Colour experiments

I love trying out pigment mixes, and this month is perfect for that. The warmth of my studio is a great alternative to my cold car during this very long winter.

If you read the most recent issue of my newsletter The Wheelbarrow, you may have seen my short blurb about Christopher Schink’s book Mastering Colour and Design in Watercolor. I’ve been experimenting with some of the pigments that Schink uses. My first exercise was to search through my paint drawers and find the same (or similar) pigments, and create some swatches. Although some of my paint tubes are very old, I managed to squeeze out enough pigment for my experiments. I divided them into the same categories as he does in the book: transparent non-staining, opaque and staining.

From this list, you’ll find some pigments that I use frequently, but I never use Indian Red (too opaque!), Phthalo Blue (too staining!), nor do I use Cadmium yellow or orange, nor Winsor red or yellow.

With the little blobs of remaining colour on my palette, I decided to sketch the supplies on my table. I used primarily transparent staining colours for this: Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo Blue and Winsor Yellow. Using a triad of pigments allowed me to get to know them really well. I love the vibrant shadow colour that I mixed from Phthalo Blue and Alizarin, as well as the rich grey that came from adding some yellow to the mix.

Winter is not over yet, which means I still have time for lots more experimentation with staining, transparent and opaque triads from Schink’s list.