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″.
Might be a muddy palette, but the clarity of light in this picture is so stunning.
Well, with the mud it is still possible to keep the colours separate and try to make even more mud.
Your colors are beautiful. So mud must be the way to go!
Shari, these leftovers are better than the ones the day after Thanksgiving. The blues are especially beautiful
Thanks Lori. Of course I do add colour to the mud so the blue has some extra Cobalt in it.
Brushes, yes. Palette, no.
good man!
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.
Those lovely shades of grey are a perfect enhancing backdrop for those brilliant foreground colors. Bravo!!
Thanks Gayle!
Beautiful colors for left overs. What blues-or is it a mixture?
I added some Cobalt Blue to the leftovers on the recycling bins and probably some Cerulean in the sky.
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.
Yes, I do that too Andre. Happy Easter!
Love how the muted times make those primary colours pop.
Thanks!
Great job with your leftovers! I don’t clean off my palette very often and find some of the mixes work well too.
Thanks Joan!
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?
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
Loving that warm textured yellow and the enticing spot of pink… against the lavender shadows & other blue / gray tones. A cute little scene!
Thanks so much Beth.
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.🌸