Swatches

 Some friends and I are beginning to talk about a possible exhibition and thinking along the lines of pebbles and stones, maybe rocks and boulders.

Once I get an idea in my head I oftentimes race ahead and get to the end, in my head.  I am trying this time to sit with the idea of pebbles and stones and not rush headlong into deciding what the finished pieces will look like already.

Slow.

Down.

I have slowed myself down by thinking about colours and watercolours and realising yet again, that I know very little about colour theory, and so should probably spend some time trying to see what sort of stone-pebble colours one can create with the watercolours I have on hand.

However, the first step ended up being, go buy a tube of Payne's Grey. I love this colour so much and have it in various inks and pencils; but not in my watercolour set. I thought it would be an important base for pebble and stone colours.

I set about doing swatches of the colours in my set, as they mixed with different strengths of Payne's Grey.

Unaccustomed as I am, I realised I had really not done the colours justice at all - they had all ended up looking pretty much a shade of Payne's Grey. So much to learn.

So I went and repeated the trials and got better results. Use more water, and less Payne's Grey.

This is what the swatch page looked like at the end. The second versions really gave me some lovely tones to look at and explore.

The closer I looked, the more I loved the organic shapes the swatches made. Exactly the sorts of marks I might hope to make, but could never do if I was trying. The way the darker pigment hugs the outline...

I had watched this video here, and decided to paint some pebbles in a circle. Here is the first circle I painted, still waiting to dry.

I ended up being quite annoyed by the fact I stuck those two small lozenge pebbles near the middle and in the same direction - I was looking at the blank space rather than the whole design. Never mind. That's why we practice right?

As we walked into town on Saturday, we came across this glorious orange buddlia - the soft green of the foliage against the weathered timber, with the pop of colour was an eye delight!