[Aquanet] orphans in the palette

[Annette Compton]

Great question, Pat.

For me, watercolor is interesting because of the various properties  
of the pigments, not just the hues. Cobalt Blue is a staple in my  
palette because it is a liftable transparent. It also granulates well  
and some brands have a more sedimentary quality than others. I love  
the way it glazes and mixes softness into a variety of triads. The  
liftable triad I enjoy for a delicate play of color in Winsor &  
Newton or Daniel Smith pigments is Aureolin, Rose Madder Genuine and  
Cobalt Blue.

As for Cerulean, that one can be great for a finish glaze because it  
is more opaque than many watercolor pigments. Often manufacturers use  
a white in it so it has a thickness and opacity that lowers light. I  
like it for water and some skies—just not the brilliant clear blue  
ones where I prefer my thalos or French Ultramarine. A similar hue to  
cerulean but with a better body is Sennelier's beautiful "Cinnerous  
Blue", also known as Bleu Cindre.

Dioxinine Violet—great staining color that glazes fabulous blacks. I  
often mix it with Thalo Green for a luminous black that knocks your  
socks off.

Have fun with your new found friends, once orphans. And if you don't  
find you still don't like them, I'll buy all your remaining tubes of  
these fabulous colors!

Annette

On Nov 5, 2009, at 6:11 PM, Patrick Davis wrote:

> Hi, gang.
>
> Getting back at painting after a long layoff causes me to examine  
> what I am doing... and with what. Looking at my palette, I realize  
> there are certain colours I never or almost never use. Most notable  
> for me are two blues, cerulean and cobalt, the former neglected  
> because it is chalky and the latter because to me it seems gutless.  
> I'm sure some of you do use these, so maybe you'd share with me  
> what you use them for?
>
> Another orphan is dio purple, but it is shunned for the opposite  
> reason: it does not play well with others.
>
> Any comments on these?
>
> cheers
> pat
> Aquanet mailing list
> Aquanet at thedigitalbraintrust.net
> http://lists.thedigitalbraintrust.net/mailman/listinfo/aquanet
>
> Check out the Aquanet web site:
> http://www.aquanetart.com
>

Annette Compton
Compton ART
PO Box 162
Woodstock, VT 05091
(802) 457-2020
www.comptonart.net
info at comptonart.net



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.thedigitalbraintrust.net/pipermail/aquanet/attachments/20091106/d609f2c3/attachment-0001.htm>