Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Palette

Do you use the pan or tube colors? 
I'd love to see a photo of your set up. -Brenda

Palette
The tube colors are set in a Mijello Watercolor Palette which is airtight and leak proof. I leave a folded paper towel saturated with water in the middle to keep the colors moist day to day. The top mixing tray is removable, clear plastic set into the white cover with an indent in the bottom right corner to slip the end of a brush in to pry it up for easy washing (smart...somebody was thinking). I also use three porcelain mixing trays because they don't leave behind the stains of previous colors.

My brushes are almost all rounds, the bigger the better, Winsor & Newton (sable-synthetic mix) and Princeton (synthetic); pure sable are way to expensive and I actually prefer the synthetics. Oh, and I sometimes use really cheap chip brushes, the flats cost thirty cents.

I only use colors with maximum permanence, all but one are Winsor & Newton; these are truly more than I need; picked them based on seeing what other artist's use. It's an ongoing evolving selection for I tend to go to specific colors again and again.
Clockwise starting at twelve o'clock...
Winsor Violet
Cobalt Blue
Prussian Blue
French Ultramarine
Cerulean Blue
Yellow Ochre
Naples Yellow - a nice surprise very light yellow brown, almost Caucasian flesh 
Winsor Yellow
Permanent Sap Green
Hookers Green
Olive Green - my favorite green 
Raw Umber
Burnt Umber
Burnt Sienna
Brown Madder - my fun surprise tending to a rich dark red 
Cadmium Orange
Permanent Alizarin Crimson
Winsor Red
Center pan clockwise from eleven o'clock....
Ivory Black
Chinese White
Winsor Lemon
Jaune Brilliant Number 2 (Holbein brand) - the best Caucasian flesh, ready to go
And I still use my Koi Watercolors Pocket Field Sketch Box sets sometimes when popping out and traveling super light, 12 pans and 24 pans, with their nylon water brushes (the water in the handle that floats out with a squeeze). A 12 pan set with a Strathmore 4" x 6" Watercolor Postcard set were my introduction to watercolors. My first watercolor exhibition (on my blog HERE) was painted with this, the 12 and 24 sets on these handy 4" x 6". It makes a great inexpensive gift ($19.42 for everything) that keeps on giving.

-Bruce

5 comments:

Celeste Bergin said...

Well, that is fun to see your supplies. Your paintings are so beautiful and fresh..those extra palettes are such an exceptional idea!

martine paquet said...

This is great!
I love to see what supplies other artists use!
I also have the Koi Watercolor Sketch box (24 pans)...find it very useful when urban sketching! But like you, I prefer to use tube colors( mostly Daniel Smith)
The Mijello palette seems good..Is it heavy?

Bruce McMillan said...

The Mijello palette (small, 5.5" x 10.5") is lightweight, all plastic, at only 8 ounces. I found it online at Jerry's Artarama (http://www.jerrysartarama.com) for only $14.75 USD.

Celia Blanco said...

I only use W+N paints too. I will surely be adding some more after seeing your list of colors. Thanks for sharing! Your still life paintings in the snow are a delightful!

Bruce McMillan said...

Thanks. As it snows another foot of snow today, it's so beautiful to watch at the wide window by my computer, and I click to your blog, you don't have to wait for it to snow in Rome before posting after the 30 Days Challenge. Happy painting and happy posting; let the watercolors flow. Oh, I've only been to the Rome airport changing planes from Milan to Boston; but my son and family who live in the Italian end of Switzerland popped down to visit Rome and I painted some watercolors from their photos of my wonderful grand boys (9 and 11) at the Coliseum. Lucky you to have so many subjects in such a great city.