Latest Posts
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Brand Overview: A.Gallo
Jessi Have you heard of the stunning handmade Italian paint brand, A Gallo? Come with me, down the handmade paint rabbit hole… When I started watercolor painting, I didn’t know what brands I’d like, and was excited to explore. However, when I was gifted an A Gallo set, I was mystified by how to work…
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Paint Passages: Making Color Sing, Chapter 17
In chapter 17 of Making Color Sing, Jeanne Dobie is defining yet a new term: “paint passages.” Simply put, a paint passage is a color that weaves throughout your scene, leading and delighting the eye in its different variations – warmer of cooler, muted or intense, lighter or darker. Jeanne Dobie, Making Color Sing, p.…
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A review of my Corsica travel palette
The only limited palette I have is my outdoor and travel palette. I have been painting outside for around four years now. After each major vacation, I try to evaluate what colors I used most, colors I didn’t use, colors I missed or colors I just want to switch up. Sometimes I pack colors that…
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Color Disguise: Making Color Sing, Chapter 16
In chapter 16 of Making Color Sing, Jeanne Dobie explains how to design a low-contrast color context that will help you de-emphasize a subject without repainting or glazing it. This is the opposite of “singing color,” it’s quieting color!
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Brand Overview: Maimeri Blu
Maimeri Blu watercolors are produced in Italy. The company, founded in 1923, began making watercolor in the 1990s and followed with reformulations and updates to the line. In 2018 the reformulation and catalog transitioned to consist solely of 90 single pigment colors. Maimeri’s website states they are made with pure pigment using gum arabic as…
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Brand Overview: Sennelier
Sennelier is a French brand of professional art supplies established in 1887 in Paris. The brand has been offering watercolors since 1893. Their paints are still produced in France with traditional methods. Their watercolors use a binder of gum arabic and honey, meant to give brilliance and smoothness to the paint and making them easy…
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Why are my watercolor paintings so pale?
I love watercolor paintings with juicy, brilliant color, but this can be difficult to achieve. One of the most common recurring problems in my paintings is pale color. (Sometimes I correct this in post so you don’t see it unless you see my disappointing paintings in person.) Let’s go over the reasons I’ve discovered why…
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The guilt of not doing art
Whenever I go through a longer-than-normal art slump, I have Feelings about it. Some of these feelings seem straightforward to me. I miss painting! But one of the most curious feelings is guilt. Why should I feel guilty about not doing something that I really only do to bring myself enjoyment? “Not doing enough art”…
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Tabling!
I was lucky enough to have a friend ask me if I wanted to table at a queer pride art event last night! It’s rare and exciting when an opportunity falls into your lap like that. I am usually far too lazy to look for craft fairs and artists’ alleys, so I don’t have much…
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Artist Palette Profiles: Marie Boudon
Marie Boudon is watercolor artist from Lyon, France, who created the popular French language Youtube channel Les tribulations de Marie. She has written several books; her general watercolor book, Paysages à l’aquarelle, is currently only available in French, while some topic-based books have been translated into English, such as J’ose créer (Dare to Create), Fleurs…
