving it… I still have much to learn… I can see I can learn from you.
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Those lovely shades of grey are a perfect enhancing backdrop for those brilliant foreground colors. Bravo!!
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Thanks Gayle!
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Beautiful colors for left overs. What blues-or is it a mixture?
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I added some Cobalt Blue to the leftovers on the recycling bins and probably some Cerulean in the sky.
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I do it all the time, some times you have some surprising color combinations. Once a palette is in use its useful to keep until your painting is done.
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Yes, I do that too Andre. Happy Easter!
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Love how the muted times make those primary colours pop.
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Thanks!
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Great job with your leftovers! I don’t clean off my palette very often and find some of the mixes work well too.
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Thanks Joan!
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Lovely. I can feel the warmth of sun on my back, and the fresh cool breeze mixed with the promise of spring! How did you approach it? draw, paint, pen?
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Hi Laurie,
This was actually an unusual way of working for me. It was pencil first, then wash, and then, when I felt that it needed some lines, I added pen. I don’t usually add pen at the end.
Shari
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Loving that warm textured yellow and the enticing spot of pink… against the lavender shadows & other blue / gray tones. A cute little scene!
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Thanks so much Beth.
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I find I use the leftovers on my palette a lot. For shadows, muting skin tones etc. Always clean my brushes, tho! Loved the painting, btw.🌸
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