Diana Trout's blog

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Primatek Watercolor

Here is another beautiful Primatek color from Daniel Smith. It's mined from the Sleeping Beauty mountains in Arizona(?). I loved swatching this one out and using it as a blue in a primary triade palette.

Watch the video on YouTube here

Sorry for the background noise, my ac is on

Just the facts here on the blog today. Everything is in the video. 

Cobalt Teal QoR PG50

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise DS

Hansa Yellow Medium DS PY97

Quinacridone Coral DS PR209

Silver Black Velvet #8 brush

Phthalo Green (Veridian)

Moonglow DS

Perylene Green

Payne's Gray

all available from DickBlick: http://shrsl.com/ur3q

affiliate link, I get commission on sales with no cost to you.

 

 

 

Oh my! It's been a bit nutty here. I finally got a cortisone shot last week and 

Watercolor Swatches: Blues

Here are all of my Blues. Wouldn't it be wonderful to put all of your blues away into little pockets and choose when to have a look? And by the way, I'm not feeling so blue anymore and I'll be back with an update soon(ish).
   

 Watch here on YouTube

You can see the full playlist here on YouTube.

DickBlick affiliate links
I get a commission on sales with no cost to you.

QoR Cobalt Teal PG50
Daniel Smith Indigo
QoR Indigo
Cobalt Blue Daniel Smith PB28
Phthalo Blue (GS) QoR PB15:3
Phthalo Blue (RS) Daniel Smith PB15:6
Manganese Blue QoR PG7, PB15:3
Cerulean Blue Daniel Smith PB 36
French Ultramarine Daniel Smith PB 29
Paynes Gray Daniel Smith PB29 PBk

Swatching All of My Yellow Watercolor Paints

I had loads of yellow watercolors and a couple were the same PY. Not very happy-making, that. Another good reason for paying attention to the pigment numbers. 

I'm happy to be through this part of my process this year and will have the rest of these swatch videos up by next week. 

Yellow is an excellent color. In my opinion, the most useful of all colors because it just seems to make everything better. It brightens, pops forward is an excellent mixer.

I have more yellows on my palette than any other color. Because of its light value, it's often used up first. 

Enjoy today's video on YouTube here. Like Comment Share Subscribe. It's a huge help to me when you do this. 

 All of these Watercolors are available from DickBlick
(Affiliate Link, I get a commission on sales with no cost to you)

(DS: Daniel Smith. WN: Winsor & Newton. DR Daler Rowney. 
Hansa Yellow Medium DS PY97
Lemon Yellow W&N PY 175
Lemon Yellow DS PY 175
Cobalt Yellow DS PY 40
New Gamboge DS PY 153 (The color of my livingroom :)
Yellow Ochre DR PY 43
Yellow Ochre MGraham 43
Nickel Azo Yellow QoR PY 150
Nickel Azo Yellow MGraham PY 150 (earthier)
Transparent Yellow Nickel Azo Yellow PY 150

Swatching All of My Green Watercolors

I'm swatching Green watercolors today for a belated nod to St. Patrick's day. I love green and use it often so it's useful for me to have a few greens. How about you? 

QoR's Green Gold makes me think of those fuzzy little seeds that fall from trees in spring. At least I think they do. It's not looking like spring here. When I was painting with acrylics Golden's Green Gold was a permanent color on my palette. Golden Paint makes QoR watercolors.

Veridian or Phthalo Green is an excellent color for mixing, even though it might seem pretty unnatural.  It's Minty fresh :)

I could write a sonnet to Sap Green.

More earthy greens. Maybe two too many. I'm still working on the full palette and these colors would be very simple to mix. But I love them both. 

Watch today's video on YouTube here. 

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Affiliate LInks: I get a percentage of sales with no cost to you.

Dick Blick for QoR watercolors
DickBlick for Daniel Smith Watercolors

Green Gold, QoR PY 129
Olive Green, Daniel Smith: PY 40, PB29, PBr7
Boho Gree, QoR
Sap Green, Daniel Smith PO 49, PG 7
Veridian (Phthalo) Green: PG 7

Daniel Smith PrimaTek Watercolor & Brushes Haul Video from DickBlick

I am pretty jazzed about these new watercolors and brushes so wanted to share this haul with you. 

The Prima Tek watercolors from Daniel Smith (and Blick) are the stars of this show. Mined from minerals and stone, they are textured and glittery (some) and scrumptious. You can read more technical info here. 

I was noticing that adding more water, pigment or picking up color with a damp brush creates even more texture. I think you can see that in these photos but will doing more playing and sharing. 



I played with the brushes some while we were away visiting friends in Vermont and Massachusetts. Working mostly with the Silver Black Velvet brushes. I was alarmed when a couple of hairs came out of one of them while I was swatching in today's video but haven't had any trouble since. They are very soft brushes and hold a good amount of water. 

You can watch today's video here on YouTube. Like, Subscribe, Comment, Share. Thanks, it helps my YouTube channel.  

Here is a list of what I purchased at DickBlick. You can use my affiliate link, here. There are pictures with links below. I get a commission on sales with no cost to you.

Liquitex Gesso
Liquitex Matte Medium
Archival Ink, Black refill
Color Wheel!
Princeton Neptune Quill No. 6
Princeton Neptune Oval Wash 1"
Silver Black Velvet 2, 4, 10 & 16
Escoda Versatil 22
#4 Watercolor Sable Rigger

Daniel Smith Watercolors
French Ultramarine
New Gamboge
Sap Green
Perylene
Moonglow (Swatched)

Prima Tek Colors Swatched
Green Appatite
Sapphire

Strathmore Series 400 Watercolor paper

 

• Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors
• 
• Price: $7.16

• Liquitex Basics Acrylic Gesso
• 
• Price: $5.15

• Escoda Versatil Brushes
• 
• Price: $9.59

• Silver Brush Black Velvet Brushes
• 
• Price: $14.40

 

 

How I Fell in Love with Quinacridone Coral

It's true. I fell hard.

Oh PR 209! Where have you been all of my life. LOL. My decision not to buy any more paint until I swatched all my paints out went right out the window when I found this tube at a local art supply (Artist & Craftsman in Chestnut Hill). 

I swatched it with : 

Quin Gold PO 48, PY150, QoR
Cobalt Yellow PY 40 Daniel Smitih
Quin Rose PV 19 Daniel Smith
Permanent Red PR 170 Daniel Smith
Lemon Yellow PY 175 Daniel Smith
Rich Green Gold PY129 Daniel Smith
Phthalo Green PG 7
Cobalt Teal PG 50
Phthalo Blue GS PB15:3
Ultramarine Violet PV 15

Green Gold PY129 and Phthalo Green PG7 were two surprise fav mixes. 

Watch today's video on YouTube here: Like, Subscribe, Share, Comment.  

You can get all of these colors at
DickBlick.com (Affiliate link; I get a commission on sales with no cost to you.)
Porcelain Mixing dishes from Amazon here

I'll be on vacation for the next week (!). We're driving north because we're crazy. Also people we love live in Massachusetts and Vermont. I'll be back a week from Thursday with another post and video. In the meantime .... 

I placed my order at Dick Blick after sweating over it for a couple of weeks. Here is a sneak peek. These are Daniel Smith's Prima Tek colors, made from minerals so no P #'s. I was squealing as I swatched. Granulation, mica glitter. That first one is Piemonite. All of the separation and color shifting just ... happens. Swoon. 

You can get all of these colors at
DickBlick.com (Affiliate link; I get a commission on sales with no cost to you.)
Porcelain Mixing dishes from Amazon here

Color Mixing in My Art Journal

I had some leftover paints out in my porcelain mixing cups and figured I'd turn on the camera and use them up!  In my Dina Wakely Art Journal: 

In my Chunky. By the way, I've had many requests for a tutorial on making a Chunky journal. I am putting a class together. 



Watch today's video on YouTube here. (Like, Subscribe, Comment, Share)

Supplies: Affiliate Links. I get a commission on sales with no cost to you.

From DickBlick : http://shrsl.com/s8jq
Daniel Smith:
Lemon Yellow
Pyrrole Red
French Ultramarine Blue:
Burnt Umber
Ultramarine Violet
Pyrrole Orange
Teal
New Gamboge
Nickel Azo Yellow

Sepia (QoR)
Yellow Ochre (M Graham)

Fusion Mijello Palette http://amzn.to/2Eub6KT
Porcelain Mixing Dishes http://amzn.to/2EJnZQv

Dina Wakely Journal: http://amzn.to/2HiHiyy

Beginner's Watercolor Flower Painting

After Wednesday's video on beginner watercolor supplies, how could I resist doing a little painting? Check out the simple techniques in today's video. 

I stuck to the supplies I outlined in Wednesday's blogpost. No cheating LOL. There are far fewer decisions to make with limited supplies and beginner painters are very well served by less decisions. You may be interested in my Online Class Watercolor Wildflowers, it a beginner level mixed media watercolor class. 

I hope that you enjoy todays video. As usual, the affiliate links are beneath. I get a small percentage from sales at no cost to you. I appreciate that greatly. If you have the time, click through to YouTube, subscribe and click like. That helps me enormously.  

 

Strathmore Watercolor Pad, 5.5" x 8.5"	Strathmore Mixed Media Pad, 9"x12"	Strathmore Watercolor Blocks	Canson XL Mix Media Sketch Book	Prang Watercolor Set
Koi Travel Set, 12 colors	Koi 24 Color Travel Set	Robert Simmons Watercolor Brush, Size 14	Princeton, 3/4" Flat Wash	Princeton Round, Size 8
Princeton Round, Size 6

That's all folks. Have a great weekend! 

InLinkz.com

How to Make a Color Swatch Journal

How much fun is it to make color swatches? Right! I love it.  Several years ago, I found the Arc or Levenger disc binding system and it's absolutely perfect for keeping this kind of an ongoing notebook.  You'll see more in the video. The hole punch is kind of pricey but you can use a binder system for keeping all of your palettes or swatches in one spot.

I swatch everything from my paints to markers and colored pencils. There are great charts available over at Ranger Ink for their inks, sprays and paints. Go here to download. Very handy. Here is a link for Prismacolor colored pencils. That chart doesn't print the top line for me but it may just be my printer. 

I've had loads of questions lately about watercolor: brands, mixing, how much paint to water, etc. My best advice is to pull out three primary and the three secondary colors and play with them. Look (above) at how many colors you can get with just the three primary. 

Here is the video showing a close up of my Color Book. My next video will be on creating a palette with six colors. 

The Arc Binding System is available at Staples stores and online. It'll come right up if you google it. 

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Watercolor 101: Palette Setup

I've had some requests lately on how to use tube watercolors (or gouache) to set up a palette. Here you go! This is a video showing Winsor & Newton gouache paints but the same applies for watercolor. (Affiliate links below).

I like to use a folding palette for gouache and watercolor. I let the paint dry and close the case. When I'm ready to paint again, I open the case and give the paints a hearty spray of  water. Let things sit for a few minutes and the paints are ready to go again. There is no difference between high quality pan paints and tube paints. The advantage with tube paints is that you can choose your own palette. 

You'll see the palette I chose in the video. I'll go into color choice in the next video.

I'll be adding videos to this "101" series over the next several weeks. 

 

Here are the affiliate links for this particular video (originally published in December 2015).